Three Hurricanes Takeaways from another gut wrenching loss to the New York Rangers
The frustrations continue for the Carolina Hurricanes as they fall once again to another Metropolitan Division rival. This time the New York Rangers.
The Carolina Hurricanes cannot seem to buy a win in the month of November ever since they opened it up with the defeat of the Detroit Red Wings. Now four games into the 15 game slotted month they have lost three in a row and have all but lost their grip on a playoff spot in a suddenly heavily contested Metro division.
The latest loss comes at the hands of the New York Rangers. But mostly it comes at the hands of the veteran goaltender Henrik Lundqvist who single handedly kept his team in the game after seeing 47 shots, 22 of which came in the first period alone, allowing only two past him.
This loss has pushed the Carolina Hurricanes, which once sat at the top of the league, all the way down to the second wild card spot. With only two injuries to players that play in the bottom six forward lines, three consecutive losses to the basement of the division has left a lot to be desired by Rod Brind’amour and by the fans.
The question becomes, are there any takeaways from this game that we can use to move forward into the month and perhaps build upon what we already know is good with this team? Lets find out as we break down the three takeaways from the game last night.
1. Hurricanes are Generating Plenty of shots
The Carolina Hurricanes offense last night came alive against the Rangers in the first period. They did everything right. Passed the puck cleanly and crisply. They entered the zone and stayed there. They generated chances all night. The puck was in the Rangers zone for so long they could have pulled Petr Mrazek from his end for an extra skater then opened up the Carolina zone for public skating.
They only thing they didn’t do for the entirety of a first period that had more shots than the rangers generated all game was score. The blame for that could be placed on a single man. Problem is he wasn’t wearing a Hurricanes sweater. Henrik Lundqvist made stop after stop after stop.
These were not easy shots either. Hank exploded out to meet the puck when needed and moved laterally on a dime to make every stop he needed to make. Had the Carolina Hurricanes managed to score once or twice in the first period, I would be writing a completely different post game article.
Looking back at each of the many attempts, there is a level of patience that is present by Carolina to try and create the perfect shooting opportunity and they get them. However Hank is either telepathic or just so good against that kind of offense that he read each and every single attempt to make the save. Perhaps it’s time to generate chaos not offense in order to score against guys like him?
But they failed to do so. The period ended shortly after Artemi Panarin did what the entire Carolina offense failed to do, score a goal. While Carolina did manage to sneak one past Hank in the second period of the stick of Dougie Hamilton, they also allowed the Rangers to do the same once again.
The third period saw the Rangers expand their lead to two goals before Sebastian Aho brought them back within one. However the Rangers managed to shut the door on an empty netter off the stick of Adam Fox as the rangers managed to generate a forecheck for the first time in the game at the most inopportune time for the Hurricanes.
That marked the ninth consecutive period the Carolina Hurricanes have gone into the locker room from without the lead. There are getting worn down mentally and it has affected their physical game. Perhaps a mental reset is needed before going into Ottawa.
2. The Defense Evaporated.
The best defense is a good offense. Not when playing hockey. While the Carolina Hurricanes played well in the Rangers Zone they failed to do very much against them while in their own zone. For a team with supposedly the best defense in the league, their efforts against the rangers were pretty embarrassing.
While guys like Jaccob Slavin and Brett Pesce did their best to keep the puck moving out of the defensive zone, others like Jake Gardiner and Trevor van Riemsdyk looked to be a pace behind the minimal Rangers offense. The results lead to the Rangers taking a lead into the locker room at the end of each period. Even Dougie Hamilton looks to be skating just to skate:
Right time, right place. 💪 pic.twitter.com/vbL86M6Jop
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) November 8, 2019
To be honest, I never want to see that version of the defense again. Perhaps it is time to shake up the defensive pairings and put Haydn Fleury back into the lineup. It’s no secret that the Carolina Hurricanes are trying to offload one of their defenders for some offensive help, perhaps the answer to who that person who gets traded should be needs to expand a little.
The offense doesn’t get a free pass here either. Just because they were playing well in the Rangers zone doesn’t excuse their complete lack of discipline in the defensive one. I have so many questions when it came to the defense in this game. For example just who was supposed to be on Pavel Buchnevich and why was he just allowed to do this:
'Scuse me, sir. pic.twitter.com/bvuJNbQMyb
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) November 8, 2019
If you are reading frustration in my voice it’s because I am frustrated. This team IS much better than the last three games. They need to figure out what they need to do to play better regardless of who is in net on BOTH ends of the ice. Quite frankly, the Carolina Hurricanes that started the season need to return in more ways than one.
This loss marks the first in PNC Arena for Petr Mrazek since February.
3. Is patience really a virtue?
The Carolina Hurricanes were patient with their opportunities all night, opting to pass instead of shoot if the opportunity wasn’t perfect. They got plenty of perfect opportunities but Henrik Lundqvist was there for each and every one of them. The two times they scored? They just happened to throw it at the net.
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So is patience with the puck really a virtue or should they throw it at the net and hope the chaos and the net front presence is more than enough to beat guys like Henrik who are skilled enough to understand when to show and then shut down perfect shooting opportunities? Honestly in today’s hockey there are no perfect opportunities unless its an empty net.
What the Hurricanes are doing when it comes to attacking the net is surgical and precise and against a team as tired as the Rangers were last night, it should have torn up the scoreboard. This SHOULD have been a route of the rangers. Veteran experience in the form of Henrik said otherwise. Rumor has it that the New York Ranger fan base isn’t having it from the older and somewhat wiser netminder, but last night should have been an indicator that what they have is something special.
The Carolina Hurricanes have some easy matchups up ahead, but the lessons learned today last night from the New York Rangers is something that should be applied moving forward. Hopefully they look back at the taps and realize that sometimes patience is not a virtue.
Next Up: The Carolina Hurricanes go visit the Ottawa Senators.
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