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Hurricanes: Three Keys to Building Momentum Against The Oilers

By Omar Abdelgawad

RALEIGH, NC - FEBRUARY 15: Edmonton Oilers Left Wing Milan Lucic (27) and Carolina Hurricanes Defenceman Brett Pesce (22) battle for a loose puck during a game between the Edmonton Oilers and the Carolina Hurricanes at the PNC Arena in Raleigh, NC on February 15, 2019. (Photo by Greg Thompson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
RALEIGH, NC - FEBRUARY 15: Edmonton Oilers Left Wing Milan Lucic (27) and Carolina Hurricanes Defenceman Brett Pesce (22) battle for a loose puck during a game between the Edmonton Oilers and the Carolina Hurricanes at the PNC Arena in Raleigh, NC on February 15, 2019. (Photo by Greg Thompson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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EDMONTON, AB – DECEMBER 10: Mikko Koskinen #19 of the Edmonton Oilers looks back as the puck goes past him during the game against the Carolina Hurricanes on December 10, 2019, at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. (Photo by Andy Devlin/NHLI via Getty Images)
EDMONTON, AB – DECEMBER 10: Mikko Koskinen #19 of the Edmonton Oilers looks back as the puck goes past him during the game against the Carolina Hurricanes on December 10, 2019, at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. (Photo by Andy Devlin/NHLI via Getty Images) /

1. Come out Hard and Fast

This Oiler team just cranked out a tough win over the Florida Panthers last night. It’s up to the Hurricanes to come out of the gates swinging and push them back on their heels. This is not unsimilar to their game against the New Jersey Devils.

But this Oilers team is not  the Devils, even without McDavid, Neal, or Kassian, they are still a lethal team that should not be slept on. Leon Draisaitl is the league leader in points and should be treated with the respect that that earns him. Sure playing with McDavid can help you rack points like a travelling businessman racks miles, but he is still good in his own right. Or else he wouldn’t be playing with McDavid.

The Hurricanes need to be ready to control the narrative from the first period. That means scoring first and finishing the period with a lead. If they can do that, they can almost guarantee a win. The statistics back this up.

If the Canes get on the board first their chances of winning the game skyrocket. They are 23-3-1 in games where they score first. LOOK AT THAT. That is 47 points in 27 games. 47 of their 69 (nice) points this season. That is almost 70% of their points in less than 50% of the games they have played. Needless to say they need to be the first to score each and every night.

Now taking a lead into the locker room after the first 20 minutes? That almost guarantees a win. -They are 17-0-1 in the 18 games this season where they led after one period. Only a single point given up in overtime if they can just get to the locker room with a lead. At home they are 11-0-0. Perhaps today they can make it 12-0-0.

If they take a lead into the third period they are 23-1-0. To put that into context they only have 33 wins this season. Which is split evenly at five if they are tied going into the third and another five if they are trailing. That’s right, they have only managed to come back from a third period deficit five times this year. They really  need to make sure they lock this game up early.

That means getting the SAT line of Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov, and Teuvo Teravainen firing on all cylinders and perhaps even getting that newly minted line of Nino Niederreiter, Erik Haula, and Martin Necas involved early like they were on Friday. They do that and they will have this game in the bag. Nothing to worry about.

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