Carolina Hurricanes: Keys to Keep Rolling Against Columbus

The Carolina Hurricanes finished their six-game road trip with a 4-3 shootout win in Dallas on Saturday and will bring home 8 out of a possible 12 points. The Canes improved their road record to 6-3-0 and return to PNC Arena with an unblemished home record of 3-0-0.

Monday night, the Canes host the Columbus Blue Jackets for the first time this season, which will mark the beginning of a five-game home stand, including a meeting with Florida on Wednesday, a back-to-back with Chicago on Friday and Saturday, and finally Tampa Bay on the following Monday.

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The Blue Jackets currently sit just below the Hurricanes in the Discover Central Division standings at 7-5-4, and are 3-1-1 in their last five games. The story of the season so far for Columbus is their newest acquisitions from Winnipeg, Patrik Laine and Jack Roslovic, who are both almost point-per-game players this season with their new club. The duo combined for five total points against the Canes in their first two meetings last week.

Martin Necas returned to the Canes’ lineup against Dallas on Saturday and looked as if he hasn’t missed a step since his injury in Chicago, playing 17 minutes and notching an assist on the night. With the exception of Petr Mrazek, we’re back to seeing the faces we’re used to in the lineup. After a bit of a shaky win against Dallas, let’s see if the Canes can get their chemistry back to full strength now that a majority of their regulars are healthy.

With some new faces joining the fold we will see how the lines shake up soon enough (as long as Rod doesn’t take McGinn off the first line).

Columbus is a team that has given Carolina a couple of tight games so far this season, here are the keys for the Canes to capture their 10th win of the season against the Jackets.

Enter, Cedric Paquette

The biggest question mark going into Monday night’s tilt with the Blue Jackets is newly acquired center, Cedric Paquette. To avoid the lengthy quarantine protocol after leaving the Ottawa Senators and crossing the border, Paquette drove quite a distance from Ottawa down to Raleigh.

The Canes making the addition of Paquette adds much needed grit to the lineup, as well as some championship pedigree from his recent Stanley Cup run with Tampa Bay. While it’s known that the likes of Jordan Staal, Jordan Martinook, and sometimes Andrei Svechnikov like to throw the body around, Paquette is a player that can bring the sort of consistent sandpaper hockey that the Canes have been missing for a while.

As reported by Michael Smith, Cedric Paquette was seen at Monday’s morning skate centering Jordan Martinook and Jesper Fast. While I’m sad to see Morgan Geekie and Steven Lorentz back on the taxi squad while the team is at full health, all eyes will be on the Canes’ fourth line tonight.

Turn Possession Into Offense

The Carolina Hurricanes are currently first in the Central Division and third in the NHL for their faceoff percentage at 53.6%. Jordan Staal (61.4%) and Vincent Trocheck (56.1%) have been a huge part of this success in the faceoff circle, winning possession for the Hurricanes at a high rate.

Win possession, win the game, right?

While the Canes boast an impressive faceoff unit, this hasn’t shown a noticeable transition to the scoreboard. During Carolina’s six-game road trip, they won the faceoff battle in every game, but the shots on goal ended up totaling dead-even at 178 shots-on-goal for the Canes and their opponents (29.67 per game).

While I can also chalk this up as a big reason for Staal and Trocheck’s current point production, I would love to see the wealth distributed a bit more to the first line, if at all possible.

If the Canes can find a way to sustain this success in the faceoff dot and then turn it into higher volume shooting or simply more quality chances from better possessions, the one goal losses will start to turn into overtime trips and the overtime trips will turn into regulation wins (no more dreaded three-point games).

Can Reimer Return to Form?

James Reimer currently boasts a 6-1-0 record on the year, but his performance has definitely cooled off since his first few games.

Over the six-game road trip, he started four games in which he averaged an .863 SV% and a 4.0 GAA. Not ideal, I would say. I’m sure I sound spoiled after Petr Mrazek’s magnificent first three games, but regardless of how good both of your goalies may be, you always want to have a clear #1 starter.

I think Monday night will have plenty of opportunities for Reimer to surge some confidence back into his game, now that the Canes’ regulars are looking like their old selves before the COVID protocol pause.

However, Haydn Fleury has been projected as a scratch for the Columbus game and Jake Bean will take his place. Fleury leads the entire team in blocked shots at 20 on the season, but has yet to record a point through 12 games. Will Fleury’s absence affect the defensive side of the ice, or can Bean pick up where he left off?

Reimer has shown us some magic in the past, but the Blue Jackets were able to hang five on him last time. Hopefully he can get comfortable being between the pipes back in PNC Arena.