Cardiac Cane
Fansided

Carolina Hurricanes: Three Takeaways from Intense Game One Win

By Tony Trotmann

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 26: The Carolina Hurricanes celebrate their 1-0 overtime victory over the New York Islanders in Game One of the Eastern Conference Second Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Barclays Center on April 26, 2019 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 26: The Carolina Hurricanes celebrate their 1-0 overtime victory over the New York Islanders in Game One of the Eastern Conference Second Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Barclays Center on April 26, 2019 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 4
Next
BROOKLYN, NY – APRIL 26: New York Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield (24) stays strong in front of his net and takes down Carolina Hurricanes right wing Nino Niederreiter (21) during game one of round two of the Stanley Cup Playoffs between the New York Islanders and the Carolina Hurricanes on April 26, 2019 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY. (Photo by John McCreary/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
BROOKLYN, NY – APRIL 26: New York Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield (24) stays strong in front of his net and takes down Carolina Hurricanes right wing Nino Niederreiter (21) during game one of round two of the Stanley Cup Playoffs between the New York Islanders and the Carolina Hurricanes on April 26, 2019 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY. (Photo by John McCreary/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

1. Penalty-Kill Good, Power-Play Not So Good

The Carolina Hurricanes killed off every penalty they took in this game. They took five minor penalties and the Islanders being on the power-play four times and a 4-on-4 for two minutes as well. Jordan Staal took two penalties and they were stilled killed off without one of this team’s major penalty-killing centers. In Game 7 of the first round, they also killed off every penalty and tallied a shorthanded goal.

As noted in the Keys to Game 1, the Islanders like to play a cycling offensive game, especially on the powerplay. The Hurricanes have played well against the mechanics of the Islanders powerplay and make the possession time of the Islanders very limited and they do not give them lots of time to think, forcing turnovers and even shorthanded rushes.

This penalty-kill has proven to be deadly many times so far in the playoffs and it’s always improving.

The penalty-kill is excellent, in fact perfect in this game and the last. The powerplay, however, is not good, and the last time they scored anything near a powerplay goal is in Game 6 of the first round with Warren Foegele scoring seconds after the powerplay ends, technically still a man up.

In Game 7 of the first round, they scored more shorthanded goals than they did powerplay goals, one to none. In Game 1 against the Islanders, they scored zero goals on the powerplay on four of their opportunities.

Although, it may seem the Hurricanes have found alternatives to make up for their abysmal powerplay, with five-on-five and penalty-kill performances, if the powerplay was good as well, they could win future games that rely on one or a few more goals, they can build offensive momentum, that is needed against this stellar Islanders defensive core.

Perhaps Rod Brind’Amour needs to change up the powerplay units or the players on those units currently just need to change the way they approach the powerplay.

Home/Hurricanes News