Carolina Hurricanes Split Season Series With Caps

Despite Numerous Chances in the Third, the Carolina Hurricanes Split Season Series 2-2 With Washington.

It wasn’t the Hurricanes’ best game. Not even close to it. Two goals were given up to Alex Ovechkin in the first period, sealing his place in the National Hockey League as the 11th highest scorer in league history. For the bulk of the game, the Carolina Hurricanes could not generate any momentum, and when they did, it often came with a whistle.

I will say this had to be the worst officiated game I have ever borne witness to. The number of missed calls and even questionable calls were egregious. So much so that even the Hurricanes’ senior editor Michael Smith (@MSmithCanes) took to Twitter, quoting the NHL Official Rules. Here’s the exact rule, referring to a play made by Washington goaltender Ilya Samsonov:

27.8 Restricted Area – A goalkeeper shall not play the puck outside of the designated area behind the net. This area shall be defined by lines that begin six feet (6’) from either goal post and extend diagonally to points twenty-eight feet (28’) apart at the end boards. Should the goalkeeper play the puck outside of the designated area behind the goal line, a minor penalty for delay of game shall be imposed. The determining factor shall be the position of the puck. The minor penalty will not be assessed when a goalkeeper plays the puck while maintaining skate contact with his goal crease. 2019-2020 NHL Official Rules, Sect. 4 – Types of Penalties, pg. 45.

The missed infraction occurred during the second period, with Samsonov playing the puck from outside of the crease, and outside of the trapezoid. This was only one of many missed calls against Washington tonight, including several that could have been for embellishment, resulting in one-sided penalty calls. It was only one of the most identifiable and talked about of them.

I’m not one who typically places blame or infers official’s bias, but tonight sure as Hell seemed like the officials should have been wearing Washington jerseys. Enough on that, however. The Hurricanes themselves also failed to come up when they needed to, and many of my notes on that fall into the review against my keys of the game.

The Carolina Hurricanes Should Just Get Hitched to the Sin Bin.

Hell, I might even have someone who could do the nuptials for it. The Carolina Hurricanes could not stay out of the penalty box last night. A large portion of that could be pinned on the officiating team that acted as if they were on the Capitals’ payroll. The first period alone saw the Hurricanes penalized four times, with six minutes and seventeen seconds spent short-handed.

As I mentioned in my three keys article, the Hurricanes had found themselves short-handed an average of five times per game across the previous three contests. The hockey Gods read my article and decided to tell me to “hold their beer” as Justin StPierre would call penalties like he was calling pockets in a game of billiards.

The first period saw numerous penalties called against the Hurricanes. Andrei Svechnikov got a minor for tripping Washington’s Richard Panik. Seven minutes, eleven seconds later (ironically the time Svech took the first penalty), Warren Foegele found himself on vacation in the sin bin on a minor for slashing against Lars Eller.

Dougie Hamilton‘s penalty was the result of an unfortunate change in puck orientation as he attempted to clear the Hurricanes’ zone. The puck would sail across the glass, and Hamilton would take his turn in the box for delay of game. The Capitals would convert on this powerplay only seventeen seconds in; however, Jordan Staal‘s trip on T.J. Oshie (if you can even call it that), would see the Canes facing off at center ice, on a penalty kill.

That was just the first period. The Hurricanes had four penalties, six minutes and seventeen seconds of short-handed time, and a powerplay goal against to show for it. Jake Gardiner and Dougie Hamilton would find the box again in the third, but I’m not even going to touch on that. The penalty box was frequented so often in this game it could have been a secondary bench for the Hurricanes.

The penalty situation was so terrible that I took to Twitter to point out that Caniacs could be proud of the fact we hadn’t had a penalty in 22:42 at the end of the second period. I’m confident that you, my readers, likely have similar sentiments. Although I’m sure those are profanity-laced, something I can’t do here.

When the Carolina Hurricanes Score on the Powerplay, You Get a Bo-Berry Biscuit! The Problem Is That They Didn’t.

For the first time in the 2019-2020 season, the Carolina Hurricanes didn’t convert on the powerplay against Washington. It is the first time since the Stanley Cup Playoffs, specifically the double-overtime game seven on April 24th, 2019, that they haven’t scored a powerplay goal against the Capitals. In each of the three previous games, the Hurricanes scored at least one powerplay goal.

That wasn’t for lack of trying, however. Like the rest of their offense, the powerplay units struggled to gain anything approaching momentum against a buzzing Capitals penalty kill, a penalty kill that saw only three tests in the entire game. The Canes didn’t even get their first powerplay opportunity until five minutes, thirty-three seconds into the second period.

When they finally got their first man advantage, a dumpster fire could be said to look better. That initial powerplay was an absolute let down, with no real momentum or organization to it. Their second opportunity, granted by Washington’s Eller roughly four minutes later, did little to make headway against a steadfast Samsonov and Capitals penalty kill.

Carolina’s third, and final, powerplay opportunity came with just under eight minutes left in the second period. Courtesy of Evgeny Kuznetsov. Like the previous two powerplay opportunities, this one left much to be desired. Had the Hurricanes been able to capitalize here, if nowhere else, they could likely have pulled themselves back into the contest, as the last two times they trailed after two periods in Capital One Arena, they’d pulled off spectacular overtime wins.

Postgame Notes

This usually is where I’d put in my CardiacCane three stars of the game. However, I don’t feel there was anyone worthy other than Petr Mrazek, who kept any hope of a comeback alive. As such, there won’t be any three stars listing in this article.

• Next Home Game: 17 January 2020
  • Versus Anaheim Ducks
  • Second of two 2019-2020 regular-season meetings
  • 1-0-0 vs. Ducks this season
  • 12-13-2-6 record in 33 total meetings
• Next Away Game: 16 January 2020
  • Versus Columbus Blue Jackets
  • Third of four 2019-2020 regular-season meetings
  • 0-1-1 vs. Blue Jackets this season
  • 20-15-5 record in 40 total meetings

Question for CC Readers: With the Hurricanes continuing to slide against Metropolitan Division opponents, do you think they will make a playoff berth in 2020?