Carolina Hurricanes Suffer Second Straight Loss to Ducks

Familiar Names on the Scoresheet

Outside of Fleury’s first NHL goal, Carolina Hurricanes fans were treated to more of the same. Once again, it was Haula cashing in on the power play from right out in front of the net. He was assisted by Teuvo Teravainen and Dougie Hamilton. It seems to be that these are the only guys capable of converting right now.

I said in my game preview that in order for the Hurricanes to beat the Ducks, they were going to need Sebastian Aho and Nino Niederreiter to connect at least once. The two had a handful of shifts in which they applied some pressure, but in the end it was more of the same.

Aho was buzzing at points, and he got his looks. Niederreiter took another minor penalty, and he whiffed on a golden opportunity from the dead slot. I still think it’s too early to panic regarding these two, but each passing game without a tangible impact adds to the concern.

Like I said, they’ve generally looked good. It’s a matter of finishing. I think the catch here is that because the team hasn’t been able to look up and down the lineup for scoring, they couldn’t get into a rhythm last night. Coach Brind’Amour echoed this sentiment.

From the onset, the Ducks proved to be too fast, too structured, and too opportunistic for the Carolina Hurricanes last night. Even with a surge of inspiration following the Haula injury, the Hurricanes couldn’t rebound. Thankfully, the team is off until next Thursday when they’ll take on the Columbus Blue Jackets. Hopefully, that will be enough time to rest up and work out the kinks.

Question for CC Readers:  What was your main takeaway from the game versus the Ducks?