Carolina Hurricanes: 3 Takeaways from a Huge Home Win Over the Devils
The Carolina Hurricanes defeated the New Jersey Devils 5-2 last night at home, gained two value points in the process. What led to their success against a Metropolitan Division foe?
The Carolina Hurricanes topped the the New Jersey Devils 5-2 at PNC Arena last night. A night where both Canes goaltender, Petr Mrazek, and color commentator, John Forslund, celebrated birthdays the team walked away with two value Metro division points, itching themselves closer to the final Eastern Conference wildcard spot.
To kick the night off, injured Hurricanes defenseman Dougie Hamilton fired up the warning siren to the surprise of fans and teammates alike. Providing energy in the arena, the Canes looked for a better effort after a disappointing outing in Dallas.
While their game wasn’t perfect, it was a step in the right direction. With almost every team in the Metro winning nightly, Carolina had to treat this game as a must win if they wanted to stay relevant in the playoff push.
Although they’ve lacked success in their own division for most of the season, they managed to defeat a team they SHOULD have. Now evening the four game season series at one game a piece, Carolina improves to 33-21-3 on the year.
Without further ado, let’s take a look at what exactly went right for the Canes last night.
Depth Scoring
One of the more alarming trends for the Carolina Hurricanes of late is their recent streak of giving up the first goal. Enter last night’s contest, they’ve given up the first goal in each of their past six games. While playing catch up early and often is difficult in its own right, it’s even harder when depth scoring is almost non existent.
Touched upon in the 3 Keys to Victory, several key players upfront are in serious scoring slumps. It doesn’t matter if it’s Nino Niederreiter, Erik Haula, Ryan Dzingel, or basically anyone not name Sebastian Aho, Teuvo Teravainen or Andrei Svechnikov needed to step up. And step up they did.
Arguably the Canes’ best player last night, Niederreiter not only had his first multipoint game since December 21st, he played what was possibly his best game of the season. Getting on the board 3:43 into the first period, it marked the first time in seven games the Hurricanes scored first. His eighth of the year came on Carolina’s first shot of the game.
Nino wasn’t the only forward to step up and elevate his game. Warren Foegele would reestablish the Canes’ lead on their third shot of the game. His 11th of the year ended a personal 13 game drought. First it was Svechnikov and then it was Martin Necas would extend their lead, marking the first time in recent memory where the Hurricanes have gotten scoring up and down their forward lines.
SAT Line
Speaking of Andrei, since it was finally put together by head coach Rod Brind’amour a few nights ago, the line of Svechnikov, Aho and Teravainen, or simply known as the “SAT Line,” has been a dominating force. Loading up the three most important, highly skilled forwards on the team has created an elite top line for opposing teams to contend with.
All night long they were generating chance after chance, resulting in seemly a quality scoring opportunity each and every shift. The trio seems to have found instant chemistry, a testament to their high hockey IQs and game changing abilities.
In the second period they connected on a beautiful passing sequence, with Svech finishing the play off for his 23rd of the season. keeping the Canes afloat of late, it is nice to see the line finding success. Fans have been wishing for this line to stay together for an extended period of time, and if their recent play is any indicator, there isn’t any reason Brind’amour should mess with it.
These players are not only key for the Hurricanes today, but at 19, 22, and 25, their key pieces long term. Andrei clearly isn’t suffering from the sophomore slump, already blowing away his rookie goal, assist and point totals. Aho has also surpassed his high in goals and is well on his way to set a new career high in points. A bit under the radar, Teuvo is on pace to set a new career high in assists and points this season.
Haydn Fleury
All night long it seemed like Trip Tracy was raving about the play of Haydn Fleury, and rightfully so. Showing improvement each and every gave Dougie has been out, the young blueliner seems to finally be earning the confidence and trust of the coaching staff.
On the first goal of the game, he took a hit in the defensive zone to make an all important clearing play. Soon after he received the puck at the offensive zone blueline, quickly finding Nino for the go ahead goal. This vision and offensive awareness of Haydn is very encouraging and will go along way down the stretch should he be able to keep it up.
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On the defensive side of things, he managed to leave his feet at the right time, breaking up passes and scoring chances before they developed. He used his physical style of play to his advantage, making use of his 6′ 3” frame. His 18:20 time on ice is the most he’s seen all season long and ranked behind Jaccob Slavin and Brett Pesce among defenseman.
Offensive contributions continued on the blueline with Pesce finishing the night with two assists. Joel Edmundson also found the back of the net on a break away right out of the box for the Canes fifth and final goal of the night. Although they still need to tighten up defensively, the pinches they made were much more timely last night than they were previously.
109. Final. 2. 85. 5
The Canes are back in action Sunday afternoon at 4pm est when they host the Connor McDavid less Edmonton Oilers.
dark. Next. Aho is the most underrated player in the league