Earlier this week we took an in-depth look at the Carolina Hurricanes’ ineffectiveness on the ice coming off a long rest. Today we take a look at how the team fares on the second night of those grueling back-to-back games.
Many factors come into play when analyzing a team’s performance during a pair of back-to-back games. Travel, goalies (since teams often play their backup in the second game), fatigue, and injuries all are defining factors that can and often do affect a team’s performance in the second game. Having already established that the Carolina Hurricanes perform poorly when coming off an extended break of three days or more, we thought we’d better check on how they do when the schedule is squeezed.
When analyzing the performance of the Carolina Hurricanes in these games there was a significant amount of data in the last two years to observe. Over the last one and a half seasons, 25 of the 130 scheduled Carolina Hurricanes games have been played in the back to back scenario. That’s a whopping 19% of all Canes matchups, and includes a league-high 18 during the 2017-2018 season, and 13 this season. Those numbers play out to an average of one back-to-back series every 5 games.
However, while the Canes lose more games than they win when they’re well-rested, they perform better in back-to-backs than they do with rest. The Carolina Hurricanes have recorded a respectable 11-14 record for a .440 winning percentage, as opposed to the aforementioned 39% winning percentage in games off a three-day (or more) break.
In those 14 losses, the Hurricanes have been defeated by an average of 2.27 goals per game; this is down from the 2.86 goal differential in games off a three-day break. Now, while the body of work in back-to-back games is smaller, the numbers show the team is clearly better in back-to-back scenarios than in games off a three-day break. You wouldn’t think this could possibly be the case, but it is. We would be much better off playing more games in less time, than having a stretched season with more time to prepare.
Sadly though, that record still isn’t great in comparison to the rest of the NHL this season through 25 games. The 22 points accrued by the Carolina Hurricanes in those back-to-back games would put the team 3 points off the last place team in the league through 25 games, the Los Angeles Kings. Canes Coaches Rod Brindamour, Jeff Daniels and Dean Chenoweth still have an uphill battle to make this team consistently competitive in the NHL.
The All-Star play of Sebastian Aho, coupled with the fact Petr Mrazek has staked his claim as the teams number one netminder, serves as a solid foundation to build around and hopefully improve these better yet still under-performing numbers. Which is our way of saying if Coach Rod can improve on our record in back-to-backs, we could really be on to something.
The Carolina Hurricanes have four more back-to-backs this season, with three of those in March including key matchups against potential playoff rivals. We will need the Canes to be on top form, and to get great goaltending from our goalie tandem, to ensure that we improve our back-to-backs record and make the playoffs for the first time in ten years.