Carolina Hurricanes: Three Keys to a Game 3 Victory
The Carolina Hurricanes can set up a sweep of the New York Islanders on Friday by taking care of Business at PNC. Here are our three keys to victory tonight.
On December 30, 2018 the Carolina Hurricanes were an afterthought. A few months shy of an NHL worst eleventh straight season without a post season appearance, when it happens, not if, was the question. Five months and one day later and those same Hurricanes are two wins away from the Eastern Conference Finals.
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After 1-0 and 2-1 victories against the New York Islanders, Carolina is in complete control of their second round series. Those same Hurricanes had only won 15 games through that December 30th date have now won 15 games – six in the playoffs – since March 11th.
Despite all the momentum for Carolina on a downhill trajectory and it looking like nothing can go wrong, there’s a reason why the Islanders are in the second round of the playoffs. That reason is not luck.
Carolina has to keep the momentum in their favor as they return to PNC Arena tonight. The recipe for a 3-0 series lead is not a simple as it may seem. Here are the three keys to earning a 3-0 series lead tonight in Raleigh.
Match the Islanders’ Intensity
Asking for intensity from a team that is finally returning home- the first time since the epic Game 7 win against the Washington Capitals – might seem like a reach. If you cannot get energized and ready in this situation, both as fan and a player, when can you?
But put yourself in the Islanders’ shoes here; a Game 3 loss basically ends your season. Teams trailing 3-0 in NHL history have only won four times and there is only one example of this in MLB and the NBA combined. History, momentum and basic logic is simply not on your side.
Expect the Islanders to come out with everything they have and simply not be rattled by PNC Arena’s expected energy or the hole they are in. What does this mean for Carolina? Fore-checking, big hits, skating hard and winning puck battles on the boards. Little things curtail opposing intensity and creates your own.
Barry Trotz has already set up a standard for the Islanders coming in to PNC Arena: win both games in Carolina. That will be the only way this Islander team can create any momentum to push this series to 6 or 7 games.
"There's always tests and an unseen hand. It's how you respond. I said to them today, we're going to Carolina to win two games. Plain and simple." -Barry Trotz #Isles pic.twitter.com/JVS8L17THs
— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) April 29, 2019
The Islanders have their backs to the wall coming in to two games against a team with a very loud fanbase. The trick is to replicate what Columbus did against the Lightning. Use the home ice advantage to push further, not slow down. The Islanders will push hard. It will be critical to push just as hard.
Next Man Up
Probably the most improbable thing about the 2-1 win Sunday is how few people Carolina actually had going by the end of the night. Trevor Van Riemsdyk, Petr Mrazek and Saku Maenalanen all left the game and did not return.
Curtis McElhinney came to the rescue relieving Mrazek and will once again take the net as Mrazek heals up. McElhinney was an outstanding compliment to Mrazek in the regular season stopping 91.2% of the shots thrown his way. His play will be a storyline in a series where goaltending has dominated.
Filling in for Van Riemsdyk, who is out indefinitely, is an easy slam dunk (Van Riemsdyk storm surge pun intended). Hadyn Fluery was the extra defenseman for this team the entire year and played games 1, 2 and 3 in round 1 for the injured Calvin De Hann. Fluery has played a ton of NHL minutes for a seventh guy on a roster and that experience will be crucial.
Who plays for Maenalanen is the big question leading into tonight. The obvious choices would be Micheal Ferland, Andrei Svechnikov or Jordan Martinook, especially the latter two. If these three can’t go, you turn to the Charlotte Checkers.
Rod Brind'Amour on Ferland: "When he's ready to go, he'll go."
— Michael Smith (@MichaelSmithNC) April 30, 2019
Same with Svechnikov, who needs to feel comfortable after finally getting in a full practice with the team.
Martinook still a possibility for Game 3, even without practicing today.
Aleksi Saarela made his NHL debut in Game 5 against Washington and was used sparingly. Other options include Janne Kuokkanen, who has played 11 games with Carolina in his career and Martin Necas, who started the season with the Hurricanes but is very unlikely to come up. Whomever the 20 guys that suit up for Carolina are tonight, the next man up mentality is in full effect.
The Power-Less Play
There aren’t too many negatives to say about a team in a 2-0 series lead and about one that is 6-1 in it’s last seven playoff games. But there’s a big glaring issue with this Carolina team right now despite the record in the last seven; their power play.
The power play hasn’t scored since Game 3 against Washington and is on a 0-19 drought. In this stretch has been a four minute opportunity and Game 2’s cringe worthy shot-less 1:35 of 5 on 3. To say the power play is in a funk is a massive understatement.
The strength of this team and it’s power play is the blue line. Simply shooting the puck more is not the answer, however. Dougie Hamilton, Justin Faulk and Jaccob Slavin cannot create scoring opportunities without bodies in front of Robin Lehner.
This means more traffic from the Hurricane forwards like Jordan Staal, Justin Williams and Nino Niederreiter. While the game winner in Game 2 was not a power play goal, it’s a pretty good example of how the Hurricanes need to play on the power play.
https://twitter.com/NHLCanes/status/1122862729927241728
When Carolina works their offense through the blue line and gets bodies in front, good things happen. This also sets up rebounds and one-timers from Carolina’s skill players like Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen. Carolina has shown they can win without their power play, but eventually the issues coming with the extra man will bite them.
106. Final. 4. 109. 2
If Carolina can meet these three keys they will be prepared to do to the Islanders exactly what they did to the Penguins. If not, there might be a different story to game 4. Tonight they dictate if Friday is mop up duty or stopping the sinking of a boat.
Related Story. Will Carolina Make New Playoff Memories?. light
Question for CC Readers: Is there any worries about Curtis McElhinney being the man between the pipes?