Carolina Hurricanes: 3 Keys To Recoil Against Blackhawks

After three losses in a row on the road, the Carolina Hurricanes return home. The struggling Chicago Blackhawks also want some glory after their mediocre home-stand.

The road trip was abysmal for the Hurricanes. They went 1-2-1, with the lone win against the Los Angeles Kings, and losses to the Columbus Blue Jackets, San José Sharks, and Anaheim Ducks. They can finally play in Raleigh again where most of their wins are from.

The bad news comes that the Chicago Blackhawks have also been struggling, they had a long seven-game home-stand where they only pull off two wins. The Blackhawks need to win this game badly to stay in the race with the front-runners of the Western Conference.

It’s an odd situation for both teams, because this should be their “comeback game”. The Blackhawks have lost three in a row at home, the Hurricanes have lost three in a row on the road.

Two days ago, the Blackhawks fell to the Philadelphia Flyers. Time and time again, the Hawks showed that their defense is far below-average. Their forwards don’t back-check well enough, nor do the defensemen play a tight enough game to win games. Patrick Kane may be one of the best players in all of Blackhawks history, but his two-way game is definitely by far not one of the reasons.

With the Hurricanes and Blackhawks ready to lock sticks soon, we look at what the Hurricanes need to do to pull off the needed victory. That brings us to the 3 Keys to Recoil against the Blackhawks.

1. Speed Game

The Blackhawks have been an odd team so far. Their forwards bring a speed game, but not enough of their defensemen can keep up with the forwards. Brent Seabrook, who used to be a great piece for the Blackhawks, is now a player who has one of the worst contracts in the National Hockey League ($6,875,000 AAV).

New additions Olli Maatta and Calvin de Haan (uh oh) have been decent for the Blackhawks. Neither have a negative plus-minus and both have gave their forwards a decent defense-to-offense transition.

Robin Lehner has played solid for the Blackhawks, but his defense actually does not get much credit for it. No matter if you put Lehner or Corey Crawford in, a subpar defense won’t allow you to save everything. The Carolina Hurricanes may have the Hawks’ number.

The Hurricanes love to get the defensemen involved, especially Dougie Hamilton. Whether the shot goes directly in from the point or not, gritty forwards like Jordan Staal can take advantage of the space that will be afforded to them and deflect shots or grab a rebound.

Two nights ago, the Blackhawks defense looked like amateurs against a professional team. The Philadelphia Flyers have basically allowed the Hurricanes coaching staff a recipe for victory.

2. Top Forwards Jumping in

Sebastian Aho finally scored a goal against an actual goalie in net, against the Columbus Blue Jackets two nights ago. This should hopefully spark Aho into what he’s being paid big bucks for; putting up big numbers.

Rod Brind’Amour is expected to shake up the lines. The line featuring Aho should probably be seeing a shake-up, as well. Nino Niederreiter and Aho may both have problems because they share a line together, they share the frustration and pressure together. Separating them onto different lines may help.

The Hurricanes need to have their top-line get involved more. Although Hamilton is one hell of an offensive defenseman, he cannot be scoring double what Aho is scoring. If this problem doesn’t bring a loss today, it will continue to be a problem, if not solved.

The game in Columbus should be a wake-up call for the star-line. Aho was definitely enthusiastic, finally breaking through in the new season. This could spark his linemates and a good amount of the roster, to put the pressure off.

When it comes to inefficient lines, there is also the special teams problem. If the top-line forwards can be sparked up, perhaps the special teams can support that jump.

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• The Southeast Rookie Showcase Will Be a Good Look at Carolina’s Future
• Noesen Ready To Provide Depth For Canes

Gameday Notes

• Puck Drop: 7:00 ET, Nationwide Arena
• TV: Fox Sports Carolinas, NHL.TV
• Radio: 99.9 The Fan
• Uniform: Road Whites
• Potential Lines:
  •  Svechnikov– Aho – Teravainen
  • Niederreiter – Staal–Warren Foegele 
  • Ryan Dzingel–Haula–Martin Necas
  •  McGinn–  Wallmark– Gibbons
  • Jaccob Slavin – Dougie Hamilton
  • Joel Edmundson – Brett Pesce
  • Jake Gardiner–Trevor van Riemsdyk
• Starting Goalies:
  • Carolina Hurricanes: Petr Mrazek
  • Chicago Blackhawks: Robin Lehner (unconfirmed)

A game at 1:00 PM Eastern Time is not common for the Carolina Hurricanes, but that’s the time of the puck drop for the game against the Blackhawks. The Hurricanes plan to have on-ice trick or treating after the game.

Question for Cardiac Cane Readers: Will the powerplay break through tonight for the Carolina Hurricanes?