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Carolina blues: Ellis hooked for second time in three games

DanEllis

Earlier this week, ‘Canes GM Jim Rutherford said he was “about as frustrated as you can get” with his hockey club.

Tonight, it’s easy to see why.

Goalie Dan Ellis was yanked after allowing three goals on 30 shots in Saturday’s game against the Rangers, the second time in three games he’s been given the hook for backup Justin Peters.

(Though technically, Peters is the third-stringer; No. 1 goalie Cam Ward was lost for the remainder of the regular season in March.)

(No wonder Rutherford’s frustrated.)

Tonight was the culmination of what’s been a forgettable week for Ellis.

On Tuesday, he allowed three goals on seven shots before getting pulled against the Capitals, a game Washington went on to win 5-3.

In his next game out -- Thursday against Tampa -- Ellis lasted the entire game, but was shelled for five goals on 30 shots in a brutal loss to the Bolts.

Tonight, it was back to getting yanked, and while Ellis got caught wandering on New York’s second goal, he was hardly all to blame.

Carolina looked awful defensively, gave up 30 shots through 40 minutes and allowed all three goals in a nine-minute span during the second period.

‘Canes head coach Kirk Muller might’ve pulled Ellis more as a wakeup call to his team than anything else. The fact this happened on home ice only adds to what’s been an increasingly frustrating year for the entire organization.