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Carolina Hurricanes: Three Keys to Home Victory vs. New York Rangers

By Matthew Nidiffer

NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 27: Andrei Svechnikov #37 of the Carolina Hurricanes shoots the puck against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on November 27, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 27: Andrei Svechnikov #37 of the Carolina Hurricanes shoots the puck against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on November 27, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 27: Martin Necas #88 of the Carolina Hurricanes skates against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on November 27, 2019 in New York City. The Rangers defeated the Hurricanes 3-2. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 27: Martin Necas #88 of the Carolina Hurricanes skates against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on November 27, 2019 in New York City. The Rangers defeated the Hurricanes 3-2. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

3. Clean Entries and Exits

A big issue that I have seen this season that has been a significant factor in the Carolina Hurricanes’ rollercoaster record is shoddy zone entries and failed zone exits.

The Carolina Hurricanes are, on paper, brimming with talent. Players like Ryan Dzingel, Erik Haula, and Nino Niederreiter should be tearing it up in the neutral zone and the offensive zone, but that bite has just not been there this season.

For whatever reason, the Carolina Hurricanes are still struggling with one of the basic fundamentals of successful hockey play: offensive zone entries and defensive zone exits.

Several plays break down for the Canes here, and even more plays are turned over, and lead to odd-man rushes barreling in towards Petr Mrazek or James Reimer.

This is, aside from depth scoring, lack of defense, or iffy goaltending (not recently, though), a big problem that I am surprised hasn’t been ironed out yet.

The New York Rangers have a ton of Fast (see what I did there?), speedy players on their roster, and will make the Canes’ night hell if they struggle even a little bit on zone entries and exits tonight.

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