Jeff Skinner scored the only goal for either team in the shootout tiebreaker as the Carolina Hurricanes pushed back the Calgary Flames, 6-5, at the RBC in Raleigh, N.C. Tuesday night. Skinner, the youngest active player in the NHL at 18 years of age, deked Calgary goaltender Henrik Karlsson, and blistered the game-winning wrist shot past Karlsonn high on his glove side.
It was the Canes third consecutive victory and their eighth straight game in which they have earned at least a point going 6-0-2 in that span. They now find themselves sitting in ninth place in the Eastern Conference with 48 points, three points behind Atlanta and Montreal, but seven points ahead of 10th place Buffalo. In addition, they have three games on hand on the Thrashers and are actually percentage points ahead of them in terms of win-loss percentage (.571 to Atlanta’s .567).
In his first action since Dec. 28, a six-game absence because of a lower-body injury, Jussi Jokinen scored 2 goals and added an assist to gain the game’s first star. His night could have even been better had not Karlsson robbed him of a hat trick on a magnificent save at point-blank range with seconds to go in the overtime period.
Jokinen, who turned 27 in April, was drafted in the sixth round, 192nd overall, in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft. The Finnish forward played four years for Kärpät of the SM-liiga, the top Finnish league before making his debut with the Stars in 2005. He played in 81 games that rookie season finishing with 55 points (17 goal, 38 assists) scoring on 15.9-percent of his total 107 shots.
In his 2006-07 season he scored 48 points (14 goals, 34 assists) playing in all 82 games. He floundered, however, the following season scoring only 28 points (14 goals, 14 assists) in 52 contests. During trade deadline day on Feb. 26, 2008, Jokinen was dealt by Dallas to the Tampa Bay Lightning along with Mike Smith, Jeff Halpern, and a 2009 fourth-round draft pick in exchange for Brad Richards and Johan Holmqvist. Jokinen finished the year in Tampa Bay scoring 14 points (2 goals, 12 assists) in 20 games with a very low 5.3-percent shooting percentage and a dreadful minus-16.
Unfortunately he did not show improvement at the start of the 2008-09 season. After only 16 points (6 goals, 10 assists) in 46 games, the Lightning had seen enough. On Feb. 4, 2009, Jokinen was placed on waivers. When he was not claimed, he was traded three days later to the Hurricanes in exchange for Wade Brookbank, Josef Melichar and a 2009 fourth-round draft pick.
Things began to click for Jokinen in the 2009 Stanley Cup playoffs. Jokinen will always be remembered by the Hurricane faithful for his game-winning goal against the New Jersey Devils in Game 4 of the first round of the playoffs when he scored with 0.2 seconds left in regulation to tie the series at two games apiece. The win helped propel Carolina to a quarterfinal meeting with the Boston Bruins in which Jokinen scored an overtime winning goal in Game 3, and the regulation game-winner in Game 4. Carolina eventually would win the series in seven games. The Canes 2009 run for the Cup finally ended when they were swept in the semifinals by the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The 2009-10 season in Carolina was Jokinen’s breakout year. He again showed his durability playing in 81 games and finishing the regular season with 65 points (30 goals, 35 assists) on 180 shots, shooting at a remarkable 18.8-percent clip. The 30 goals led the team, and he won over 50-percent of his faceoffs while playing slightly over 16 minutes per game.
Scouting reports show that Jokinen is skilled and “polished.” He is a sound two-way forward and rarely makes mistakes with the puck. He is also versatile and can line up at any three of the forward positions. The knocks on him are that he is not very big or strong, and at times can be intimidated by bigger NHL defensemen. In addition, he also lacks consistency in the offensive zone.
Jokinen is regarded as arguably the best shootout specialist in the NHL. He entered the 2010-11 season as the active career leader scoring on 27 of 56 shootout attempts, an impressive 52-percent clip. When he failed to convert on his first five attempts this year, he became somewhat flummoxed, fossicking for that seemingly Sisyphean initial tally. Finally, on Dec. 11, 2010 he scored the game’s lone shootout goal against St. Louis which the Canes won, 2-1. “I’d been struggling bad this year,” Jokinen said. “I know I can score in shootouts. I’m just glad the coach kept his confidence in me.” For 2010-11 he now has scored on two of eight shootout attempts.
Jokinen was just starting to play well this season shortly before his injury. In 36 games he has 29 points (8 goals, 21 assists) and has scored on 11.1-percent of his 76 shots. He presently stands at plus-2 for the year. In the last 15 games he has been even or plus and finished Tuesday’s game at plus-3.
Even though Jokinen was denied on his shootout attempt last evening, Skinner attributed his shootout goal to the mahatma of the specialty shot. He claims he observed and learned from Jokinen’s attempt on Karlsson. The NHL wunderkind said, “I tried to copy Jussi.” Some very sage advice coming from the kid.
