Carolina Hurricanes: 3 Takeaways from Shutout by Blue Jackets

1. Not starting on time

Perhaps the rest of the team should follow Sebastian Aho‘s lead and start in-taking coffee before games. They did not wake up for this game until at least the 10 minute mark and by then, the Carolina Hurricanes were down by two goals, and Bobrovsky’s steel curtain was fully operational.

There was no prep in their step for those first 10 minutes as it appeared that Columbus was the better team. They were solid in every zone as we barely visited theirs. The Carolina Hurricanes has trouble exiting their own zone for much of that first half the period and it cost them the whole game.

While they did get a few weak shots at Bobrovsky, they weren’t in good position to score, as shot after shot went wide or was chased out of the offensive zone and forced Petr Mrazek, who had a decent game regardless of the score, to play left to right a little too much and before they knew it, the game was out of reach.

That lack of push and good play of hockey to start the game should not be repeated and should be avoided at all costs. Maybe the team needs to expand its coffee budget, especially if Aho is the one drinking it all himself selfishly, perhaps leaving half a cup for his best friend Teuvo Teravainen.  Perhaps the pre-game ritual of “keep the soccer ball off the ground” needs to have an extra soccer ball or two around so when the ball gets stuck they aren’t relegated to doing this:

Whatever it takes to properly be awake and 100% ready to take the puck to the opposing team at the first whistles and all the way to the final whistles of the game. Had this team played the first 10 minutes the same way they played the following 50 minutes, they would have skated away from Ohio with a point in their pocket, maybe even two. Tonight’s game is the first game of the rest of the season, lets start there.

The second takeaway from last night’s game hasn’t been around for as long as the concept of starting on time, but isn’t new to this team. Sebastian Aho wasn’t the only one to partake in the caffeine last night, Andrei Svechnikov must have found a hidden cup somewhere. His play last night was perhaps the best of the season in a game where he did not score.

2. Andrei Svechnikov is the real deal.

If there was a player that attempted to make an impact and almost opened the scoring on Bobrovsky several times, it was Andrei Svechnikov. He battled hard for every puck and tried to take the game to Columbus several times last night. Had he managed to score he would have been one of the three stars in my book.

He almost did manage the score last night on a power move that had him cut in front of a Blue Jacket defender with the puck only millimeters away from Bobrovsky who managed to shut it down at the last second denying the young Russian rookie his 18th goal of the season. That attempt alone was the best scoring chance of the night for the Carolina Hurricanes. They will need Andrei Svechnikov to do more of that in the coming weeks.

There is no secret to the fact that the 18 year old second overall pick has gained the confidence of his coaches. Even after the return of Micheal Ferland to the roster, he was allowed to remain on the second line with Jordan Staal receiving 15:13 of ice time and finishing the game with a zero plus minus.

While I don’t put much value in the plus minus system they can be telling in a shutout game to which forwards were putting more time in the offensive zone. Andrei finished the game with 3 of the 46 shots on goal tied for fourth most in that game along with several of his teammates. He also has found his physical game as well, scoring three hits which ties him for most in that game.

Andrei continues to grow his game, last night was indicative of that. Even with a loss like that, he manages to shine through. While other rookies have better numbers than him this year, practically stealing away a Calder award that I believe he has earned, he will be a force in the league for a lot longer than them. Look for him in another 15 years from now still playing for the Carolina Hurricanes with a little grey in his hair, missing a tooth or two and perhaps a scraggly beard that makes pictures of him taken today completely unidentifiable to the man he will become.

3. The better team did not win.

Sure, The Columbus Blue Jackets won the game, pushing their win total to 38 games and their point total to 83 tied with the Carolina Hurricanes for the first wildcard spot. Sure the only thing holding Carolina Back from a first round meeting with the destructive Tampa Bay Lightning is the game in hand they currently hold. This is all true, but at the end of the day, the better team did not win. As seems to be the theme of this entire article, the goalie gods were with Bobrovsky.

But there is more than that. Sure, Bobrovsky was absolutely lights out in the crease as the Carolina Hurricanes again and again tried to hammer him with shots only to get frustrated again and again. But there was an element of puck luck that just was not there for Carolina. Several times, Bobrovsky was saved by an errant stick, a misplaced skate, and on several occasions, the goalposts and crossbars:

At the end of the day, it was just one of those nights for the Carolina Hurricanes. They played solid for most of the game, but could not make up for early mistakes. It was an important game for both teams, more so for Columbus than for Carolina. It was played in a hostile arena in front of a sold out crowd of desperate fans. They were loud, they were obnoxious, and at the end of the day they got exactly what they wanted.

Carolina has not exactly played well in the first games of back to backs this season, especially after they have rested for a couple of days. That goes back to starting the game on time. Luckily for them, they are undefeated in the second game of a back to back since the start of the new year. Perhaps tonight’s game will set this team back on track towards the playoffs.

With a five game homestand coming up and five more chances to Storm Surge with the fans, the Carolina Hurricanes can look back at this game as nothing more than another speed bump on their way to the Playoffs for the first time in almost a decade. It will be a tight race to the finish, but the contestants are falling off, the Devils, Red Wings, and Senators have all been officially eliminated from playoff contention, more teams will fall off in the coming weeks. Carolina Should not be one of them.