Carolina Hurricanes: Devoured by Sharks, lose 5-1

Things are getting a little bit desperate for the Carolina Hurricanes, who slipped to their third consecutive loss last night against the San Jose Sharks. We take a look back at the action, and try to make sense of what is happening to this talented yet struggling team.

This Carolina Hurricanes team has benefited from solid goaltending and good defense all season. However, the team simply cannot score at the moment despite leading the entire NHL in shots taken and being outshot just four times in 27 games. A single solitary goal from Lucas Wallmark was all the team had to show for their 40 shots on goal last night, and that came on a powerplay once the team was already 4-0 down.

Losing to a team of San Jose’s caliber is nothing to be ashamed of. They have an excellent goaltender in Martin Jones, albeit one who has struggled all season, a defense that rivals anyone in the NHL, plus a forward group that includes future Hall of Famer Joe Thornton, Joe Pavelski and Timo Meier. They’re one of the best teams in the league, and we outshot them 40-23 while winning 54% of faceoffs. Those figures would indicate that this wasn’t really a 5-1 loss – but not at any time did it feel like the Canes were at the races. So many shots came from low-danger areas, and Wallmark’s goal ended a long barren run for the team:

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So here we are, looking back at yet another loss in which the team has failed to score goals. The Canes have now gone five games without scoring three goals; their record this season when scoring three goals or more is 10-0-2. The old adage about scoring goals to win games has never held more true – this team shoots more than any other team in the league, has a defense and goalie tandem that gives them a chance to win every game, and consistently fails to score.

The Carolina Hurricanes need to jumpstart their forward lines – either internally, or via trade – and they need to do it right now, before yet another season is lost.

Coach Rod Brind’Amour continues to not only play the same, tired old lines on the ice, but also to roll out the same, tired old lines to reporters. Check out last night’s response:

"“I feel like we’re pretty much doing everything we can. We’re getting enough opportunities. The hard part is we’re going to have to stick together and stick with the game plan because it’s easy to go away when it’s not working at all as far as the results. That’s the tough part that we’re going to have to manage.”"

This is becoming too frequent an occurrence. Shoot lots, lose, then say we’re doing all the right things and that we need to be patient, work hard and keep going. Something has to give before the season is lost. Perhaps Jordan Staal‘s upper-body injury, sustained half-way through the third period, will be serious enough to warrant a callup for the likes of Martin Necas or Janne Kuokannen. That could provide the spark the top six so desperately needs.

Onwards we go though, as the Canes prepare for tomorrow’s bout against the Anaheim Ducks, who beat the Canes in OT last week. Let’s hope that RBA looks at changing the top nine around, and perhaps calls up some scoring help from Charlotte to help break the team’s funk. Micheal Ferland, the Carolina Hurricanes need you.

Question for CC readers:

How would YOU remedy the Carolina Hurricanes’ offensive deficiencies?