Carolina Hurricanes: Andrei Svechnikov is Just Unfair

The Carolina Hurricanes have a star player in Andrei Svechnikov.

After completing the first-ever hat-trick in Carolina Hurricanes / Hartford Whalers postseason History, Andrei Svechnikov continues to play like a monster.

Oh my Svechnikov. Where do we begin? This man is not fair. Andrei Svechnikov is a cheat code. At Cardiac Cane, we want to put into words what we feel about players, games, trades, and everything regarding the Carolina Hurricanes. I don’t think a word in the dictionary that can reasonably explain just what Andrei Svechnikov is.

Svechnikov has tallied three goals and an assist for four points during the two games he has played against the New York Rangers so far. He could have had countless other points if it wasn’t for the king, Henrik Lundqvist. Svechnikov along with his linemates Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen has run absolutely rampant against the Rangers blueline.

But what makes Svechnikov the stand-out talent of the trio? Why has Svechnikov had so much success against the Rangers? This is a little more arduous to explain.

Let’s start with his center. Usually behind every great winger is a strong center and Sebastian is no different. Sebastian himself recorded an assist on each of Svechnikov’s goals in game 2 and recorded the goal from which Andrei got his assist. Aho’s been a major contributor. This isn’t to say Svechnikov is a product of Aho, but that Aho has been great in his own right.

Looking at the opposition, it gets a little easier to understand. While the New York Rangers boast some great offensive talents on the back end, they lack a truly sound defensive defenseman who can shut down a line like SAT. Svechnikov has had a lot of success because he’s been able to break away from defenceman and get to open areas of the ice. With his shot? He’ll kill a team that way.

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Svechnikov has also helped himself in this series a lot. With his Michigan-Lacrosse-Svechnikov-whatever-you-wanna-call-it-goal from behind the net, he’s forcing defenders to chase him around behind the goal, and using the net as also a pick in basketball to open up space for himself to receive the puck deep. That helps him find passes, or shoot if he’s got time.

For my money, the major reason is because of his speed. Where have Carolina as a team been most successful in this series? On the break. Svechnikov’s hat-trick goal last night is the perfect example of this. Aho skates past everyone like they’re not there and finds a wide-open Svechnikov who was just never going to miss. Svechnikov has been deadly on those odd-man rushes.

Obviously, there are a lot more reasons. However, with consistent playoff hockey, I thought you might wanna stop reading my garbage and go watch the round-robin and qualifying round games. There’s a lot to talk about when it comes to Svechnikov’s success and really, he’s only going to add to it. Svechnikov right now makes the Canes look like a tough team to knock out.

Question for Cardiac Cane readers: Why do you think Svechnikov is having the success he is?