Carolina Hurricanes: Keys to Game 2 Vs. the Columbus Blue Jackets

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Jan 31, 2021; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; Carolina Hurricanes center Vincent Trocheck (16) scores the game winning shootout goal against Dallas Stars at PNC Arena. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports /

The Carolina Hurricanes are off to a strong start to the 2021 campaign, with a 7-2-0 record that has the team right on the heels of the defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning in the NHL’s new-look Central Division. After a middling series in Chicago where the team was trying to re-implement multiple players coming off of COVID-list stints, yesterday’s matinee win over the Columbus Blue Jackets marked a notable step forward in terms of crispness and overall energy level.

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While Carolina Hurricanes’ goaltender James Reimer had an afternoon he would soon like to forget, the team earned a hard-fought 6-5 win thanks to strong pressure in the offensive end wearing Columbus down and a steady defensive effort. The Canes allowed only 22 shots on goal, including just three in the middle period.

Expect tonight’s matchup to be a game where Columbus comes out motivated and, perhaps, a little angry after the NHL admitted they got the short end of the stick from the officials yesterday after Vincent Trocheck’s late-second period goal should have been disallowed due to a video review that showed the Canes’ forward entered the zone early.

Columbus is the only other 2019-20 Metro Division contestant that now plays in the Central, so between that and Conor’s post from yesterday, you guys probably already know the big details about the squad, so I won’t ramble much longer. Here are my three keys to sweeping the back-to-back against a pesky, grinding Blue Jackets squad.

Mar 5, 2020; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic (39) makes a glove save against the Philadelphia Flyers during the second period at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports /

Ned’s Golden Opportunity

Petr Mrazek going down was obviously a HUGE blow to the Carolina Hurricanes. The fan favorite netminder was off to a blistering start this season, and one of the biggest reasons the Canes as a team came out of the gates firing.

With him going down, James Reimer has since been a tad overworked, which we saw pretty clearly yesterday. He didn’t have his typical push to get on top of his crease and play large consistently, leaving too much room for shots from distance to find twine.

This shouldn’t be all that surprising; Reimer is who he is: a solid 1B goalie. Not quite a starter, but better than what you would typically classify as a backup. The soon-to-be 33-year old doesn’t handle a heavy workload well at this stage of his career. The Canes need a second goaltender to give him adequate rest and, hopefully, get him back to the level he played at last season.

First opportunity: Polarizing former top prospect Alex Nedeljkovic.

Most of us know Ned’s story by now. Here’s the short version, for those who don’t: the Francis-regime 2014 second-round draft pick was once seen as the future of the organization between the pipes. He has had an adjustment period at every level he’s gone to (except the OHL where he posted a stellar 19-2-2 record, 2.28 goals-against average, and .923 save percentage as a rookie), but adjust he has, before rising to the top of those levels. He won the OHL’s Goaltender of the Year Award in the 2013-14 season, boasting a .925 save percentage despite playing for a team that badly lacked talent, then the same honor in the AHL while backstopping the Charlotte Checkers’ Calder Cup run in ’18-’19.

With all this said, how did he just clear waivers a couple weeks ago? None of the 31 NHL teams wanted to take a chance on that?

The flip side is, his AHL performance has been frustratingly inconsistent. He’s an extremely aggressive goalie, which he needs to be due to his 6’0 frame, but at times it causes issues for his angles and leaves him susceptible moving side-to-side when he can’t recover quickly enough. He has great athleticism that leads to highlight reel saves on occasion, but when he’s struggling to track the puck, there simply seem to be a lot of holes to beat him through. He has to stay on top of his crease to play big.

Nedeljkovic’s NHL stints have been similarly inconsistent (in the small, six-game sample), but the “good” leaves plenty of reason for optimism. The Ohio native made his NHL debut in the same arena he will make his fifth start in tonight, and while he will not be able to have friends and family in the stands this time, he can hopefully still take some comfort in the hometown vibes.

This key isn’t all about Ned, either; the Canes need to be sound in front of him. Ideally, Ned feels the puck a couple times early, even if it’s just playing the puck on a dump-in or clear. That handling of the puck is an area he really excels at. If the Canes play their usual brand of strong defense, containing shots to outside of the high-danger areas, keeping lanes in front of Ned clear so he can see and track the puck, and cleaning up any rebounds that may lead to disaster, this could be a big step for the 25-year-old (also, please do not let Patrik Laine fire away all night, again).

If these things happen and Ned builds up some early confidence, perhaps this turns from a key to win #8 to a key to the rest of the 2021 season. Goaltenders are volatile, and sometimes you never really know what you have until you see them in the NHL a handful of times. It’s pretty much now or never for Alex Nedeljkovic as a Hurricane.

Feb 7, 2021; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Carolina Hurricanes right wing Sebastian Aho (20) takes a shot on goal against the Columbus Blue Jackets during the second period at Nationwide Arena. Mandatory Credit: Russell LaBounty-USA TODAY Sports /

Would Seem Swell for Seb to Steal the Spotlight

I’ll just go ahead and start this off by saying, Sebastian Aho has in no way, shape, or form been bad to start the 2021 season, and obviously he’s on pace for… 56 points in 56 games. However, I think the two goals suggest this is pretty far from his peak level, too.

Laine had a big game for Columbus yesterday. Today, Aho, being the star and quietly-fierce competitor he is, should come out motivated to one-up his countryman and former World Juniors linemate.

Aho has a bit of a reputation for taking a while to get his legs under him, but with Martin Necas going down and some struggles from Teuvo Teravainen after returning from the COVID list, the Canes are basically missing two of their most prominent playmakers. Now would be a great time to go on one of Aho’s patented runs where he’s just completely dominant, breaking defenders’ ankles, scoring what seems like twice every game, and creating energy for the entire team.

As a bonus, assuming he and Svech stay on a line together tonight, if they are both on their game it means A LOT of chances will be created for Carolina. And you have to think Brock McGinn will at least finish one of them, right?

(I kid, I kid).

A ton of run support would be a welcome sight, as giving Ned a little wiggle room will help ease him into the game and raise the confidence level. Who better to supply it for the young netminder getting his first start of the year than the Finnish superstar?

Feb 2, 2021; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Brady Skjei (76) controls the puck against the Chicago Blackhawks during the second period at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports /

Carolina Hurricanes: Keep up the Balance

There was very little to complain about from yesterday’s performance. The Hurricanes maybe were just “so-so” in the first period. After that, the team’s game felt pretty dominant, outside of Reimer’s documented struggles and a tough powerplay or two.

So, the final thing the Canes need to pull off the two-game sweep, is to continue to get contributions from every guy in a white sweater.

The early hallmarks of this edition of the Carolina Hurricanes are depth – especially important in this weird, truncated, COVID season -, forechecking, and team defense. Those are all things that take an identity, buy-in, and collective effort from across the roster. The Canes have gotten that more often than not this season.

Not only that, but the scoring has been as balanced as I remember in some time. The Carolina Hurricanes currently have eight players with at least five points, and five players with eight or more. That’ll work.

I won’t go down the list and explain every notable statistic, but four guys that deserve a quick shoutout are Brady Skjei, Brett Pesce, Vincent Trocheck, and Jordan Staal. Skjei hasn’t been in Carolina long, but lately he has been fantastic. He (much like Trocheck) looks significantly more comfortable this season, and pairing his skating ability and more stay-at-home tendency with Dougie Hamilton makes for a pairing that looked awfully good at first glance yesterday.

Pesce is one of the best defensemen in the NHL, full stop. If he keeps jumping into the rush and making plays offensively, too, do not be surprised if he gets the Slavin treatment of last year, where he suddenly gets the national recognition he really deserves.

Trocheck has stuck out to everyone for his clutch scoring and general smoothness with his hands and skating, but can we talk about his faceoffs and penalty killing too? He made numerous plays stripping and clearing pucks yesterday, and won 10-of-15 draws as well (bringing his season-long total to 90-158, or an elite 57%). He nearly got to a team-leading seven goals twice yesterday, between the double deflection goal and the beautiful late takeaway from Laine that Staal just missed the breakout saucer pass on while Columbus’ net was empty. Alas, for now, he still sits tied with Andrei Svechnikov for the team lead at six.

Speaking of Staal, I buy in. I believe in the offensive performance. He’s finally being used as a 3C in a largely-shutdown role, with a netfront, dirty-work presence on the powerplay paying off as well. It’s almost like we have been clamoring for this role for him for years for a reason, eh?

Say what you want, call him overpaid, he’s the captain and heartbeat of this team for a reason. The Carolina Hurricanes are not who they have been the last few years without him.

Heck, even Ryan Dzingel’s 2 goals and 2 assists in nine games has been a nice boost, especially with him playing in a bottom-six role. As I said I could go on and on, but you get the idea. The Canes are deep, have star power at the top, and look like a potentially special team if they continue to mesh and improve every game, every week.

Play to their identity, put Ned in position to succeed, Aho in position to take over, and implement a very “Do Your Job”, Bill Belichick-ian philosophy where every knows and fills their role, and this squad can handle the Columbus Blue Jackets today.