Carolina Hurricanes: Keys to beating Coyotes in the matinee
After the Florida Panthers lost in the shootout last night, your Carolina Hurricanes stand alone as the final unbeaten team in the National Hockey League. That unbeaten streak will be put to the test tonight as the Hurricanes play their first matinee of the season against the Arizona Coyotes. With that, let us dive into how the Carolina Hurricanes can improve to 8-0-0 on the NHL season.
Arizona has struggled to start the season. Currently bottom of the NHL standings, the Coyotes record reads 0-7-1 and that might be a little complimentary. Their shootout loss was to the suddenly fantastic Buffalo Sabres, and they’ve been outscored 12-36 in their opening 8 games of the season. This doesn’t include the extra goal that Buffalo was awarded for the shootout.
Arizona has only beaten the netminder 12 times this season. To put that into perspective, Carolina amassed half of that in their most game against the Chicago Blackhawks. Arizona’s offense has not been up to the standards of some of the opponents Carolina has come up against already. However, that does not mean this is by any stretch a certain win.
Arizona still possesses a tremendous amount of talent, and whether it is just off to a slow start, or if it’s slacking a little bit, this Carolina Hurricanes team cannot afford to look ahead of this Coyotes roster if they want to pass on with their unbeaten record on the season. So here are the keys to staying unbeaten in the 2021-22 NHL season.
Carolina’s stars shine through
We know that the Carolina Hurricanes have some of the most explosive talents in the sport. Tonight is a night where they can shine through and explode on the biggest stage. A matinee means the entire eyes of the hockey world will be on this game since there’s nothing else this early. Carolina’s stars will get to shine in front of the whole league.
This is a very injured Arizona team too, especially on the backend. Carolina’s depth can produce in situations like this, but in an ideal world, we will see Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov increase their point streaks to 8 games to open the season. They’re going to have to step up big in this game anyway.
Svechnikov’s 7 goals put him joint second for the league lead, and only two behind the great eight who leads the league. If that’s not a statement of intent from the Russian trying to repay the faith the organization put in him over the summer, I don’t know what is. His 11 points put him 7th in the league, with fewer games than a lot of those around him. He’s off to a great start and Carolina needs the Russian to keep at it.
Aho’s been very quiet, which is not the way I thought I would be describing someone who has 10 points in 7 games. Yet, if I asked you to point out a game this season where Aho completely took it over and dominated the game, there isn’t one. This is the standard we’ve set for the young Finn, and he’s not quite at that bar yet, which is exciting for the rest of the year.
These two are going to be the difference between these two teams. Arizona does not have access to this kind of star power. Arizona doesn’t have that elite league-leading threat. Carolina’s top-end talent will have to step up and be the difference if the Canes want to improve to 8-0-0 on the season and improve on the best start in Franchise history.
Do not start late
The puck drop for this one is at 1 PM EST. This might throw a lot of players off their gameday routines. Hockey players are creatures of habit and this early start really does throw a spanner in the works as far as the routines will go. If the players do not show up to play when the puck drops, this will be a far more difficult game than it has to be.
Stay out of the box early, work hard. This is the third game in four days, but it could also be the third win in four days. A struggling team is coming into PNC Arena, and Carolina has the best home record across the league since the start of last season. On paper, this should not be a very difficult contest. If the Hurricanes show up early, this won’t be a difficult contest, but you cannot afford to relax early.
If the work ethic from the Canes is not there early, then it’s going to be a struggle. We all know that in this sport, an early goal could be the difference in this game. If Carolina scores in the first minute, that could put the game to bed. With how well Carolina’s starter has been playing and Arizona’s scoring trouble, this could be over quickly.
However, the Carolina Hurricanes are unbeaten. Teams are going to be excited to play them now because they will want to be the team to end their hot streak to start the season. Teams are going to target the Canes as a team because they are now one of the big scalps in the NHL. Claiming that you beat them will inspire a fanbase. It’s why the Canes recognize there’s no easy game for them.
Filling the first injury hole
Carolina’s last win came at a price. Nino Niederreiter left the game late in the third period with a “lower-body injury”. He came off the ice and went straight down the tunnel. Since the end of that game, Rod Brind’amour has suggested that Nino could be out for a while. Now, with Rod, that could mean 2 weeks or season-ending. He’s not exactly specific.
Regardless, it’s very unlikely we see the Swiss winger for a while. Someone is going to need to step in and successfully fill in for the winger. If only Carolina had a promising young man waiting in the wings to step in given the right occasion to prove he belongs in the National Hockey League. Someone young, with a lot of talent and a lot of pedigree who impressed right from the start of the year.
Enter: Seth Jarvis. While the winger has had to wait a long time to get his first look at NHL action, the Winnipeg native started training camp really well and impressed enough to avoid being sent back to the Portland Winter Hawks of the Western Hockey League. He should get his chance in the line-up tonight.
Talented, with great game-breaking abilities, he’s going to show some holes at first. He won’t come in and be the next face of the franchise. It’s going to take him some time to get used to the pace of the NHL and get into the flow of things. But oh man, is Seth Jarvis an exciting prospect. I cannot wait to see him in action. He’s such a promising young player.
Anyway, that’s it for now! The puck drop is at 1 PM EST. We’ve got a fun game today, and hopefully, no Halloween scares for the Hurricanes. If you can’t watch the game on Bally Sports South, or listen to it on 99.9 the fan, join us on Twitter as we will live-tweet the game! Until then, thank you for reading, and LET’S GO CANES!
dark. Next.