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So, let's just settle into some Brent Burns facts before we end his career without proper due. Burnsie, as he prefers to be called, has played 1464 games in his career, 2nd most among active players. He has played 892 consecutive games, 1st among active players. He's going to be 40 in March and he's still a top line defenseman. He has a career 51 point per season average (15G/36A) and he's on pace to put up 40 this season. But he's a blue-liner and his offense is a secondary priority for this team. His previous 2 seasons were well above his career average, but let's not forget this was a different team those 2 seasons. Brent Burns takes a lot of shots from the blue line. The vast majority are looking for a deflection, rebound or a bounce. As good as goalies are these days, it's a fact not many shots are going in untouched from the blue line. So he shoots looking for a redirect, loose puck or rebound. He doesn't have the net front he's enjoyed the past couple years with guys like Noesen, Bunting, Jesper Fast, Teravainen; all of whom have stacked up many goals off Burns shots from the blue line. He's 40, and yes, he's slowed down. But, last night's game clearly showed more than once he can still skate when needed. He was as quick as I've ever seen a couple times last night. That being said, if you watched Columbus last night, they are a study in contract to the Canes. Columbus passes are direct and with pace. Player to player. When in the offensive zone, they rotate the puck with speed and precision, which also benefits their PP, one of the best in the league. Carolina, on the other hand, utilizes a lot of passing to areas on the ice rather than to players. Passes with anticipation of a players getting to the puck. This includes a lot of blind passes, no-look passes and passes without a lot of pace or speed on them. That's not just Brent Burns, that's the entire team. Carolina plays a much riskier game in that respect and the consequences of not being successful are what we saw last night in the 1st period and the Chicago game 1st period as well. Burnsie's TOI is down again this year, as is Slavin's. Keep in mind, during Burnsie's tenure in San Jose, his TOI was 25-26 minutes per game! He and Slavin are both below 22 for the second season in a row, which helps keep them fresh. If the game is pretty much in hand, it's unlikely you'll see Burns and Slavin on the ice during the last 2-3 shifts of the game. He's not the PP point man anymore- Gostisbehere has that job; and Chatfield's minutes have gone up over 3 minutes per game, even finding some time on the PK. So, it's clear RBA sees what 40 years of age and over 10 seasons of not missing a game will do to a player, and he's doing what he needs to keep #8 as healthy and ready as possible. Burns is an unrestricted free agent after this season. If he decides to continue playing, the Canes will be hard-pressed to find a top line d-man to fill his shoes if they opt not to keep him, even with his few liabilities. Because, for every mistake Burnsie makes during the course of a game, he makes 5-6 other plays you can point out as underrated or under appreciated. Someone look at the list of UFA defensemen and tell me who replaces Burns on the top line? There's maybe 1 name on that list, Aaron Ekblad, who will finish his 8-year, $7.5M contract after the season.

Right. Not sure what I was thinking there. My bad. Regardless, I'm not sure a 31-year old center @ $8M per is the answer. That's a lot of cap money tied up in an older player on a relatively young team. I get it, the guy has been a points machine for the 3-4 years prior to this- but what changed this year that he suddenly, and pretty noticeably, dropped off?

The 2 deflections were pretty lucky and there's not a lot you can do when the defender has decent position. Nonetheless, you'd like to think Freddie could have stopped the first goal- that was pretty soft.

Necas.

If the Canes acquire Miller, it'll end up looking just like last year's Guentzel trade. A rental until the playoffs end. He is 31 years old, in the 2nd year of a 7-year, $8M AAV deal; and after having 3 consecutive years of scoring 30+ goals and averaging over 90 points per season, he's sitting on 8G/24A so far this season. His TOI is down and the Canucks are not done for the season. An outside shot for the playoffs, but they are still in it. Not real sure why the marriage in Vancouver is failing, but there's a reason he got a 7-year/$56M deal just a little over a year ago.

Don't look now, but a 3-game win streak, including 2 on the road in back-to-back games. The Canes haven't won 3 straight since the middle of November, over 2 months ago. Canes held Dallas to 23 SOG, with a lot of those coming in a late game flurry. Canes have had some difficulty keeping SOG down to where we're used to seeing them. The Dallas game was reminiscent of the defense we saw early in the season- standing teams up at the blue line and making zone entry a real pain in the pads.

D was outstanding tonite, led by Slavin, Burns, Chatty- all were beasting.

#52 so far out of position. WTF.

Canes are hanging in better than expected for the backside of a road b2b.

Blake.

After seeing who the Rags offered up, Miller isn't coming to Carolina without losing a top line forward, a 2nd pair D-man and a major prospect. Sorry, not worth it.

Mrazek a Vezina candidate? Oh, sorry, he's 9-16-1.... But it's the Canes, that's why he's looking like a playoff goalie.

That was on Freddie. Can't allow a pass through the a big chunk of paint like that. Rust.

Winner, winner!

Play down to the competitions level. And Freddie in net only means he's another step closer to his next injury. This team absolutely sucks on the road.

Roslovic.

Ever noticed how much KC gets away with on both sides of the ball?

Zay Flowers being healthy may have resulted in a different outcome, although the turnovers...

Ummm, no. Bryce Young would be in the morgue with Houston's O-line in front of him. And Stroud is just the 6th QB in league history to get his team in the playoffs his 1st 2 years in.

Wonder why Stroud can't get a call when he gets hit high, but Mahomes gets calls when he doesn't get hit?

It was a set play on the face off and I'll have to watch the replay, but I think Martinook either went the wrong way or got caught up in the wash. Speaking of, #48 was a stud last night. The only thing he didn't do was score.

Burns made the no look pass off the face off, off the boards and nobody was there. The entire side of the ice was exposed and 2 Knights were there for the puck.

Which game are you watching?

Winner, winner!

The vast majority of fans don't follow the team like the precious few here. They may hear of Freddie's return on the sports segment of the 5PM news, but until they see him on the bench tonight...