Carolina Hurricanes: Nedeljkovic and Forsberg have to hold the fort
Despite their struggles, the Carolina Hurricanes haven’t been left behind in the Metropolitan Division…Yet. To keep that from happening, the team has to be better defensively and the goaltending has to buckle down.
In case you’ve been living under a rock, you know that the NHL Trade Deadline passed last week. While they were incredibly active, the Carolina Hurricanes did not make a play for an established goalie.
With Petr Mrazek and James Reimer out with injuries, the team has been left to rely on Alex Nedeljkovic and Anton Forsberg, their AHL tandem. Three games in, the results haven’t exactly been stellar.
I’m not a guy who usually lays the blame solely at the feet of the goaltenders, and this is no different. In recent losses to Dallas, Colorado, and Montreal, the Hurricanes’ defensive play has left a lot to be desired.
Ill-advised pinches, bad reads, and poor puck management have been as much to blame as anything. This is made all the more frustrating when you look at the effort that the team put up in front of emergency backup David Ayres on February 22.
That game had the heart and determination of this team on display as the 42-year-old was pressed into action for nearly half of the game. Instead of being fatalistic, the Hurricanes scored the next goal to pad their lead. After Ayres ceded goals on the first two shots he faced, the team refused to roll over and what we got was an absolutely stifling display of team defense. We saw what this team is capable of.
Since then? Not so much.
The end of the first period against Dallas found the Hurricanes down 3-0. Bad coverage and a complete lack of defensive awareness spelled doom for Carolina. We saw much of the same in the following two games as the defensive structure completely fell apart. Remember how this team played in front of Scott Darling? I do and I’m not a fan.
On Monday, head coach Rod Brind’Amour offered a cloudy outlook for Mrazek’s return, despite early indications that the netminder was showing no post-concussion symptoms:
Brind’Amour says it doesn’t look like Mrazek is close to returning.
— Chip Alexander (@ice_chip) March 2, 2020
So, with no official timetable for either Mrazek or Reimer to return and no addition in net at the deadline, it’s up to Nedeljkovic and Forsberg to lead the Hurricanes through this rough patch. Let’s take a look at their performance so far.
Early Returns
Nedeljkovic was the first to see action, surrendering 4 goals on 16 shots in the loss to Dallas. No, that’s not good, but his teammates did almost nothing to mitigate the damage. The first goal came from Tyler Seguin—not a guy you want to leave unchecked—wide-open three feet from the crease.
The defensive coverage didn’t get any better from there and I’ll give you that. I will, however, also point out that Nedeljkovic did spit out a rebound that was easily wrangled by Seguin and buried in the back of the net.
He fared considerably better in his next appearance, a relief showing against the Montreal Canadiens. With his team down 3-0 (again), Brind’Amour pulled Forsberg—who got little help—in favor of Nedeljkovic.
The Hurricanes rallied to tie the game and the 24-year-old stopped all 18 shots he faced until a questionable corner dump by Teuvo Teravainen in overtime led to a Jeff Petry breakaway that sealed the win for Montreal.
More bad puck management leading to a goalie hung out to dry. Another loss courtesy of poor awareness.
Forsberg had a much more auspicious debut, stopping 29 of 32 Colorado shots but was ultimately outdueled by Pavel Francouz.
Again, the defense was asleep at the wheel, as a neutral zone misplay by Jake Gardiner led to a 2-on-1, capped by a goal from Tyson Jost. In the second period, a failed clear saw the Avalanche catch the Hurricanes off guard and Jost beat newcomer Brady Skjei to the goalmouth before stuffing home his second of the game.
https://twitter.com/Avalanche/status/1233549998668894222
Despite losing, Forsberg’s solid effort earned him a start against Montreal and again a defensive lapse—this time it was Phillip Danault beating everyone to the net—found Carolina down early. A scramble in the low slot saw an unmarked Max Domi firing a loose puck home. Like a pilot trying to recover from a stall by pulling back on the yoke, the Hurricanes were dropping fast.
Here’s a look at the numbers through 3 games:
Alex Nedeljkovic: 2GP; 0-1-1; 3.11 GAA; .857 SV%
Anton Forsberg: 2GP; 0-1-0; 4.41 GAA; .885 SV%
No, that’s nothing to write home about, unless you want to depress your family. That said, both goaltenders have shown the ability to make saves, they just haven’t gotten much defensive support.
You can argue all day that the goalie’s job is to stop the puck and I’ll counter that it’s the defencemen’s job to mitigate opportunities against and not give up an endless stream of odd-man rushes.
Prognosis
If the Carolina Hurricanes are going to return to the postseason, these two goaltenders are going to have to be at their best.
More than that, they’re going to have to drag the defense up to par. For Nedeljkovic and Forsberg, it comes down to fundamentals: they have to be in position to stop pucks and they have to control their rebounds. The defense has to wake up and show us more of what we saw with Ayres in net: desperation, urgency, and hunger.
Personally, I went into deadline day hoping that Carolina would make a push for Robin Lehner. Under no circumstance should they have bet the farm on a goalie that would likely be gone over the summer, but seeing the modest return that Chicago got, I cannot believe that the Hurricanes could not have matched.
More from Cardiac Cane
- 2023 Southeast Rookie Showcase: Takeaways from the Canes’ Strong Showing in Florida
- Week Two Coverage Of College Hockey In NC
- Derek Stepan Ends His On Ice Career As A Hurricane
- The Southeast Rookie Showcase Will Be a Good Look at Carolina’s Future
- Noesen Ready To Provide Depth For Canes
That doesn’t matter; not anymore. The team we have is the team we have. Yes, these past three games have been incredibly frustrating. No, I haven’t thrown my remote, though the temptation has certainly been there.
The source of my frustration is that I know this team is capable of so much more. Being without Dougie Hamilton and Brett Pesce—on top of losing Mrazek and Reimer—is far from ideal, but this team has shown an incredibly high level of fight. I believe they are capable of stringing together wins, fighting back, and making the playoffs.
I wonder if they do.
Okay, Caniacs, what do you think of the currently goaltending situation? Do you believe the team can dig deep and make a strong playoff push?
Next. 5 Unanswered Question After February. dark