Carolina Hurricanes Drop Points to Start Homestand

Every week, Cardiac Cane will make a complete wrap-up of the Carolina Hurricane’s week for the 2015-2016 season.

Preseason 11/9-11/16

Summary:

There have been better weeks to be a Carolina Hurricanes fan. The team finished 0-2-2 this week, had two blown leads, and ended with a whopping 5 goals in 4 games. Let’s go through this game by game.

Way back on Tuesday, the ‘Canes were outclassed by an amazing New York Rangers team. Quick first period goals from Rick Nash and Jesper Fast put the Blue Shirts in a commanding lead and they never looked back. Carolina put up 33 shots only to be shutout by Henrik Lundqvist. Forward Jeff Skinner hit two posts and Riley Nash hit another. The big story from New York was the ‘Canes powerplay. Despite being awarded 6 opportunities, the team failed to convert on a single attempt. The game finished 3-0 Rangers.

Carolina Hurricanes

Back home, Carolina looked to rebound against the Minnesota Wild. To the Hurricanes credit, they came out with fire, lighting up Devan Dubnyk twice in the first period. Justin Faulk blasted home his 6th powerplay goal of the year. Soon after, Andre Nestrasil added another for his first goal of the season. A goal by Jason Zucker made it 2-1 after the 1st. Thomas Vanek scored his 7th of the year to tie it at 2 in the 2nd. Close checking hockey was the norm for the rest of the game. The game moved into overtime and it seemed Carolina was going to survive after they were awarded a powerplay. Minnesota, with a last stand mentality, killed off the penalty and got some momentum. About a minute after the kill, Zucker cruised through the slot as Ryan Suter shot a puck into traffic. Zucker deflected it into the net to win the game for the Wild. As an added loss for the ‘Canes, defenseman Ryan Murphy left the game with a concussion and is out indefinitely.

The narrative was almost exactly the same against the Philadelphia Flyers. Once again the Hurricanes jumped out to a 2-0 lead. Elias Lindholm finally scored for his second of the year. On the powerplay, Victor Rask received a nice pass/missed shot from Eric Staal and went top shelf on Steve Mason. However, like against Minnesota, Philly came back. Goals from Luke Schenn and Wayne Simmonds sent the game into overtime. Off a defensive zone faceoff, someone lost Jakub Voracek and he tapped in his 1st of the season.

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Finally, the Hurricanes battled the Anaheim Ducks, this time with Eddie Lack in net instead of Cam Ward, who had started the last three. Lack was a mixed bag on Monday. He made important saves but also gave up a few soft ones. First, he tried to clear a puck from the trapezoid, but it was picked off by a Ducks player. The puck moved to Carl Hagelin who sort of whifted on a shot. It made its way to Shawn Horcoff who legally directed it in with his skate. The second mistake was on Anaheim’s 3rd goal of the night. A Hagelin wrap-around just trickled through Lack. The Ducks won 4-1. The ‘Canes goal came early the second period and it was the best moment of the week. Young Noah Hanifin scored his first career NHL goal with a rocket from the point. There will be more of that in the future. Congratulations to Noah.

In summary, the Hurricanes struggles this past week can be narrowed down to two main factors. The first is the obvious. The Hurricanes are offensively invisible right now. The ‘Canes were out scored by the only teams that trailed them in total goal scoring this week. The Staals and Kris Versteeg all went goalless and that isn’t acceptable. The NHL is currently debating how to increase league offense in the future, but the Hurricanes need a fix immediately. Secondly, the goaltending has been shaky. It’s hard to blame Ward and Lack, but in close hockey games they haven’t been the difference makers they need to be. Sure, they are receiving dreadful goal support, but the tandem is conceding close to 3 goals per game, and considering the low amounts of shots the ‘Canes give up, that is just not good enough to consistently win.

Cane of the Week:

Jeff Skinner – 0GP, -2

There will probably be some controversy over this choice, but I think it’s the right pick. Over the course of the entire week, Skinner was the most consistent forward. The guy put up 17 shots this week, and hit 4 posts. The words “bad luck” have been circling the ‘Canes this past week and Skinner has been honestly snake bitten. Unlike other forwards who have struggled, like Lindholm, Skinner was a constant and dynamic threat in the offensive zone this past week. He just wasn’t rewarded.

It should also be noted that Skinner stayed a +1 overall until the Anaheim game. He only dropped into the minus because he was on the ice for the empty netter. His stick checks were tenacious and he was very solid defensively for someone who isn’t known for work in his own end.

Yes, he had no points this week, but you can feel they’re coming. Peters will hopefully reward Skinner’s hard work and move him up to play more minutes. Perhaps then Skinner’s productivity will be statistically noticeable.

Next: Just How Unlucky Are the Hurricanes?

The Forecast:

Friday 7:00 pm @ PNC Arena against the Toronto Maple Leafs

Sunday 1:00 pm @ PNC Arena against the Los Angeles Kings

The Hurricanes end their 5 game home stand against the Leafs and Kings. On Friday, the Maple Leafs come to town. Mike Babcock has the team playing well of late. They barely lost to the New York Rangers this past Sunday. On the weekend, at 1 o’clock Sunday game is to be played against the Kings of Los Angeles. After starting slow, the Kings have exploded into first place in the Pacific Division. Both games will be tough tests for the ‘Canes. Hopefully they can get a couple wins to make their home stand look respectable.