Carolina Hurricanes: Keys to Stay Hot Against Nashville
The Carolina Hurricanes are eager to stay hot on their four game home stand, and will look to capture their sixth straight win as they host the Nashville Predators for the first time this season.
Heading into the first home game against the Predators, the Carolina Hurricanes are sitting at 2nd in the top-heavy Central Division with a record of 17-6-1 (5-0-0 in last five). Nashville is currently on the outside looking in, sitting in 6th with a record of 11-14-0 (2-3-0 in last five).
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Carolina has beaten Nashville in both of their matchups so far this season by a score of 4-2.
Nashville’s top performer, Filip Forsberg, is on a tear this season. He leads the Preds in goals and assists (10 G, 16 A), and is steadily maintaining a point-per-game pace.
The Canes can continue the slugfest with Florida and Tampa Bay at the top of the division if they can continue this win streak against a team they’ve had success against. They’re also undefeated with fans back in PNC Arena, which is a treat to see.
Here are the three keys to capturing six straight against Nashville:
Aho & Necas & Trocheck, Oh My!
If there were any three players to watch against Nashville, it’s this fantastic trio.
Sebastian Aho has been the same “Seabass” we know and love so far this season. He is tied for the team lead in points with 22. He has recorded five points in his last five games; two of which were goals against Nashville. “Fishy” also has posted 12 points (8 G, 4 A) in 10 career games against the Preds.
Martin Necas has found his groove and is having a breakout season now that he’s healthy. He received NHL Third Star of the Week honors after posting seven points (2 G, 5 A) in just four games, and is maintaining a four-game point streak. “Junior” also currently has 18 points through 21 games played, and looks quite comfortable in the top six.
Congrats Marty! pic.twitter.com/CvFPtydcUH
— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) March 8, 2021
Finally, the MVP for the Canes this season, Vincent Trocheck.
Currently riding a five-game point streak, “Young Tro” has scored a whopping six goals in his last 10 games, leads the team with 13 goals, and is tied for 5th in the league in that regard.
Enough said.
If the Hurricanes can maintain point production at this pace from not only their top six, but throughout the lineup, they’ll find themselves on multiple win streaks through the remainder of the season.
Stay Hot, Ned!
Alex Nedeljkovic has proven fans wrong in his recent performances.
Through his last five starts, Ned has posted a 3-1-1 record, a .940 save percentage, and a 2.00 GAA. Those are numbers that almost mirror Petr Mrazek’s incredible start this season.
Let’s also not overlook that in four of those games, he faced the Canes’ toughest competition, Tampa Bay and Florida, twice.
🥅GOALIE STUFF🥅
— Mike McKenna (@MikeMcKenna56) March 8, 2021
NHL stats for 4 of last season's @TheAHL All-Stars ⬇️
Alex Nedeljkovic: 4-2-1 0.927
Vitek Vanecek: 10-5-3 0.906
Kevin Lankinen: 9-4-4 0.919
Cal Peterson: 4-4-3 0.924
And the reigning AHL Goalie of the year:
Kaapo Kahkonen: 9-4-0 0.918
With these kinds of numbers from Nedeljkovic, and if the Canes continue to give him starts, I think we could very possibly see Ned’s name in the Calder Trophy conversation by the end of the season.
When it comes to James Reimer, he finds ways to get into the win column, but the numbers don’t lie, Alex Nedeljkovic has been the better goaltender. Goalies can be hot and cold, but in the NHL, you roll with the hot goalie until they cool off.
Ned has yet to face Nashville this season, but considering his previous opponents, he has a huge opportunity to stay red hot.
Dougie Needs More G’s
Dougie Hamilton leads the Hurricanes in assists this season with 16, paired with his lone goal that came against Columbus on February 7th.
Granted, a handful of these assists came off of deflections. Dougie’s been a fine puck mover and a great offensive defenseman per usual.
However, Hamilton leaves a lot to be desired on the defensive side of the puck, especially in transition. Last season, he made up for this with an incredible goal scoring tear (before a nasty leg injury), but many fans overlooked his ineffectiveness on defense due to his goal production.
While I’m sure Dougie is just fine with his point pace right now, I think seeing his name in the goal column would not only do wonders for his confidence on offense, but also might give him some juice on defense.
He also currently leads the roster in shots with 72, bringing his shooting percentage (for players with at least one goal) to an NHL-worst 1.4%.
Free agency is also approaching for the 27 year-old defenseman, and his performance for the remainder of the season will determine his price tag come summer.