Come out the Gates Fast
As much as I would love to say that this has everything to do with brand new Carolina Hurricane Jesper Fast, this is in fact about speed. The Detroit Red Wings haven’t played an NHL game since March 10th. A game, by the way, that they lost against these same Carolina Hurricanes in a wild 5-2 game.
It’s time to pick it up right where we left off with the Red Wings. That means taking full advantage of a sluggish team that hasn’t had any real opposition in ten months. To do that they have to play like a team that just played a game only five months ago in comparison.
Rod Brind’amour feels like the team is ready:
“I think we’re set.” - @Canes head coach Rod Brind’Amour pic.twitter.com/lL5uSb4H8V
— Bally Sports: Canes (@CanesOnBally) January 13, 2021
Everything we’ve seen from the last few days of practice seems to indicate that they are, but tomorrow will be the real test. Can this team avoid the trap that seems to be waiting for them in Detroit?
They have to settle this game in the first ten minutes. That means coming out of the gate quickly and finding the back of the net before Detroit can remember which end of the stick to hold. But that requires getting past one of Detroit’s two new netminders after they cleared their goaltending in the offseason.
This brings us to our next key.