Carolina Hurricanes: Three Keys to Victory in Colorado
The Carolina Hurricanes look to close out their five-game road trip tonight with a win in Colorado; if they succeed, they’ll come out of the trip with 9 of a possible 10 points. Here’s how they can pull it off.
Well, Caniacs, here we are. The last game of one of the longest road trips of the Carolina Hurricanes’ season.
The Hurricanes have secured 7 of a possible 8 points so far; they’ve triumphed over the Edmonton Oilers, the Calgary Flames, the Winnipeg Jets, and fell short to the Vancouver Canucks in overtime.
As for the Colorado Avalanche, they’ve been just as good; they’ve won 8 of their last 10 games, only falling to the St. Louis Blues in regulation, and the Calgary Flames in overtime.
The Avalanche, aside from being the Carolina Hurricanes’ BFF’s, are a very good, very talented team. With players like Mikko Rantanen, Gabriel Landeskog, and Nathan MacKinnon, tonight’s game has the potential to be a very high-scoring affair for both sides.
In order to give themselves the best chance of closing out the road trip with a win, the Carolina Hurricanes will have to keep up with Colorado’s top scorers, start on time and get a few goals early, and (this is totally a key, I’ll explain later) we’d really like to see Andrei Svechnikov try the lacrosse move again. Let’s take a bit of a closer look at these.
1. Keep Up with the Avs’ Top Scorers
The Colorado Avalanche have more than a few absolutely lethal goal scorers. Nathan MacKinnon, for example, has scored 21 goals and 31 assists for 52 points in 34 games played this season. Mikko Rantanen, despite only playing in 18 games so far this season, has put up 10 goals and 14 assists for a combined point total of 24 points.
More from Cardiac Cane
- 2023 Southeast Rookie Showcase: Takeaways from the Canes’ Strong Showing in Florida
- Week Two Coverage Of College Hockey In NC
- Derek Stepan Ends His On Ice Career As A Hurricane
- The Southeast Rookie Showcase Will Be a Good Look at Carolina’s Future
- Noesen Ready To Provide Depth For Canes
The Carolina Hurricanes have just as many offensive powerhouses, and should be able to keep up with the Avalanches’ top scorers defensively.
Dougie Hamilton has been playing exceptionally well in the defensive end lately, and players like Joel Edmundson, Jaccob Slavin, and Brett Pesce have been playing their usual stalwart defensive games.
If the Carolina Hurricanes can match the speed, intensity, and determination of the Colorado Avalanche’s top scorers, we could even see another scoreline similar to the 6-3 walloping the Canes laid on the Winnipeg Jets mere days ago. Keep your fingers crossed, Caniacs.
2. Start On Time
The Carolina Hurricanes have had plenty of games where they seem to come out of the gates raring to go. Those games usually end up translating to wins or, at the very least, a few goals in the 1st period.
The games in which the Carolina Hurricanes seem to struggle right off the bat seem to, more often than not, turn into bad, frustrating losses.
Colorado is one of the very few teams who seemingly start on time every single game; this is a main reason why they can be a pain in the neck for a lot of high-performing teams who might not start the 1st period with the same level of intensity.
Amid all the Svech stuff, let's not forget about this pass by Turbo pic.twitter.com/qjgtQkssQQ
— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) December 18, 2019
Sebastian Aho, Teuvo Teravainen, Andrei Svechnikov, and Co. are going to need to be firing on all cylinders as soon as the puck drops tonight. If they can manage to get a couple of pucks past Philipp Grubauer early on, they should be able to hang on to the lead for the next two periods if they’re able to follow the first key of this article. Now, on to The Svech™.
3. The Svech™
Ok, hear me out on this one. Hockey is an incredibly physical game. We all know that, right? But, what if I told you that hockey has a mental aspect to it that far outweighs the physical, especially under certain circumstances?
Having been a goaltender for the better part of two decades, I can tell you that getting scored on is incredibly demoralizing, but most of us have short-term memories and can shake off a bad goal or two.
Something that I (and goalies everywhere) have never been able to shake off is getting scored on via an own goal or by a move so incredibly difficult to pull off, that only one (19 year-old) man has ever been able to pull off at the NHL level: The Svech™.
Only one player in the history of the @NHL has done this
— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) December 18, 2019
And he's done it twice pic.twitter.com/b6hN93zLin
Name any particular way of scoring on a goalie that is more demoralizing to the goalie in question than The Svech™. Don’t worry, I’ll wait.
Every single time Andrei Svechnikov has tried (and scored on) that play, the wind vanishes out of the other team’s sails, and their morale seems to tank. This move is the perfect move to try because 1) Svech can do it, and 2) it more often than not propels the Carolina Hurricanes right to victory.
Tonight’s matchup in Colorado is sure to be a heated one, especially considering the social media camaraderie the Canes and the Avs share. Avs fans are particularly friendly, and I’m sure we won’t see too many of them screaming in our mentions tonight. Let’s try and return the favor if things don’t go our way tonight, eh?
Game Notes
- Puck Drop: 9:00pm EST
- Location: Pepsi Center
- TV: Fox Sports Carolinas, NHL.TV
- Radio: 99.9 The Fan
- Uniform: Road Whites
- Potential Lines:
- Svechnikov – Staal – Foegele
- Niederreiter – Aho – Teravainen
- Dzingel – Wallmark – Necas
- McGinn – Martinook – Gibbons
- Slavin – Hamilton
- Edmundson – Pesce
- Gardiner – van Riemsdyk
- Goalie Matchup:
- Colorado Avalanche: Philipp Grubauer
- Carolina Hurricanes: James Reimer
5. 109. 3. 103. Prediction
Next. Perfect Holiday Gifts for Canes Goalies. dark
Question for CC Readers: Does Andrei Svechnikov score another Svech™ tonight?