Carolina Hurricanes: 5 players who need to step up in November

For the Carolina Hurricanes to start putting some real momentum together, five players really need to step up in the upcoming games.

There was not enough production across the board for the Carolina Hurricanes in the opening month. Jeff Skinner led the way with nine points and seven goals. Justin Williams led the team in assists with seven. Yet, Williams only tallied one goal in 10 games.

The November slate starts with the Colorado Avalanche on Nov. 2. Carolina is coming off a 4-3 loss in a shootout against the Anaheim Ducks. Corey Perry scored the goal in the shootout, past Scott Darling, to seal it for the Ducks.

November features five road games and seven contests against Eastern Conference competition. The first month of the 2017-18 NHL season featured a heavy amount of Western Conference foes, including a four-game road stretch in the middle of October.

Carolina fell behind the league average in both goals scored and goals against. The offensive production has not been where it needs to be as head coach Bill Peters has not given this team enough of a chance to develop chemistry. Peters keeps shuffling lines on almost a nightly basis before any players can get comfortable with their current pairing.

Cam Ward has been great in relief of Darling whenever called upon. Fans are ready to phase out Ward, but he played a key part in one of the four wins for the Canes so far. Those four wins have come alongside four regulation losses and two in overtime/shootout. Converting on those overtime opportunities is also a big x-factor in the coming months.

Now, let’s take a look at the 5 most important players that need to step up for the Carolina Hurricanes in November.