Carolina Hurricanes: Keys to Ending the Dallas Win Streak

The Carolina Hurricanes are gunning for the top of the Central Division but will have to go through the only remaining undefeated team in the league in a two-game set this weekend. Here are the keys to a weekend sweep.

Carolina is at the bottom of the league in games played. Joining them are the Dallas Stars and the Florida Panthers, all together in the Central Division. This has created some mayhem in the divisional standings where the Stars have the second-most points and the Hurricanes have the second worst, all while being separated by only two points.

That can be turned on its head this weekend as the Stars visit Raleigh to try and keep their winning streak going. The Canes on the other end will still be down several key players but are coming off an exciting shutout win of the defending Stanley Cup Champions.

Unstoppable force, meet immovable object.

There are going to be a lot of eyes focused on these games as both teams try to prove to the rest of the league that they are contenders and not pretenders with early streaks.

Can the Carolina Hurricanes end Dallas’s win streak and leapfrog them in the standings or will they continue to play “catch-up” using the compressed schedule that has been forced upon them due to the pandemic?

If the Canes can lock in more than a few points this weekend, they can set themselves up for a run not only at a third consecutive playoff berth but a shot at their first division title since winning the Southeast in the 05-06 season that ended in them winning their first Stanley Cup.

But that race starts tonight against the team with the best record in the Central. Here is are the keys to securing two points tonight.

Keep the Mrazek Magic Going

It’s no secret that a big reason for current success for the Carolina Hurricanes is the man between the net for two of their three wins. That man of course being Petr Mrazek. Through three games played he has only allowed three pucks to trickle in behind him. All coming in the same game. That has him tied with Marc-Andre Fleury of the  Knights for second-best GAA in the league.

He also has managed to maintain an incredible 0.955 save percentage through those games. That has once again given him at second-best overall in the league.

But who is number one? Who has Mrazek beat and is denying him the top locations in these statistics? Unfortunately, it is the masked man who will be on the other end of the ice tonight. The man we all have known, loved, and adored during his time with the Carolina Hurricanes. That’s right, Anton Khudobin.

Expect tonight to be another netminding dual, especially if Dobby can have a repeat performance as he showed us during Dallas’s opening weekend last week.

If you are noticing that I am refusing to say a certain word. There is a good reason for that. The last time anyone in the media said the word before a game, that ended in the only loss of the season so far. So Abby, if you are reading this, no we did not forget. Superstitions exist for a reason and we absolutely did not forget.

Do. Not. Say. It.

The Calvary isn’t Here Yet, so Let the Kids Play

Teuvo Teravainen, Warren Foegele, Jaccob Slavin, and Jordan Martinook were finally allowed out of their COVID cells to join back with the team and skate a bit yesterday. But they are nowhere near ready to join the rest of the team. That means that the same squad that was out there against the Lightning two nights ago will once again be asked to face a tough team.

This can be a good thing or this can be a bad thing.

Consider this, Tampa had no idea what to expect from a roster that featured five kids that all together have played only a handful of NHL games, some making their NHL debuts that night. The film on them was all AHL games and virtually useless to an NHL coach.

Add on a coach like Rod Brind’amour who allows for creativity and insanity from his younger players. Tampa knew that they had to stick to shutting down the offense and hope to generate enough offense of their squeak out a win.

We all now know that that did not happen as the Carolina defense and netminding was impenetrable. But there is now some film that Dallas can watch to prepare for the youth they are visiting.

So what now?

https://twitter.com/MSmithCanes/status/1355531614596567237

Now you don’t change a thing. Don’t rope in the kids. Let them go out there and play hockey. Let chaos reign. Dallas may be a good, disciplined team. They may be a tough team. They may even be the best team in this division. But they win playing boring hockey. Let’s introduce them to some electricity and excitement and see if they can handle it.

I would bet that they can’t.

Even that scoreless game with Tampa was completely electric and exciting. A team this young can keep that up and continue to push teams to their limits. Tampa gave as good as they got on the other end as well. They are a team with electricity all of their own (pun fully intended).

Dallas on the other hand was never built to handle that. The Stanley Cup Finals proved that well enough. Now is the time to cry havoc and let slip the kids of hockey.

Be the Tougher Team

With that same youth comes a need for toughness. The Dallas Stars roster is full of veterans with chips on their shoulders as they look to make a return to the Stanely Cup Finals to claim what they feel was usurped from them. That means taking down anyone who gets in their way. Tonight the young Carolina Hurricanes roster will be in their way.

This young team will probably skate around the older veterans and that might be taken as a slight. After all, this is a roster of kids who would normally still be looking for their first shot at the NHL while playing at the AHL together.

This game might get ugly if these kids don’t quickly learn to toughen up. They are at the NHL now and not because they were the only available players, but because they were the best available players. They already have a win in their pockets and are hungry for more. But if they are going to go out there tonight and get it, they will have to let things roll down their backs.

Luckily Rod Brind’amour is the perfect coach for this situation. He will absolutely be reminding this young roster that this is their ice, their home and that they have to defend it with gameplay and sportsmanship. The final score cares not for words and egos.

Toughness isn’t just the strength to win fights and land hits. It’s also the strength to avoid unnecessary fights and penalties that could cost the game. The kids did a decent job Thursday night against the Bolts, but can they repeat that and perhaps even improve it now that they are more mature professional hockey players?

That is what we will find out tonight. If they can do that along with my other keys to the game they will be skating away tonight with another two points in their pocket and a bigger hunger to do it all again Sunday night.