Three takeaways as Hurricanes lose frustrating game in Dallas
Carolina drops another game on the season as they continue to go through this rough patch. In a game that they dominated and really had the better scoring chances. Dallas really started to retreat back into its shell as the game progressed, and by the third period, it was just a shooting gallery for the Canes, but it was to no avail. An annoying loss that continues to highlight the scoring woes.
In the third period, Carolina lashed wave after wave down into the Dallas end and just couldn’t solve the puzzle in order to get out of the American Airlines Center with two points. This now highlights a 5th time in the last nine games where the Canes have been held to 2 goals or less, and it’s a particularly concerning reoccurring problem. Certainly something the team will look to fix going forward.
Yet, Carolina got outscored in each period as they lost this game. It’s such a concern that the team cannot solve goaltenders consistently, and it’s bringing fans back to the days of the rebuild when the forwards couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn, but that was fine because they were paid to not be able to hit the broadside of a barn. It’s a major regression for the team, and it’s starting to concern fans.
I don’t know what the Canes need to do in order to fix their scoring problems. It’s a ghost that seems to haunt the Hurricanes, but if they do not find a solution fast, this could be a wasted year for a team that had desires of being a Stanley Cup Contender and started the season with a perfect 9-0-0 record, things are starting to go pear shape in a hurry.
Braden Holtby shuts the door on Carolina
As this game brought a lot of fans back to the dark days of the franchise, Braden Holtby slammed the door in the face of the Hurricanes as they tried to push back into this game. Holtby never looked like the Canes were going to solve him as he returned to his form as a Washington Capital to haunt the Hurricanes again like it was 2015.
Carolina couldn’t solve the Lloydminster, Saskatchewan native, and he really re-enforced the narrative for the Canes scoring issues. He’s was a wall, and the Canes kept crashing into him time and again, doing whatever they could to disrupt his flow or vision of the puck, but Holtby had an answer for everything the Canes threw his way, and he helped the Stars shut this game down.
It’s a disappointing result, but the fact that Holtby kept the Canes to just 1 goal on nearly 40 shots really leads to the question about the Canes’ offense being able to turn the corner and get back on the board. It’s been problematic for the Canes as of late, and the team just did not find a way to beat Holtby. A lot of the players have been fighting their offensive abilities for a while, and this highlighted it.
Holtby just had to put a cherry on top of his performance in this game and had a save of the year candidate at the end in garbage time on Svechnikov. In case there wasn’t enough salt in that wound, just know that you’re going to be seeing that for the rest of the year. Anytime there’s talk about the save of the year, that’s going to come up. It’s just going to be annoying.
Carolina’s forward core has suffered from all the changes
When the forwards struggle like they did tonight, you have to look at some of the causes. The entirety of the top 9 seems to be in some form of a slump, with the only line that provides real pressure being the fourth line. It’s raising so many concerns as the Canes have now been held to fewer than 3 goals in 5 of the last 9 games. Something is going on, and it’s not good.
I don’t know what you change, but the players need some form of consistency. They can’t be randomly thrown together and expect to score. When even the top players are fighting their offensive confidence like they were in this game, you need to stop trying to blend it together, and just put the best players together and allow them to get into a grove.
We’ve seen something like 5 different top 9 line combinations since the start of the West Coast Road Trip almost 3 weeks ago. That’s way too much change if you’re expecting the players to produce. You need to give them time, and the constant movement throughout the lineup isn’t helping the team understand how to play with one another. If anything, it’s starting to make it all worse.
If Carolina cannot learn to put the puck in the back of the net again, they’re going to drop down the standings at an alarming rate. You might be able to chalk tonight up to not having a puck-moving defenseman to help them start the rush, but when you spend $50 million on forwards, you should be able to score more than 2 goals in more than 4 out of 9 games. That’s just unacceptable from the team.
Carolina’s 5 forward powerplay unit was certainly unique
Today, I got to see something I had never seen before in the National Hockey League. Carolina’s first powerplay units consisted of 5 forwards. It looked very boom or bust. When it was clicking, it looked very dangerous, but it seemed to have issues breaking through the Dallas wall that was set up when you tried to enter the zone. When they won the draw, they looked like they could score whenever.
It raises a question about sustainability and being able to ice the five forwards for as long as you don’t have your premier puck-moving defensemen, but it looks like something that could work for a brief period of time while there’s a lot of the defensive core in the National Hockey League’s COVID protocol. There was a lot to like, but it raises a lot of questions.
It was a unit that struggled but also didn’t. It’s worth having another look at if the Canes are down late in a game and the coaching staff want to see what it has, it looks like something that could potentially bring the team success in the future. Whether or not the team decided to have another look at it is a completely different question, but this was a different look and it had some positives.
This was not a good enough performance and the team had enough powerplay chances to allow them to get out of Texas with the win. It’s a disappointing result, and the team will need to find a long-term solution as they come back to Raleigh to prepare for their next game against the Ottawa Senators. What they’re going to do with the powerplay is a serious concern.
Next. . dark