Defensive Mistakes Haunt the Carolina Hurricanes in Loss to Dallas Stars

A valiant effort through two periods wasn’t enough for the Carolina Hurricanes as a wretched third period dooms them in their 3-1 loss to the Dallas Stars.

Scoring Summary

1st Period

No Goals

2nd Period

CAR Goal (3:41) – Jordan Staal (2); assisted by Eric Staal (4), Ron Hainsey (2)

The Canes got a fortunate bounce off the boards to strike first in this one. Hainsey sent a wrist shot from the point wide, and it ricocheted out to Eric Staal. Staal then spun and sent a nifty pass in front to his brother, and he was able to make it a 1-0 game.

DAL Goal (9:46) – Ales Hemsky (2); assisted by Colton Sceviour (3), Vernon Fiddler (5)

Colton Sceviour displayed why driving the net is important on Dallas’ second goal. He drove the net with the puck, the shot was saved by Lack, and then Hemsky roofed a rebound chance. Sceviour made considerable contact with Lack on the goal and drove him out of position, but after a coach’s challenge, it was ruled a good goal.

3rd Period

DAL Goal (11:15) – Patrick Sharp (5); assisted by Tyler Seguin (13)

Ron Hainsey pinched and miss-played the puck in the Stars zone, and that led to a 2-on-1 going the other way with two incredibly skilled players in Seguin and Sharp. Seguin got the puck around a sprawling Justin Faulk and across to Sharp, and he made no mistake.

DAL Goal (13:20) – Radek Faksa (1); assisted by Colton Sceviour (4), Jordie Benn (2)

Faksa won a battle with two Canes players in front of Eddie Lack, and he was able to put home a rebound past a helpless Eddie Lack to put the Stars up 3-1.

DAL EN Goal (19:59) – Jason Demers (4)

The Canes put the puck into their own goal in the final seconds of period three on an errant pass from their own end to ice the game away.

Three Stars

1st Star: Colton Sceviour (DAL) – 2 assists, 3 shots, 13:34 TOI

2nd Star: Jordan Staal (CAR) – 1 goal, 4 shots, 2 hits, 17:41 TOI

3rd Star: Tyler Seguin (DAL) – 1 assist, 1 shot, 1 hit, 17:39 TOI

Recap

Two good periods was not good enough for the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday as they lost a tough game to the Dallas Stars by a final score of 4-1.

More from Cardiac Cane – Jeff Skinner Needs More Ice Time

For a vast majority of the game, the Canes were in it and very competitive against one of the NHL’s best teams in the Stars, but it came down to the defensive miscues, and Carolina came out on the wrong side.

Eddie Lack got the start and stopped 25 of 28 Dallas shots, but his play was better than his stats indicate. He stopped 9 shots in the opening 10 minutes of the game while the Stars came out of the gates flying. Lack kept the club in the game throughout the evening, but the team in front of him couldn’t put the puck in the net.

More from Cardiac Cane

• 2023 Southeast Rookie Showcase: Takeaways from the Canes’ Strong Showing in Florida
• Week Two Coverage Of College Hockey In NC
• Derek Stepan Ends His On Ice Career As A Hurricane
• The Southeast Rookie Showcase Will Be a Good Look at Carolina’s Future
• Noesen Ready To Provide Depth For Canes

This team is quickly turning into a team that must score early, or they will lose. The Canes continue to make costly mistakes that end up really coming back to bight them, and at the end of the day, they need to be more solid for 60 consecutive minutes. You can’t take a shift off in this league, yet the Hurricanes do that night in and night out on a consistent basis, which costs them a lot of games.

Each team’s first line had a lot of responsibility tonight, and the Hurricanes got good play from the players that need to play well. Eric Staal, Jordan Staal, and Elias Lindholm had some extremely solid shifts and put pressure on Dallas goalie Kari Lehtonen, but there were some good saves and missed opportunities.

Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn and Jason Spezza has been the hottest line in the NHL, and the Carolina Hurricanes kept them at bay and off the scoresheet for a majority of the night. Those three combined for one point and a -1 rating.

The top talent of the Stars was kept off the scoresheet for the most part, but the depth came up big, which is something that the Canes need to take note of and learn how to do. Depth scoring isn’t something that Carolina get right now, and that must change.

The Carolina Hurricanes have lost two consecutive games now after a three-game win streak. They fell to 5-8-0 with the loss, and the Dallas Stars improved to 11-3-0.

Jordan Staal’s goal was his second of the year. He now has four points in his last four games after starting the year with no points in nine games.

Next: Canes Have Best Week of the Young Season

It will be a quick turnaround for the Canes. They will stay at home and take on the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night.

Cam Ward is expected to get the nod in goal for Carolina in that tilt.