Carolina Hurricanes: Three Keys to Game 3 vs Capitals

The Carolina Hurricanes lost Game 2 to the refe- ahem, Washington Capitals 4-3 in overtime with a goal from Brooks Orpik to give the Capitals a 2-0 series lead. The series is coming back home to Raleigh, so what happened and what can change?

First and foremost, this series is far from over. The Carolina Hurricanes will not go down without a fight to the bitter end. Game 2, similar to Game 1, did not start well. The Hurricanes found themselves down two early with tallies from Nicklas Backstrom and TJ Oshie.

Backstrom with a sick feed from Washington’s captain, Alexander Ovechkin and TJ Oshie with a highlight reel goal that trended on Twitter because of a stick-lift with his leg that allowed him to cut the net and backhand it in.

At the end of the first period, the Hurricanes started playing more into battling for the puck on the boards and forcing turnovers in the Capitals zone, this did wonders for them. As hockey coaches will say often, “get pucks in deep, get guys in front”, the Hurricanes did exactly that and got Lucas Wallmark his first career playoff goal to cut the Capitals lead in half.

In the second period, the Hurricanes continued their play hard-pressure play. Michael Ferland was given a five-minute match penalty for hitting Nic Dowd. It’s clear now that there was no shoulder-to-head contact and the head was hit by Ferland’s back.

Most hockey fans have shown their concern for the call, not just Carolina fans, even some Washington fans admit it was a bad call. Rod Brind’Amour lost his patience on the referees and gave them a piece of his mind.

It’s clear now that despite speculation of Alexander Ovechkin having a hearing for his head hit to Brock McGinn, Dougie Hamilton on elbowing Evgeny Kuznetsov, and Michael Ferland hitting Nic Dowd, that nothing is going to be done about it. This is an agreeable call from most fans. There won’t be any suspensions.

Continuing on without Ferland in the second period, the Hurricanes slowed the momentum of Washington down again and again, Sebastian Aho finally broke through after 15 games without a goal and it’s his first career playoff goal, as well. Remember, once he breaks through, he starts hammering on offensive performance in games from then on.

In the third period, Tom Wilson breaks the tie and gives Washington a 3-2 lead until the Carolina Hurricanes finally show that their power-play has improved from last game with Jordan Staal deflecting a shot from Dougie Hamilton at the point to tie things up and bring Game 2 to overtime late. Petr Mrazek gave us two ten bell saves near the ending of the period that could have sealed this game for the Capitals before overtime.

It didn’t take long before the game ended where Brett Pesce lost his stick in the neutral zone and got a stick from Teuvo Teravainen who then became defenseless and could only attempt the incoming shot. Brett Pesce, instead of attacking Kuznetsov behind the net, to prevent him coming in front to take a shot, allowed Kuznetsov time to see the entire offensive zone to make any play he wanted.

A smart play by Kuznetsov, passing to Brooks Orpik, who was being defended by a forward without a stick, Teravainen to put in the game-winner to take a 2-0 series lead for the Washington Capitals.

The chance to get a road win and being able to close this series with just winning the three possible home games is gone for now. Losing the first two games on the road makes the the next two home games must-win games for momentum’s sake. This series is far from over and the Carolina Hurricanes will fight to the last man. The Hurricanes need a few things to ensure that they’re not on the edge of getting swept, cutting this series lead in half. Here they are.

From the three keys to Game 2 to now, the three keys to Game 3, the Carolina Hurricanes have definitely improved on their penalty-kill with limiting the shooting opportunities and not allowing the Capitals to have enough time to make the smartest of plays. The Hurricanes killed four out of four penalties, including a major penalty because of the Ferland match penalty.

The penalty-kill was perfect in Game 2 and all that needs to be said about it is that just keep it up but do better, if possible. Allowing less time than before, allowing less shots than before, not even allowing offensive zone entry, etc. The power-play was nowhere near perfect but it definitely showed up, with the Capitals taking five penalties and the Hurricanes striking on one of them.

The Carolina Hurricanes need to use their speed on the power-play, especially on a 5-on-3, like they had in Game 2. Not enough shots, puck movement isn’t fast enough and when it is, it doesn’t connect and creates turnovers. The Hurricanes just need to move the puck quickly around as they can, get the Capitals defense to move, and shoot with guys in front screening Braden Holtby.

Similar to the favored calls to the Capitals at Capital One Arena, perhaps the favored calls go to the home team so they can appease the crowd. If that’s the case, the Hurricanes need to bite the Capitals on the power-play every time they can.

A common thing Game 1 and Game 2 share in this series is that the Washington Capitals struck first, well, at least twice in both games and forced the Hurricanes have to climb a hill to get the game back even. In Game 1, the Hurricanes gave up three and had nothing to challenge it until it was too late, only being able to get two then lose the game to a Lars Eller empty-netter. Game 2, they came back to send it to overtime and then still lost the game.

The Carolina Hurricanes need to set the tone, strike early. They need to score first and show the Capitals that PNC Arena is their house and they will not be pushed around. They need to play on their toes and not their heels, stay in their zone, get guys in front, and get pucks to the net. The Hurricanes will likely get Holtby off of his game if they can get one past him first, if not early.

Of course, striking first should not be where you stop, but you have to start somewhere. A strong start will get these offensive lines rolling and they can focus on adding to that lead. Sebastian Aho recently broke his 15-game goal drought and perhaps he gets his line rolling. Andrei Svechnikov has been on fire, Jordan Staal is creating offense. Hopefully one of them gets the train chugging.

Despite key defensive breakdowns, bad goals, and offensive bloopers in the first two games, it’s time to move on. The Carolina Hurricanes need to get off the hump from the first two games, it’s a new outlook now.

We, as fans, are upset, frustrated, and disappointed for Game 1 where the comeback came so close, in Game 2 where the game was one goal away from going home to Raleigh with momentum on the Hurricanes side. That has to be overlooked and the hype and crowd needs to be loud. It’s playoff hockey and anything can happen, let’s get optimistic.

Question for CC Readers: Who do you think will light the lamp first in Game 3 to give the Hurricanes the needed first tally?