Carolina Hurricanes Drop Game for Second Time this Season to Sharks

In the second edition of Canes After Dark, the Carolina Hurricanes fell to the San Jose Sharks. What went wrong in the Hurricanes second game on their California road trip?

Last night’s game against San Jose was a tough one to get through. The Carolina Hurricanes were playing their second game in one of their many back to back series of games this season. And boy howdy did it show. The team looked gassed. Let’s take a look at what exactly happened.

The starters for the game were Andrei Svechnikov, Brock McGinn, Jaccob Slavin, Dougie Hamilton James Reimer, and Jordan Staal. Shortly after the first period began, Sharks goaltender Martin Jones had a nice save against Teuvo Teravainen. Patrick Marleau then went to take a shot and ended up hittng Reimer’s mask. He ended up taking off his mask which stopped play for a bit.

Evander Kane had his first goal of the night at the 11:24 mark. Which was quickly followed up by a goal from Dougie Hamiton. Who is leading NHL defensemen in goals right now. A questionable call was made when Dylan Gambrell scored a goal for the Sharks at 7:43 but was overturned for highsticking. Didn’t really look like it on the replay but I’ll take it.

Then Evander Kane decided to go off scoring two poweplay goals. Completing his second career hat trick. In the first period no less. Both of them were scored while Svech and Nino were in the box for tripping.

The second period was a bit less eventful. “Steady Eddy” Joel Edmundson had a good break up shortly before Jaccob Slavin went into the box for, you guessed it, tripping. Barclay Goodrow scored and unassisted snapshot at the 14:37 mark. The Hurricanes powerplay failed to score on both powerplay opportunities they had during the second. One of which was a 5-3.

The Hurricanes didn’t fair much better in the third period. Nino went back into the penalty box for tripping again. Erik Haula was able to score his fifth goal of the season to get the Canes within two goals with just under five minute left in the game. However the comeback dream was put to rest when Tomas Hertl scored an empty net goal to seal the 5-2 win for the Sharks.

Like previously mentioned, the Hurricanes looked exhausted coming off a game the previous night. Whereas the Sharks had a few days to rest up beforehand. But that’s no excuse for so many careless penalties.

Which was ultimately the downfall of the team in this game. Their 5-5 play wasn’t all that bad. It was the special teams play that was the killing blow tonight. They have got to stay out of the box.

More from Cardiac Cane

• 2023 Southeast Rookie Showcase: Takeaways from the Canes’ Strong Showing in Florida
• Week Two Coverage Of College Hockey In NC
• Derek Stepan Ends His On Ice Career As A Hurricane
• The Southeast Rookie Showcase Will Be a Good Look at Carolina’s Future
• Noesen Ready To Provide Depth For Canes

Another big issue is not being able to capitalize on the power play. They are now 0-13 over their last four games. Like previously stated, they even had a five on three opportunity last night and they failed to capitalize. They have got to start looking for new opportunities to score on the powerplay fast, or they could fall into the same rut as last year with their performance on the PP.

Some positive takeaways from the game however were of course Douglas Hamilton. He’s continuing to be the best player on the Hurricanes right now. Haula also continued his hot streak. Joel Edmundson looked good as well. Also, not counting the empty net goal at the very end of the game, the Hurricanes did hold the Sharks to only one goal in 40 minutes.

https://twitter.com/Canes/status/1184669265888272384?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1184669265888272384&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcardiaccane.com%2Fwp-admin%2Fpost-new.php

Reiemer also had some really good saves this game which shouldn’t be overlooked. He had a particular big save just before Kane scored his second goal of the night.

The Carolina Hurricanes do have a day off as they travel back down to southern California to take on the Ducks. Hopefully some rest will do some good for them as they put tonight’s loss behind them and try to get back to their winning ways.

Question for CC readers: What was your biggest take away from the game?