Carolina Hurricanes: Three takeaways as undermanned Canes lose

Carter Hart robs Carolina

There’s no other way to say it, sometimes, you’re going to run into a goalie who wants to stop everything and that was Carter Hart in this game. A Canes offense without two of its top six wingers didn’t have the capacity to beat him a second time, and it was a real uphill battle all the way through the game.

It’s not a lack of chances that saw Carolina fail to beat the Sherwood Park, Alberta native. It was just a goaltender that was seeing the puck like it was a beachball and was able to comfortably make saves throughout the night. Not a lot you can do, other than try to take his eyes away, but even then, Hart found a way to stop shots. It was a masterclass in goaltending.

Now, I know a 40 shot performance from the Canes ending in a 2-1 loss feels a lot like the days when the team was so horrible that not even Canes fans wanted to acknowledge the team, but this is very different team. This wasn’t 40 muffins, this was a lot of fantastic, high-quality scoring chances that Hart was just able to stop. As annoying as it is, there’s not a lot you can do but accept it. Next time, aim for a tip instead and hope for the best. Hart was seeing it too cleanly otherwise.

When we talk about Carolina needing their game-breaking talent to come through. It didn’t in this game, and it means the Canes get nothing from this game as opposed to taking two valuable points away from a division rival. It puts a lot of pressure on the team to take nothing but two points away from the second game in this back-to-back against St Louis.