Carolina Hurricanes: Takeaways from Tough Loss to Columbus

Ned Shows He Can Help Carolina Hurricanes

Alex Nedeljkovic’s stat line of 19 saves on 22 shots was middling at best, but he played quite well for his first game of the season.

First off, I know a lot of heart rates are elevated when a goalie, any goalie, leaves the net. I can hear my dad now, barking at Petr Mrazek through the TV all those times to “stay in the damn net”, so I can only imagine how his house sounded last night.

But here’s the thing: Ned’s puck playing ability is a huge advantage. He does it extremely well, and last night made probably 10 different breakout passes that essentially gave the Carolina Hurricanes a third defenseman on the breakout. This is especially big against a forechecking squad like Columbus, as it helps the team’s defenders not have to retreat behind the net on every dump-in, and thus allows less time for Columbus’ forwards to get in and create turnovers.

I know many of us can remember John Forslund talking about Carey Price‘s puck-playing ability when the Hurricanes took on Montreal over the years; Ned provides the same for the team now. He scored two goals in the minors for a reason.

The second notable positive from Ned was his rebound control. This is something James Reimer has struggled with of late, which can be expected from a goalie that is a tad overworked. But, last night, Nedeljkovic ate up every puck that came towards him. He did a fantastic job of catching, covering, or angling pucks to the corner basically every time Columbus tried to mount an attack or crash the net, which is obviously invaluable.

Now, none of the three goals are on him. A bad bounce off Svechnikov, a penalty shot from a noted Canes Killer, and another breakaway with a tough defensive sequence in front of him tend to allow many options on which blame can be placed. But, if you want to pick nits, you could say you would like Nedeljkovic to stop one of the breakaways. The Canes needed him to come up with a big save there, and he just could not quite get it done.

The thing is, I think it’s an overeagerness thing. We hear on the broadcast all the time about goalies being patient and letting the shooter make the first move. Alex tried to be patient on those breakaways, but bit on the first deke each time. Ned’s aggressiveness and athleticism often allow him to recover in these instances, but NHL players will eat him alive if they go to school on this film and he does not adjust.

You have to feel for the kid, though. He has been in the organization for nearly seven years, and never truly given a shot to earn an NHL job. He had to be clamoring to make his mark, and part of me feels like he just wanted to make those saves so bad that he overdid it a touch instead of displaying the patience and calmness needed to stay with the shooter.

Incidentally, those are likely two of his bigger obstacles he needs to overcome to entrench himself as an NHL netminder. This is something that he will likely only improve on with reps and comfort, and the organization seems hesitant to provide those.

Overall, I think he deserves another start. Once he settles in, he could give a nice boost to the Hurricanes in some role.