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.

1. Punish Them for Mistakes

The New York Islanders lead all teams in this season’s playoffs in goals against, they have only gave up 1.50 on average per game. That is phenomenal and the Hurricanes will need to figure this team out early. They need to punish the Islanders for mistakes quickly and use odd-man rushes to get quality chances on Robin Lehner, who has been excellent so far.

In the series between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the New York Islanders, the Islanders swept the Penguins and limited the Penguins to only one goal in three out of the four games they played.

Despite the stars like Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel, the Islanders have shown us that they are quick to repair their defensive mistakes and figure teams out relatively fast. The Penguins scored three goals in Game 1 but the Islanders studied this team and ended the Penguins offensive success in Games 2 and after.

Although the Hurricanes should figure out the Islanders in Game 1 early, the Islanders are quick to adapt and Rod Brind’Amour should be cautious of that. What might work in Game 1 might not work in the games after, the Hurricanes will need to adapt with the Islanders as long as it gets them the win.

Barry Trotz‘s coaching skill has been obvious this year and year’s past, with leading the Capitals to a Stanley Cup and this year, bringing a non-playoff team to a Stanley Cup contender. This will be a good battle of two Jack Adams coaching candidates.

The Islanders have scored 3.50 goals on average per game in the playoffs so far, with their four games against the Penguins. The Islanders in the first round have shown a preference to a possessive game with a decent amount of quality shots rather than a high quantity of shots.

Compared to the Capitals, the Islanders are fond of cycling around in the offensive zone to break their defensive opponents. The Hurricanes will need to play with speed to combat the cycling play of the Islanders.

2. Figure Out Lehner

This comes with the assumption that Barry Trotz keeps the ball rolling with Robin Lehner over Thomas Greiss. Lehner has been rolling as he started in all four games for the Islanders against the Penguins. The question comes up to if Trotz starts Greiss because of his experience in the regular season against the Hurricanes as he started in all four games against the Hurricanes, winning three and losing one.

This key is compatible with either goaltender. The Hurricanes need to figure out the weak-spots of the goaltender in net early. In the series with the Capitals, the Hurricanes figured out, if possible, aim for Braden Holtby‘s blocker side and it worked. This is no different, the Hurricanes need to solve Lehner early as he leads in both goals against average with 1.47 and save percentage with .956%.

The Islanders defense can be given lots of credit for Lehner’s success so far in the playoffs and even in the regular season. That is also the case for Mrazek, Lehner and Mrazek both have for the most part, saved the shots they’re expected to get as the defense limits the quality of the shots they receive. Lehner has been hot and the Hurricanes need to try rocking him with an early goal if possible.

Most of the Penguins goals in the first round against the Islanders involved shots from the point that had forwards screening Lehner in front. With defensemen like Jaccob Slavin, Justin Faulk, and Dougie Hamilton who can contribute offensively, the Hurricanes can definitely take quality shots from the point and the forwards have played decent in front of goaltenders to put up a screen in front.