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Carolina Hurricanes: Victory Over Minnesota, These Three Keys Will Bring

By Matthew Nidiffer |
SAINT PAUL, MN - NOVEMBER 16: Warren Foegele #13 of the Carolina Hurricanes and Jordan Greenway #18 of the Minnesota Wild battle for the puck during the game at the Xcel Energy Center on November 16, 2019 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn/NHLI via Getty Images)
SAINT PAUL, MN - NOVEMBER 16: Warren Foegele #13 of the Carolina Hurricanes and Jordan Greenway #18 of the Minnesota Wild battle for the puck during the game at the Xcel Energy Center on November 16, 2019 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn/NHLI via Getty Images)
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SAINT PAUL, MN – NOVEMBER 16: Warren Foegele #13 of the Carolina Hurricanes and Jordan Greenway #18 of the Minnesota Wild battle for the puck during the game at the Xcel Energy Center on November 16, 2019 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn/NHLI via Getty Images)
SAINT PAUL, MN – NOVEMBER 16: Warren Foegele #13 of the Carolina Hurricanes and Jordan Greenway #18 of the Minnesota Wild battle for the puck during the game at the Xcel Energy Center on November 16, 2019 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn/NHLI via Getty Images) /

Star Wars night in Raleigh, tonight is! These three keys, the Carolina Hurricanes must do to beat the Minnesota Wild in Raleigh!

Before you ask: no, I’m not going to do the entire article in Yoda-speak. I wish I could, but I don’t have the mental fortitude to swap around the structure of every sentence. In any case, the Carolina Hurricanes welcome the MInnesota Wild to Raleigh tonight for the 2nd time this season.

The last time these teams met, on November 16th, the Carolina Hurricanes won, although just barely, by a score of 4-3 in overtime. Carolina had taken an early commanding lead, but allowed Minnesota to come back and tie the game to force overtime.

Since then, the Canes have won 5 of their last 9 games, but have had an up-and-down trajectory for the past week or so. The Minnesota Wild, on the other hand, have won 7 of their last 9 games, and are currently riding a 5-game winning streak dating back to November 26th.

This go round, I think the game will go differently. If the Canes want to win tonight, they’ll need to stay out of the box, minimize high-danger chances on Petr Mrazek or James Reimer, and (most importantly) have patience, young padawans. The Carolina Hurricanes have to gain some momentum, and start to string some games together. What better night to regain that momentum than Star Wars Night?

SAINT PAUL, MN – NOVEMBER 16: Jake Gardiner #51 of the Carolina Hurricanes defends Ryan Hartman #38 of the Minnesota Wild during the game at the Xcel Energy Center on November 16, 2019 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn/NHLI via Getty Images)
SAINT PAUL, MN – NOVEMBER 16: Jake Gardiner #51 of the Carolina Hurricanes defends Ryan Hartman #38 of the Minnesota Wild during the game at the Xcel Energy Center on November 16, 2019 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn/NHLI via Getty Images) /

1. Stay Out of the Penalty Box, You Must

The Carolina Hurricanes have a tendency to take penalties, almost always at the worst times. More than once this season, they have taken a bad penalty at pivotal moments in a game, or even taken penalties during their own powerplay, effectively killing their own man advantage.

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As of right now, the Carolina Hurricanes have the 6th best penalty kill in the league, averaging an even 85%. The Minnesota Wild are currently tied for the 9th best powerplay in the league (with the Carolina Hurricanes, funnily enough), at an even 20%.

The Wild have an effective and efficient powerplay, and if the Carolina Hurricanes take more penalties than necessary, the special teams could prove to be the difference-maker in tonight’s game.

If the Carolina Hurricanes can manage to stay out of the box, they’ll be giving themselves the best possible chance to walk away with yet another 2 points in the standings. Now let’s talk about goaltending, shall we?

SAINT PAUL, MN – NOVEMBER 16: Lucas Wallmark #71 and James Reimer #47 of the Carolina Hurricanes defend their goal against Zach Parise #11 of the Minnesota Wild during the game at the Xcel Energy Center on November 16, 2019 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn/NHLI via Getty Images)
SAINT PAUL, MN – NOVEMBER 16: Lucas Wallmark #71 and James Reimer #47 of the Carolina Hurricanes defend their goal against Zach Parise #11 of the Minnesota Wild during the game at the Xcel Energy Center on November 16, 2019 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn/NHLI via Getty Images) /

2. Play Solid Defense In Front of Your Goalie, You Must

As of the writing of this article, no starting goaltender has been named for the Carolina Hurricanes.

Petr Mrazek played nicely against the San Jose Sharks earlier this week, as he stymied them in the shootout to secure the win. The last time the Carolina Hurricanes played the Minnesota Wild, James Reimer was in net, and I think he should get the call to the starter’s crease again this go round.

Petr Mrazek will more than likely get the start, as evidenced by the Mrazelorian Tweet shared earlier on in this article, but I’m going to assume Reimer gets it.

James Reimer was a massive reason the Canes won the last time these teams met, and has been absolutely stellar since then. Mrazek has taken the lion’s share of starts at home, and Reimer on the road, but I think Reimer has a good shot at replicating his last outing against the Wild.

All this being said, the Carolina Hurricanes let more than a few high-danger chances through, and relied heavily on Reimer to bail them out (which he did more often than not that game), but they cannot continue on the same trajectory.

Reimer and Mrazek both are extremely talented at making brilliantly flashy saves, but they should no longer be relied on to make as many of these saves as they have been. The Carolina Hurricanes need to tighten up defensively, especially in the second half of the game. Now, onto the most important tool a young Jedi has at their disposal: patience.

SAINT PAUL, MN – NOVEMBER 16: Dougie Hamilton #19 of the Carolina Hurricanes and Jonas Brodin #25 of the Minnesota Wild collide during the game at the Xcel Energy Center on November 16, 2019 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn/NHLI via Getty Images)
SAINT PAUL, MN – NOVEMBER 16: Dougie Hamilton #19 of the Carolina Hurricanes and Jonas Brodin #25 of the Minnesota Wild collide during the game at the Xcel Energy Center on November 16, 2019 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn/NHLI via Getty Images) /

3. Patience, Young Padawans

The Carolina Hurricanes have more than a few players who are underperforming at the moment.

Jake Gardiner and Nino Niederreiter are the main two that stick out, but there are a few others like Warren Foegele (who has seemingly started to heat up), and Ryan Dzingel.

As far as Dzingel is concerned, he seems to play better with Erik Haula, so we should see his production increase once Haula returns. Foegele, as I mentioned before, has seemingly started to heat up a bit; we’ll see how he does tonight.

In regards to Gardiner and Nino, both of these players still have tremendous potential, and seem to be trying a bit too hard to get themselves back on track. Both have been stricken with outrageous streaks of unluckiness, but with patience, they should return to their former glory.

The harder and harder a player tries to get out a slump, the harder it seemingly gets to actually get out of the slump. Think of trying to chip a golf ball out of a sand trap. Finesse, patience, and just the right amount of ‘oomph’ will get you going again, and I can see both Nino and Gardiner pulling themselves out as soon as they sit back, stop overthinking, and just play their individual games.

All in all, tonight’s game should be exciting to say the least. Star Wars Night is always one of the most fun games to attend, and tonight should be no exception. May The Force Be With You All!

SAINT PAUL, MN – NOVEMBER 16: Joel Edmundson celebrates his goal with teammates Martin Necas #88 and Nino Niederreiter #21 of the Carolina Hurricanes during the game at the Xcel Energy Center on November 16, 2019 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn/NHLI via Getty Images)
SAINT PAUL, MN – NOVEMBER 16: Joel Edmundson celebrates his goal with teammates Martin Necas #88 and Nino Niederreiter #21 of the Carolina Hurricanes during the game at the Xcel Energy Center on November 16, 2019 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn/NHLI via Getty Images) /

Game Notes

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  • Puck Drop: 7:00PM EST
  • Location: PNC Arena
  • TV: Fox Sports Carolinas, NHL.TV
  • Radio: 99.9 The Fan
  • Uniform: Home Red
  • Potential Lineup:
    • Svechnikov – Staal – Foegele
    • Niederreiter – Aho – Teravainen
    • Dzingel – Wallmark – Martinook
    • McGinn – Bishop – Gibbons
    • Slavin – Hamilton
    • Edmundson – Pesce
    • Fleury – Gardiner
  • Potential Goalie Matchup:
    • Minnesota Wild: Devan Dubnyk
    • Carolina Hurricanes: James Reimer

2. 98. 4. 109. Prediction

Hot. The Carolina Hurricanes Should Trade for Taylor Hall. light

Question for CC Readers: What is your favorite promo night that the Carolina Hurricanes do?

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