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Carolina Hurricanes: 3 takeaways from loss to Blues

By Andrew Miller |
RALEIGH, NC - OCTOBER 27: Brett Pesce #22 of the Carolina Hurricanes collects the puck as Brayden Schenn #10 of the St. Louis Blues falls to the ice during an NHL game on October 27, 2017 at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Gregg Forwerck/NHLI via Getty Images)
RALEIGH, NC - OCTOBER 27: Brett Pesce #22 of the Carolina Hurricanes collects the puck as Brayden Schenn #10 of the St. Louis Blues falls to the ice during an NHL game on October 27, 2017 at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Gregg Forwerck/NHLI via Getty Images)
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RALEIGH, NC – OCTOBER 27: Brett Pesce #22 of the Carolina Hurricanes collects the puck as Brayden Schenn #10 of the St. Louis Blues falls to the ice during an NHL game on October 27, 2017 at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Gregg Forwerck/NHLI via Getty Images)
RALEIGH, NC – OCTOBER 27: Brett Pesce #22 of the Carolina Hurricanes collects the puck as Brayden Schenn #10 of the St. Louis Blues falls to the ice during an NHL game on October 27, 2017 at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Gregg Forwerck/NHLI via Getty Images) /

A 2-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues halted any shot that the Carolina Hurricanes had at starting a significant winning streak to enter November.

If the Carolina Hurricanes had defeated the St. Louis Blues on Oct. 27, it would have been a big momentum builder to finish off the opening month’s schedule. However the Blues got the best of the Canes to the tune of a 2-1 victory.

Carolina returned home after a matchup with the Toronto Maple Leafs where they won 6-3. That momentum should have helped the Canes take care of business in the back end of back-to-back contests. Overall, the Canes will have played three games in four days by the end of the weekend.

Cam Ward got only his second start of the season in place for Scott Darling. He played well once again, much like he did in his first start against the Edmonton Oilers. Darling will return between the pipes in Carolina’s next game.

The win for St. Louis moved them to 8-2-1 on the season, tied for first place in the Western Conference. Meanwhile, the Canes move to 4-4-1 on the season. Seven of the opponents that the Canes have faced in October are from the West. Moreover, three consecutive opponents now for the Canes had at least seven victories entering the matchup.

Carter Hutton came up huge for the Blues in net. He stopped 26 of the Canes 27 shots and has not lost a start yet this season in three tries. This was only the second occasion that the Canes had been out shot by the other team. It was a very impressive road win for St. Louis.

Now, let’s take a look at 3 takeaways from the Carolina Hurricanes loss to the St. Louis Blues.

RALEIGH, NC – OCTOBER 27: Justin Williams #14 and Jeff Skinner #53 of the Carolina Hurricanes react to Skinner’s second-period goal against the St. Louis Blues during an NHL game on October 27, 2017 at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Gregg Forwerck/NHLI via Getty Images)
RALEIGH, NC – OCTOBER 27: Justin Williams #14 and Jeff Skinner #53 of the Carolina Hurricanes react to Skinner’s second-period goal against the St. Louis Blues during an NHL game on October 27, 2017 at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Gregg Forwerck/NHLI via Getty Images) /

3. Lack of support for Jeff Skinner is apparent

Jeff Skinner scored the only goal of the night for the Canes. It was the third time that Skinner was the only goal scorer in a Carolina loss. This was also the fourth time that Skinner scored at least one in a Carolina loss, as a whole.

A big deal was made out of a lot of the big names that were brought in for the Canes during the off-season by general manager Ron Francis. Justin Williams made a beautiful move on the assist to Skinner’s goal though. Williams was one of those players brought over by Francis.

There is a need for the Canes to add a big name center to man the first line. Jordan Staal is not playing like a first line center right now. And, with the injury to Teuvo Teravainen, it makes finding additional offense that much more important.

More than anything, the inconsistent offensive production might be the most concerning part of this performance. Against the Maple Leafs, Carolina put up six goals and had no problem putting the puck in the net. It was not the same story against the Blues.

RALEIGH, NC – OCTOBER 27: Cam Ward #30 of the Carolina Hurricanes lunges to cover a loose puck during an NHL game against the St. Louis Blues on October 27, 2017 at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Gregg Forwerck/NHLI via Getty Images)
RALEIGH, NC – OCTOBER 27: Cam Ward #30 of the Carolina Hurricanes lunges to cover a loose puck during an NHL game against the St. Louis Blues on October 27, 2017 at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Gregg Forwerck/NHLI via Getty Images) /

2. Cam Ward is settling into the backup role nicely

Scott Darling was brought in from the Chicago Blackhawks during the off-season and signed to a contract extension to be the set in stone starter. Cam Ward and Eddie Lack were not an effective combination for the past few seasons.

It is a different story this season. Darling played well against the Leafs and Ward was great against the Blues. Ward finished with 32 saves on 34 shots. That was a good follow-up from his 48 save performance against the Edmonton Oilers.

A big concern for Carolina fans entering the season was having this change of role negatively affect Ward. The decline that Ward had seen over the past five seasons was expected to continue this season. No signs of that actually happening have been seen.

Head coach Bill Peters has limited the amount of starts that Ward has got this season. With 18 back-to-back games on the slate in 2017-18, Ward will definitely get a good workload this season, though.

RALEIGH, NC – OCTOBER 27: Jeff Skinner #53 of the Carolina Hurricanes has his stick lifted as he is muscled away from the puck by Paul Stastny #26 of the St. Louis Blues during an NHL game on October 27, 2017 at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Gregg Forwerck/NHLI via Getty Images)
RALEIGH, NC – OCTOBER 27: Jeff Skinner #53 of the Carolina Hurricanes has his stick lifted as he is muscled away from the puck by Paul Stastny #26 of the St. Louis Blues during an NHL game on October 27, 2017 at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Gregg Forwerck/NHLI via Getty Images) /

1. This is a rough schedule to start the season

Any team that has to face the Tampa Bay Lightning, Toronto Maple Leafs, and St. Louis Blues in three straight games is hitting a rough point in their schedule. Carolina came very close to winning two of those contests.

The result against the Lightning on the scoreboard was very different from how competitive it actually was. Carolina lost 5-1 to the Bolts but it was more of a 2-1 type game when comparing the performances of both squads.

However, the slate does lighten up a bit in November. The Canes get the Anaheim Ducks on Oct. 29 to round out the weekend. It will be a much needed break between home games after the Canes had to travel from Toronto, ON, back to Raleigh in the span of 24 hours.

Next: Ranking every season in Canes history

Now that the Canes have gotten through the toughest part of the early season slate, they can turn their focus to the next four opponents. Carolina gets the Ducks, Arizona Coyotes, Colorado Avalanche, and Florida Panthers upcoming.

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