Carolina Hurricanes: Keys to Keeping the Streak Alive vs. Detroit
The Carolina Hurricanes head to Michigan this evening to begin a brief two-game roadstand against the Detroit Red Wings. The Canes look to extend their winning streak to 8 games as the Red Wings look to replicate their success against the Tampa Bay Lightning late last week.
The Canes come into tonight’s matchup still pretty banged up; Vincent Trocheck, Teuvo Teravainen, and Petr Mrazek are still out with injury, as is Jake Gardiner, who was waived yesterday and assigned to the taxi squad earlier today.
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The Hurricanes have shown that they are arguably the deepest team in the NHL right now, and the players they have waiting in the wings on the taxi squad are more than capable of playing (and succeeding) at the NHL level.
Morgan Geekie, for instance, looked right at home on NHL ice against the Nashville Predators last week, scoring two goals and earning First Star of the Game honors in his first game back on the roster in a few weeks.
Tonight’s matchup will be slightly less of a test for the newer faces on the roster; they’ve more than proven they know how to step up and contribute in the absence of a few of the Carolina Hurricanes’ best players.
3. Ned Heads Unite!
Alex Nedeljkovic is set to start in this evening’s matchup.
That’s it, that’s the key.
Ned has far and away been the best goaltender on the roster in Petr Mrazek’s absence; James Reimer has been fine, but Ned has been fantastic.
4⃣4⃣ saves for Ned last night 👏 pic.twitter.com/JRLv0Ec5HR
— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) March 2, 2021
If you aren’t on the Nedeljkovic hype train yet, you’re bound to be soon. As I mentioned in a previous article, Ned has more than earned the backup spot when Mrazek returns to full-time action.
Whether or not that happens is a whole story in and of itself, but look for Ned to give everyone yet another reason why he’s the right choice.
2. Geekie Supremacy
Morgan Geekie came roaring back to the Carolina Hurricanes’ lineup last week as the youngster registered 2 goals and earned First Star of the Game honors in the Canes’ 2nd matchup against the Nashville Predators last week.
Morgan Geekie is proving, in quick fashion, that he can not only hang with NHL-level players, but can dunk on them all the same.
First game back, First Star for Morgan Geekie pic.twitter.com/H0I1coi2qy
— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) March 12, 2021
Geekie has been an incredibly solid stand-in for the time being, and should be able to secure a full-time NHL spot going forward if he can continue to cash in while Vincent Trocheck is out.
Who he would replace would be interesting, but I could see him getting time over a guy like Warren Foegele if he can develop into a full-fledged goalscorer.
I’m getting a bit ahead of myself. For now, let’s all just enjoy watching Geekie emerge into the NHL and see how far the kid goes, eh?
1. Hockey Games Are 60 Minutes Long
I’ve noticed something over the course of the past few games.
The Carolina Hurricanes are finally realizing that hockey games last 60 minutes, and they’re certainly playing like it.
Granted, they may have a weaker 20 minutes than we’d like here and there, but I’m not seeing a huge drop-off in effort, performance, or “jump” from period to period like I had been several weeks ago.
I don’t want to jinx it by any means, but I have a feeling that this realization on the Canes’ part has played no small part in the current 7-game winning streak they’ve managed to string together.
7 IN A ROW!!! pic.twitter.com/P9euMOo7oo
— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) March 12, 2021
The Carolina Hurricanes’ have just looked better and more consistent from period to period, and it is beyond refreshing.
I’m very curious to see just how far this newfound sense of continued effort carries them in the coming months. This is a key ingredient to building a Cup-winning team, and the Canes may have just figured it out.
Game Notes
Location: Little Caesars Arena
Puck Drop: 5:00PM EST
TV: Fox Sports Carolinas
Radio: 99.9 The Fan
Projected Lineup:
- Niederreiter – Aho – Necas
- Svechnikov – Staal – Fast
- McGinn – Martinook – Foegele
- Paquette – Geekie – Lorentz
- Slavin – Hamilton
- Skjei – Pesce
- Fleury – Bean
Projected Goalie Matchup:
Carolina: Alex Nedeljkovic, 5-2-1, .926 SV%, 2.21 GAA
Detroit: Jonathan Bernier, 7-5-0, .910 SV%, 3.02 GAA
Score Prediction:
4. 109. 2. 72. Prediction
Moneypuck.com gives the Carolina Hurricanes a 54.6% chance of winning tonight’s matchup.
Trending. Alex Nedeljkovic Deserves the Backup Spot. light