Carolina Hurricanes: Three Keys to Starting Round Two with a Win

The Carolina Hurricanes are coming from an amazing series win in Game 7 at Capital One Arena against the former Stanley Cup Champions, Washington Capitals. Their next step in the quest for the Stanley Cup is seeing the New York Islanders at Barclays Center for Game 1.

The Carolina Hurricanes have slayed the dragon, they dethroned the Stanley Cup Champions, the Washington Capitals in an intense game that ultimately went to a double overtime in Game 7.

The start to the game was déjà vu for the Hurricanes, much like the previous three games they played at Capital One Arena and they turned it around to stay alive and move on to the second round. What happened?

In the first period, the Hurricanes went down 0-2 early on the scoreboard with tallies from Andre Burakovsky and Tom Wilson. The Hurricanes played poorly early on and it showed, Burakovsky’s goal was from a bad turnover in the defensive zone and Wilson’s goal came from Alexander Ovechkin, who forced his way through the Hurricanes defense and got on the highlight reel early in the night.

The Hurricanes didn’t back down and this team’s leadership motivated this team to fight back. In the second period, Sebastian Aho wanted the puck as he tapped his stick calling for a pass from Brett Pesce on a shorthanded rush, Aho put the Hurricanes on the board with a shorthanded goal from his own rebound.

Despite Evgeny Kuznetsov scoring his first goal of the series, the Hurricanes momentum remained with the offense despite the defensive breakdown on the Kuznetsov goal as it was a 3-on-1. Teuvo Teravainen would score from continued effort in puck battles that saw Teravainen get a great release using John Carlson as a screen.

Jordan Staal would keep the comeback rolling as he scores with a nice snapshot from the bottom of the faceoff circle, that was almost identical to the Eric Staal game-winning goal in Game 7 against the New Jersey Devils in 2009. Brock McGinn would save the day as he clears almost a sure goal that leaked through Petr Mrazek out of the goal crease with only minutes remaining in the game.

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In overtime and double overtime, the Hurricanes dominated play for the most part, they led the Capitals in shots by more than double with 18-6 shots in favor of the Hurricanes.

With a stellar penalty-kill all game, it came up big again in double overtime which gave the Hurricanes even more of a confidence boost, ultimately leading up to a great shot by Mr. Game 7, Justin Williams recognizing McGinn in front, who scores the series-winning goal in double overtime to send the Hurricanes to the second round.

The Hurricanes have done it and they’ve done it in the most Hurricanes way possible, in a thrilling, high-paced Game 7 that saw their Game 7 record become 5-0. The Carolina Hurricanes can punch their ticket to the Eastern Conference Finals if they can dispatch the New York Islanders with four wins.

Starting early is better than starting later, and early would be Game 1. It would save us fans some gray hairs. What do the Hurricanes need to do to start this series strong? Here are the keys to the island.