Carolina Hurricanes: Bruins Expose Brind’Amour’s One Fatal Flaw

The Carolina Playoff push has come to a head. Down three games to the Bruins in a series that has put much of the Hurricanes discrepancies under a microscope, highlighting the fatal flaw that may cost them a chance at immortality.

Rod Brind’Amour is worthy of Jack Adams consideration. The team has been pushed to their absolute limit this postseason and have proven their worth to the NHL as legitimate contenders. They have been the story of the postseason as the only wildcard team still standing among the final four.

Justin Williams has established his place as an All-Time Hurricane great, and this roster has far exceeded the expectations of many hockey pundits. 2019 has been a success for the Hurricanes any way you slice it. Yet, there is the feeling that this team had the talent, drive, and teamwork to go even further.

However when the team got to the Eastern Conference Finals they hit a brick wall and have not managed to secure a win. Even when they went home and looked for some home cooking to get them back into the series, they failed again. They were supposed to make easy work out of a tired Bruins team while they got healthier.

The question then becomes; why didn’t they? The series that has unfolded against the Boston Bruins has revealed what might be the most glaring weakness of this team to date and their future contention depends on Rod Brind’ Amour addressing what is his greatest bane

How To Fix It?

There is really no merit in armchair coaching, and I am in no way disillusioned to believe that I know more than the Head Coach of the Carolina Hurricanes, perhaps my favorite athlete of all-time. That being said, it would be irresponsible of me to criticize without first seeing the potential for a solution.

The ineffectiveness of the power play is not because of a lack of talent on this team, these players have proven that’s not the case considering how well they can play five on five. The roster has a multitude of players capable of burying the puck with regularity.

It’s not a coaching issue either; Brind’Amour has been a revelation in molding the play of this roster. Assistant Dean Chynoweth has produced maybe the most effective and dominant defense corps. in this years playoffs, and Jeff Daniels maintains his winning pedigree to help develop talent.

Many of us, however, can still predict what a Hurricanes power play looks like. The Defensemen try to gain space until they move into their 1-3-1 set which inevitably ends with a hard slap shot by another defensemen amidst one or two players screening the goalie; followed by players crashing for a rebound.

This has been widely ineffective this postseason, mostly because Goaltenders are swallowing these shots. The solution is not to simply abandon that option but by implementing the talented wingers on this team to a greater degree. when they enter their 1-3-1, the Defensemen need to get the puck to a winger on the half-wall and let them go to work.

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Think about how confident Dougie Hamilton, Justin Faulk, and Jaccob Slavin are with their shot. This mentality needs to be shared by the likes of Sebastian Aho,  Teuvo Teravainen, and Andrei Svechnikov. These players need to take the pass with the intent of either crashing the net, taking their shot, or dishing to a player on the opposite wing.

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Being confident and taking a chance at any portion of open net could help jump start this power play because of their skill. The talent on the wing is one of the most underrated aspects of this team, and maintaining the presence of big bodies like Jordan Staal, Micheal Ferland, and Nino Niederreiter could help with shots that don’t allow the goalie to fully square up.

Regardless of what approach Brind’Amour takes to solving this problem, there is no doubt that this is a problem. All postseason long the Hurricanes have been able to overlook their poor power play because of their dominant defense, and their discipline. Both of these qualities have, more or less, been neutralized by a highly skilled and veteran savvy Bruins team.

If we know anything about Rod Brind’Amour, we know that no challenge is to big. The first true test of his potential longevity as a head coach is addressing what has plagued this team for years.

But If anyone can do it, 17 can.

Question for CC Readers: How would you go about fixing the Carolina Hurricanes Power play?