Carolina Hurricanes: 3 Keys to Sweeping First Series vs. Detroit

After shutting out the Detroit Red Wings in their own barn on Thursday, the Carolina Hurricanes look to sweep the Red Wings in Detroit tonight to finish up their first mini-series of the 2020-21 NHL Season.

Thursday’s matchup in Detroit was an interesting one for the Carolina Hurricanes; the Red Wings were outshot 43-14 when the final whistle blew. Detroit netminder Thomas Greiss did his best to keep the Red Wings in the game and competitive, but ultimately it just wasn’t enough.

Detroit is one of those teams that could sneak up on you if you underestimate them. They’ve got plenty of solid offensive talent in players like Anthony Mantha, Dylan Larkin, and Bobby Ryan (who will be playing tonight after being a healthy scratch on Thursday). Their defense, however, is lacking and noted Canes-killer Thomas Greiss will likely not be backstopping them again tonight.

The Carolina Hurricanes have a very solid opportunity here to grab a few more points and really establish themselves as the team to beat in the new Central Division.

Tonight’s game is sure to be another interesting one, so let’s look at my 3 keys to sweeping the first miniseries vs. Detroit.

A Niederreiter Hope

Nino Niederreiter, in his 36 games with the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2018-19 season, scored 30 points.

He then went on to falter quite a bit in the 2019-20 season, scoring just 29 points (11g, 18a) in 67 games played.

Thursday night, Nino got the proverbial monkey off of his back and netted the Canes’ first goal of the 2020-21 season, off of a beautiful redirected pass from Sebastian Aho through Teuvo Teravainen. Nino deftly faked Greiss out right on his own doorstep, and got the Canes off and running with the first (and eventual game-winning) goal.

https://twitter.com/Canes/status/1349923012984889345

In my article from several weeks ago highlighting three players that could rebound this season, Nino Niederreiter was front-and-center, and for good reason. He has the potential to be a big piece in the Canes’ offensive puzzle if he can find his scoring game again.

It is still far too early in the season to tell, but if Nino can bounce back in a big way this season (and there is no reason for him not to since he’ll likely get a ton of time on the Aho-Teravainen line), the Canes are sure to have plenty of options when it comes to putting goalscorers on the ice.

The Powerplay Strikes Back

The Carolina Hurricanes’ powerplay on Thursday night looked so much better than I’ve seen in a long, long time.

The first powerplay unit, consisting of Andrei Svechnikov, Dougie Hamilton, Sebastian Aho, Teuvo Teravainen, and Vincent Trocheck worked together beautifully. The passes were crisp and accurate, and more than a few chances were generated.

While the Canes only ended up scoring on 1 out of 3 powerplays, I am incredibly pleased with how much better the powerplay looked on the whole, specifically that first unit.

https://twitter.com/Canes/status/1350132966710763528

The Carolina Hurricanes are no strangers to powerplay struggles over the course of the past few seasons; if they can figure it out and continue putting together powerplay units that are that effective at creating chances, the powerplay could easily become a very lethal part of the Carolina Hurricanes’ already incredibly effective style of play.

I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed that the powerplay looks anywhere near as close to how it looked on Thursday night for the rest of the season.

The Return of the Geekie

Captain Jordan Staal has been placed on COVID protocol following Thursday night’s tilt against Detroit. Very little information has been released regarding what exactly is going on with him, but this almost certainly means Morgan Geekie will be getting his first NHL action of the 2019-20 season tonight in Detroit.

Morgan Geekie, noted league-leader in points-per-game, is one of the Carolina Hurricanes’ most exciting prospects, and a near shoo-in to the NHL roster in the coming months as he develops more and more.

https://twitter.com/Canes/status/1237765084803411969

Geekie is fast, smart, and lethal both on and off the puck, and at both ends of the ice. A Brind’amour-style player through and through, Geekie is sure to impress tonight and I’m more than certain this won’t be his only showing this season.

Tonight’s matchup is sure to be a fun one, and I think we all should have every expectation that the Canes will leave Detroit tonight victorious and 2 points richer.