Carolina Hurricanes: Takeaways from Home Loss vs. Tampa Bay

The Carolina Hurricanes lost in regulation at home last night to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Here’s how they stacked up to our keys to the game.

The Carolina Hurricanes were not ready to play hockey last night.

Last night’s matchup could’ve seen the Canes sweep the Tampa Bay Lightning in the regular season, but fate had a different plan for the two teams.

The Tampa Bay Lightning outclassed and outplayed the Carolina Hurricanes last night at basically every possible turn. Goaltending? Andrei Vasilevskiy was incredible. Scoring? Steven Stamkos, Brayden Point, and Mitchell Stephens took the cake. Defense? Mikhail Sergachev and Kevin Shattenkirk were incredibly stout.

The Carolina Hurricanes played some of the most uninspired, disappointing hockey we have seen thus far in the 2019-20 season. The 1st and 2nd periods were all but disastrous; Andrei Svechnikov‘s goal off of a gorgeous pass from Jaccob Slavin in the 3rd period paled in comparison to the Canes’ play in the 1st and 2nd.

As far as our keys to the game last night, not a single one was met, for the first time in a very long time. Let’s take a look at how things fell apart.

1. Did the Canes Play Solid Defense the Full 60 Minutes?

Nope. The Carolina Hurricanes didn’t even play solid hockey the full 60 minutes.

This one is perhaps the toughest one to come to terms with. Normally, even in times of adversity or being down a few goals, the Carolina Hurricanes still are visibly trying to win the game.

Last night, however, more than a few Canes just looked lost, especially in the 2nd period – not just on defense, either. Tampa Bay may have gotten a couple goals early on, but the 2nd period is really where the momentum began to shift fully in the Bolts’ favor.

The Carolina Hurricanes wouldn’t get on the board until the 3rd period, when Andrei Svechnikov buried a brilliant pass from Jaccob Slavin. This goal, however, would be too little, too late.

The Canes would go on to show a pretty decent effort after Pat Maroon would take two penalties (holding, unsportsmanlike conduct) late in the third, to give the Canes a powerplay, then subsequently a two-man advantage after Petr Mrazek was pulled in the waning minutes of regulation.

This effort, too, would prove to be too little, too late yet again, as the Canes failed to convert even with two extra men on the ice.

2. Did the Canes Find Consistency on the Powerplay?

Narrator voice: they did not.

The Tampa Bay Lightning took four penalties last night. The Carolina Hurricanes would not capitalize on any of the opportunities awarded to them because of those penalties.

How the Carolina Hurricanes have a Top 10 powerplay percentage in this league is anybody’s guess. Is the league really having that much trouble on the man advantage?

I know I’m sounding a bit harsh, but the frustration is not without a tangible, valid source. The Carolina Hurricanes have an incredible amount of offensive talent. These talented forwards are all seemingly stagnating at the same time, especially on the powerplay, and it shows.

Four penalties is by no means an inordinate amount of penalties for a team to take in a single game, but not scoring on any of them with the likes of Sebastian Aho, Teuvo Teravainen, Andrei Svechnikov, Nino Niederreiter, Erik Haula, Dougie Hamilton, and Ryan Dzingel in the lineup is absolutely egregious.

Last night’s game smacks of pre-2019 mediocrity; I’m really hoping that trend gets resolved soon. The Carolina Hurricanes can’t start backsliding now.