Carolina Hurricanes: Drop Important Game against Capitals

The Carolina Hurricanes went into Washington looking for two points and an opportunity to move up into the standings on the national stage. They left empty handed with their playoff aspirations in jeopardy.

The Carolina Hurricanes have just come off a back to back weekend sealing wins against both the Minnesota Wild and the Montreal Canadiens. It is the last week of March, and for the first time in a very long time, they were relevant. This was a team that had proved to the league that they are more than just the “Storm Surge”.

For the first time this season the Carolina Hurricanes were getting a nationally broadcasted game on NBC sports network. (They have had games featured on NHL Network only.) This was their chance to usurp a win from the reigning Stanley Cup champions in front of the Hockey World and set a tone for the rest of the season.

For the most part they they showed that the Carolina Hurricanes are contenders. It was a solid game with plenty of ups and downs for both teams. Anyone who stopped watching after two periods would be hard pressed to tell you which team was more likely to come out on top. Unfortunately for the Carolina Hurricanes, it takes three periods to end a Hockey game.

Even though both teams went into the third tied at one goal apiece, Alex Ovechkin and Washington Capitals came out on top in the final frame to cement their place as the Division leaders. It was the second time in four games that the Carolina Hurricanes lost control of the game in the third period.

Did the Carolina Hurricanes have a good chance to win this game and move closer to a top three spot in the Metro? The first two periods of play strongly suggested that they did. But what happened in that game that allowed the Capitals to win the game in the third period ? What positives can the Hurricanes take? Here are the three top Takeaways from last night’s game.

1. Goaltending won’t bail you out every time

Petr Mrazek saw a total of 27 shots last night and stood on his head for most of the game. But the high powered offense of the Washington Capitals proved too much for the veteran netminder. Even then, he managed to keep the game to within one goal up until the past the halfway point of the third period. Netminding was not the problem in this game, relying on it to win was.

While both teams pushed hard in the first frame and had some excellent high danger chances, it was the Washington Capitals who found the net first on a T.J. Oshie shot. Mrazek had no chance on that puck. the goal could have been avoided if Justin Faulk had simply turned his stick around and deflected the pass from Evgeny Kuznetsov.

Now that one goal did not dictate the game, nor was Faulk the reason the game was lost. That said, blown coverage and lazy play in the defensive zone has come back to bite the Carolina Hurricanes several time now. While both Petr Mrazek and Curtis McElhinney have been playing fantastic lights out hockey in net for most of the season, the Defense needs to return to form.

While they stepped back up in the second frame, there were still too many high danger chances from the Washington Capitals. During the amazing run in January and February it was a combination of excellent netminding and outstanding defense that allowed Carolina to compile points and get back into the playoff picture.

Last night the team did not bail out Petr Mrazek, who despite playing an excellent game was left out to dry several times. At points he had Ovechkin looking to the heavens and wondering what he did to upset the hockey gods who seemed to refuse giving him his 49th goal in his search for another 50+ goal season. Early in the third the hockey gods finally heard his prayers:

That shot was an absolute rocket and in no way on Petr Mrazek. Perhaps Justin Faulk could have closed the distance between himself and Ovechkin and not allow him to get such a good look at net. But again, this goal did not decide the game. The defense allowed three solid high danger shots on Mrazek that were more than likely going to go in. Not to mention the offense couldn’t get much going. Not with how how they decided to enter the zone.

2. Don’t rely on the fore-check to generate offense

Dump and chase. For the most part it has been how the Carolina Hurricanes have generated their offense for most of the year. Their excellent fore-check has allowed them to buzz in the offensive zone against defensively weak teams all season long. But it doesn’t seem to fair well against teams that have better defenses matched with elite offense.

It showed against the Tampa Bay lighting and more recently the Washington Capitals. Both teams have engaged defenses that like to snuff out any attempt at the fore-check and allow their offense to get behind the defense and create breakaways and odd-man rushes. It was exactly this that generated the Oveckin goal.

The dump and chase method of offense has its advantages, it ensures that the puck is spending more time in the offensive zone which would lead to more offense naturally. It also naturally promotes a more physical game, one that the Carolina Hurricanes excel at thanks to players like Andrei Svechnikov and Michael Ferland.

That said, this team is getting better at finding each other and giving their skilled players more chances to be open and play the puck. This generates more high danger offensive opportunities, and when it comes to life on the ice it looks amazing. Unfortunately, it has been a while since we’ve seen this team take those kinds of chances consistently.

If the Carolina Hurricanes were to carry the puck more often than dump and chase, there might be a few more offensive opportunities. As it stands, the dump, chase, and fore-check seems to be the way to go. It does work most of the time, but when facing an elite team like the Lightning or the Capitals it simply will not work.

When The Carolina Hurricanes did take control of the puck and enter the zone with control, they were actually better positioned to generate offensive chances. The only goal on the night for Hurricanes came on a delayed penalty where the Hurricanes carried the puck over the line to avoid a Capitals player from touching it and getting a whistle. That opened the ice for Dougie Hamilton to take a shot and find the net.