Carolina Hurricanes: 3 keys to beating red hot Ducks
Tonight, the Carolina Hurricanes continue their west coast road trip as they have a stop in Orange County to take on the Anaheim Ducks. Carolina is looking to move to 13-2 on the year, and build their lead at the top of the division. Carolina will be coming up against one of the hottest teams in the NHL as they take on the team that took its name from a movie franchise.
Anaheim has won eight on the bounce, and hit 1000 wins as an organization in their 3-2 OT win over the Washington Capitals. Going for win number nine, tonight is a strong test for the Ducks. This Carolina Hurricanes team will be by far the toughest test of their winning streak. If the Ducks want to make it to cloud nine, they need to overcome one of the best teams in the NHL.
With Carolina getting healthier by the day, we know that there’s a lot to play for in both locker rooms. Both teams are looking to pull away at the top of their respective divisions. Now, there’s going to be a loser in this game. One team will take two points away and the other will not, but this is a game that promises to be an absolute gem.
After a 4-2 win in Vegas, Carolina starts the California gauntlet with Anaheim. This is a game that promises to be exciting, and fans will be treated to a great game between a couple of teams that know how to put the puck in the net. Carolina has the edge on paper, but Anaheim is a team of kids with a great goalie, this could be 6-5 or 1-0 in the shootout. I would not be shocked at either result.
Carolina welcome back Brett Pesce
Carolina will have seven defensemen take warm-ups, as the only injury concern on the team is listed as a game-time decision. That means that, if he’s in the lineup, Brett Pesce will make this a full team. Healthy, they’re able to beat anyone when they’re at their best. Welcoming back a player as vital as Brett Pesce is a welcome boost to any team, but that’s a very welcome sight.
Pesce was the leader on the team in time on ice before his injury after a bad collision with the boards in the game in Chicago. Carolina’s premier name on the right side of their defense core has missed too long for the liking of their coach, but re-joining the lineup in a crucial game like this one against the Ducks will do wonders for the team.
Carolina has suffered both losses in their record during the absence of the Tarrytown, New York native. With their premier defensive defenseman back in the lineup, this Carolina Hurricanes roster becomes so much more difficult to beat. When the Carolina Hurricanes take the ice with Brett Pesce, they are a better team and they are more difficult to beat with the defender.
Slotting him back into the second pairing, the top penalty kill unit, and the second powerplay unit will help rest some of the other players on the team. Pesce really does a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to this roster, and he’s good at it. He gives the Canes defensive stability and that’s what they need with a forward core that is as murderous as theirs is.
Frederik Andersen returns to the crease
When the Carolina Hurricanes suffered their most recent loss to the Philadelphia Flyers, it was placed on the record of Carolina’s Danish netminder. This will be his first time back in the blue paint since that game, but we will indeed see Carolina go back to Frederik Andersen tonight in Orange County. Tonight, they turn back to their Great Dane.
With Freddie manning the crease, Carolina has an incredible record this season, with the netminder being 9-2 on the year, with a .938 save percentage and a 1.77 goals-against average. With the great numbers this goaltender is putting up, we know that the Carolina Hurricanes feel confident playing in front of this player.
Andersen was originally drafted by the Carolina Hurricanes, and the circle that got him back to Carolina via Toronto is well known, but Andersen went back into the draft and then was selected by the Anaheim Ducks. He is facing off against his former organization in this game with a point to prove, and if he can be the dominant goalie, prove the organization wrong for trading him.
Andersen has become one of the strengths of this Carolina team, and with some elite goaltending, Andersen is quickly starting to prove all of his doubters wrong from his struggles at the end of his tenure with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He’s playing like a goaltender driven to prove everyone who doubted his capabilities after playing hurt for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Leading by example
Part of the reason Anaheim has had so much success is that they have a young phenom in their midst and he is the biggest threat on the Ducks forward core. In order to shut this team down, its going to take a great performance from the Carolina Hurricanes third line to ensure that the Anaheim Ducks star stays quiet in this game. This is where we get to Jordan Staal and his linemates.
Staal is going to be tasked with shutting down Zegras wherever it’s possible to get him out there against the youngster. Staal centers the best defensive trifecta the Hurricanes have had since the playing days of the head coach. When he takes to the ice at the Honda Center in Anaheim, he knows he’s not being asked to put the puck in the net, but to merely keep it out of his end.
Captaining a team that is as well poised to make a run for the Stanley Cup as the Carolina Hurricanes and being paid $6 million means that you will need to lead by example. He wears the C (and although, they all technically wear C’s on the road) Staal is the captain of this team. He needs to dictate what happens when he is on the ice with Anaheim’s top talent.
Staal isn’t going to go away without being shut up, so we know that he is dependable. It’s obvious that the Carolina Hurricanes aren’t going to get a result here against the white-hot Anaheim Ducks without their captain stepping up to play that solidified defensive role that he is so good at. Staal is the most important part of this Canes team, and this is the kind of game where he needs to prove it.
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