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.