Carolina Hurricanes: First Period High Goes Awry

The Carolina Hurricanes had a Strong Start but Squandered it.

In their third of four matchups in the 2019-2020 National Hockey League (NHL) season, the Carolina Hurricanes, unfortunately, drop two crucial points against a Metro Division opponent. The first period was one of pure dominance for the Hurricanes, where they outshot the Capitals eighteen-to-seven. It looked like the Hurricanes could grab a series sweep.

Unfortunately, that fantastic energy dissipated in the second period. Carolina rapidly found themselves on the losing end, with Richard Panik finding a wide-open hole on Petr Mrazek‘s right side. Two minutes and nine seconds later, Evgeny Kuznetsov would score his seventh powerplay goal of the year, putting the Canes down by two after two periods.

It was in the third period that the Hurricanes finally managed to find a break, as the Captain, Jordan Staal, would get one past the brick wall that had been Ilya Samsonov.

Things started to look up for the Canes, but Lars Eller would appear to dash those hopes a minute and fifty seconds later with his third powerplay goal of the season, putting Carolina back in a two-goal deficit.

Another two minutes and twenty-three seconds would pass before Jakub Vrana would score the eventual game-winning goal against Carolina. It wasn’t the end of Carolina’s fight, though. The Hurricanes would find the net two more times across the period, driving the deficit to one. Unfortunately, the comeback would fall short, thanks in part to a penalty drawn by Washington’s T.J. Oshie.

We’ll talk about that penalty, and some of the great goals as we look back on how the Hurricanes stacked up against my three keys to victory.

The Carolina Hurricanes Still Can’t Shake Their Love Affair With the Sin Bin.

The Carolina Hurricanes racked up five minor penalties for a total of ten penalties in minutes tonight, some of them reasonably egregious. As shown in the slide’s opening photograph, the first penalty against Carolina came as Nino Niederreiter got caught up on Samsonov, which would also draw an embellishment call against the Washington netminder.

The next two penalties would come from Sebastian Aho, who isn’t known for what he was called for. Twice. Sebastian would find himself penalized for interference at 4:17 of the second period, a penalty that would have near-immediate consequences for the Hurricanes, giving Washington its two-goal lead for the period. Aho would take a second interference penalty at 13:43, which would be successfully killed.

Erik Haula would hand Washington its third powerplay opportunity of the night less than a minute into the third period. The Capitals would capitalize on this opportunity as well, extending their lead back out by two. It looked like it would be the end of the Hurricanes bench flirting with the penalty box for the game, but T.J. Oshie would find a way to draw one more.

That penalty, roughing, came from Dougie “Is A Forward” Hamilton, who isn’t known for losing his cool. Unfortunately, not only did it come in the final two minutes and forty-four seconds of the third period, it robbed the Hurricanes of any real chance at completing the comeback to force overtime. I’m not usually hyper-critical of decisions, but the loss could be attributed in large part to Hamilton for taking Oshie’s bait.

The Capitals were given four opportunities by the Hurricanes tonight, and they made good on half of those – a significant factor in Carolina’s loss tonight.

The Carolina Hurricanes Made Excellent use of Slipups by Washington. Mostly.

Despite what can only be described as an abysmal second period, the Carolina Hurricanes did excellent in taking advantage of bad plays. In the first period, we saw an overwhelmingly dominant Hurricanes team pressing the Washington defense. If lady luck had been on the Hurricanes side, the first period could have easily seen a commanding lead for the good guys. Luck, however, was on Samsonov’s side, as he made some ridiculous saves.

Whatever the Hurricanes did in the locker room between the first and second periods tonight, though? It changed the momentum of the game. The commanding presence of the Hurricanes that prevented the Capitals from gaining any worthwhile traction in the first twenty minutes evaporated.

The second period saw the Hurricanes come out and play some of the most timid hockey they’ve played all season. The forecheck was almost non-existent, and the hustle that saw the Capitals’ offensive plays broken up with haste just was not there. Petr was the primary factor in the Hurricanes not finding themselves with a more massive deficit than the two they ended up with.

I imagine that Head Coach Rod Brind’Amour had words to say about the period, as we saw a reinvigorated Hurricanes bench hit the ice for the final frame. Jordan Staal’s goal thirty-nine seconds after puck drop further incited the Canes to action. Action that, unfortunately, would fall just short of drawing the game into overtime.

Cardiac Cane’s Three Stars and Miscellaneous Notes

• Stars of the Game:
  1. Andrei Svechnikov
     • 2 Assists
     • 4 Shots
     • 1 Hit
  2. Jordan Staal
     • 1 Goal
     • 2 Shots
     • 2 Takeaways
  3. Ryan Dzingel
     • 1 Powerplay Goal
     • 2 Shots
     • 1 Hit
• Notes:
  • Next Home Game: 5 January 2020
    • Versus Tampa Bay Lightning
    • Last meeting between teams in the 2019-2020 NHL regular season
    • 2-0-0 vs Lightning this season
  • Next Away Game: 13 January 2020
    • Versus Washington Capitals @ Capital One Arena
    • Last meeting between teams in the 2019-2020 NHL regular season
    • 2-1-0 vs Capitals this season

Question for CC readers: Given Carolina’s struggles against division opponents this season, where do you think the Hurricanes will finish in the standings in April?