Carolina Hurricanes: 3 Keys to Break Losing Streak vs. Senators

The Carolina Hurricanes have lost three in a row in regulation to teams below them in the standings. They now see the Ottawa Senators, who are worse than their last three opponents.

The Ottawa Senators host the Hurricanes tonight and they need to turn their ship around, if they want to get into contention with the big boys of the Eastern Conference. They sit second to last in the Atlantic Division, with 11 points, compared to teams in the 20s like the Buffalo Sabres, Boston Bruins, and Toronto Maple Leafs.

They hoisted a victory over the Los Angeles Kings two nights ago in overtime, with an overtime goal from Jean-Gabriel Pageau, who has been hot as of late. Pageau has a goal in his last three games, leads the Senators in goals with 7 and plus-minus with 15. Connor Brown leads in assists at 10 and points at 12, he’s second to Pageau in plus-minus with 4.

The Hurricanes have, for the most part, outplayed two of their last three opponents in games against the New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers. The Hurricanes have not went into intermission with a lead since November 1st against the Detroit Red Wings. Untimely goals beat them against New Jersey, Henrik Lundqvist stole the game for New York.

The Hurricanes dominated possession, faceoffs, and shots, yet could not score more than 2 goals and ultimately gave up 4, to lose the game to the Rangers. With that many chances, this game should’ve been a blowout.

Some tweaks to the Hurricanes game could finally see a victory break this long losing streak. Here are your three keys to breaking that losing streak against the Ottawa Senators.

2. Net-Front Presence

Yes. Take out the goalie’s eyes, and no, not gouge Anderson or Nilsson’s eyes out, but block his view. Lundqvist had a confident night against the Hurricanes, because he could see almost all near 50 shots he got. Every save he made, he became even stronger.

Although a high quantity of shots on goal can be great, feeding weak shots to a goalie can make that goalie want to make the highlight reel of the night all about them. Do not allow Nilsson or Anderson to get that fame.

Erik Haula gets to the front of the net, like no other Hurricane has on this team in a long while. With him being out with an injury, it’s evident that the net-front presence is not the same as when he was here. The powerplay lines had to be mixed up and the roles have to change.

Haula’s injury is a big hit to this team’s powerplay and even-strength net-front. The only imaginable players who can fill this role is Nino Niederreiter and Jordan Staal, who must play this role better.

Staying in one spot and barely adjusting is lazy and allowing defenders to easily cover you. Players who get dirty in front of the goalie must move around, be unpredictable, and make any puck that gets to the slot a nightmare.

3. Losing Streak Motivation

A team losing three games in a row is never pretty. Two of those three games being close enough, one of which that should’ve been a confirmed win.

The New York Islanders just only recently got their 10-game win streak broken, by the Pittsburgh Penguins who now have also surpassed the Hurricanes in the Metropolitan Division, the Washington Capitals continues to be the best in the division. No matter if the Hurricanes want to keep up or not, the league keeps moving.

The Hurricanes simply need to outwork and outperform the Senators. They have a much stronger team, when it comes to star skill and better depth on all four lines.

Simple tweaks to small things like net-front presence and winning puck battles to continue possession, with a nitty-gritty desperation playstyle will do wonders for the Hurricanes.

Being better conditioned under Rod Brind’Amour, they need to use that endurance to their advantage. Brind’Amour has said after the game with the New York Rangers that the game was played well, but the results weren’t good.

Expect a good game from Eetu Luostarinen, who looked good against the Rangers and will seek to impress to attempt to stay with the group from Raleigh. Hard work is rewarded with more ice time, he should be able to earn that respect early in the game.

Game Notes

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Potential Goalie Matchup

Carolina Hurricanes:

Petr Mraz

Both the Senators and Hurricanes will play a desperate game to fight for their spot in the standings, it should be a high-scoring game and a prediction will see a close win for the Hurricanes.

Question for Cardiac Cane Readers: Will the Hurricanes finally break their losing streak tonight?