Three takeaways as Canes lose first matchup with Seattle

Carolina’s new-look forward lines did NOT work

Carolina played well in this game, but could not get the puck behind the Kraken’s netminder. After the overtime defeat in San Jose, the lines coming into this one were completely different and the consequences were dire. While the system the team played penned the Kraken in, Carolina’s lines could not get the puck into the cage. It did not feel like this was the Canes forward unit.

Now, the Hurricanes should not be able to use the line combinations as an excuse, as they will be mixed around at points during the season. But this always looked like a particularly weird mix for the team. There were genuine top six players on the fourth line, there were fourth-liners playing with the best players on the team, and the team’s best shooter playing with the shutdown center.

Obviously, I’m not paid to make these decisions, but there were a lot of red flags with this lineup from the getgo. Hindsight is always 20-20, but the Canes forward core was always just, wrong. It felt like players were playing way out of place, and the team never clicked like it was doing when they won 9 in a row to start the season, or even the 4 in a row from the St Louis game to the game against the Kings.

If you ask me now, are the lines changing for the game in the city of Brotherly Love on Friday, I wouldn’t have a clue what to tell you. They’re going to have to do something. If the lines are the same again, and they continue to be unable to put the puck in, there’s going to be questioned. It’s going to be an important game for the team to make sure they get on the board and score a load.