If the Carolina Hurricanes were ever going to come back from a five-goal deficit, they would probably need Jeff Skinner and Teuvo Teravainen – first and tied for third on the team in scoring – to do it. And yet the third period began with the Hurricanes down five goals to the Pittsburgh Penguins and both Skinner and Teravainen stapled to the bench.
And they stayed there. For all 20 minutes of the third. For good reason.
The poor performances by the two stars was emblematic of an absolutely dismal performance by the Hurricanes, who came into the game with a chance to move into the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference and instead thoroughly embarrassed themselves in a 7-1 loss to the defending champs.