Hurricanes get beaten by goalie issues in New Jersey

7 goal games seem to be something the Canes enjoy in the year 2022, but in this one, it was not in the fashion that they would have liked. Beaten by the issues that have plagued the organization since its birth into the NHL. Goaltending was the downfall, and although this is a storyline we’ve been grateful not to push this season, it can’t be denied here. In this one, the netminding just was not good enough.

This is nothing against the young man that made his first NHL start in Jack Lafontaine. I said in the title that goalie issues were the reason Carolina lost this game. While that is true, it’s unfair to blame this on a guy making his first-ever NHL start. He wasn’t even signed at the beginning of the season, he’s only under contract now because the organization is ravaged with goaltending injuries.

That said, he’s still promising for the future. But that doesn’t help the here and now like this game in Newark, New Jersey. Carolina’s offense played well, but their defensive woes were exposed and the goaltender couldn’t bail them out. It was a tough game for fans to watch because it really was the beginning of seeing a homegrown talent like Lafontaine just get absolutely mauled by New Jersey.

You can pin the sloppy performance by the skater core on the fact this was the second half of a back to back, or just the fact that the team didn’t get out of Raleigh due to the snowstorm until 7 hours before the game or something like that, but then you’re making excuses for something completely avoidable. Carolina was not good enough in this game and there’s no excuse for it.

Their forecheck wasn’t existent, and their defense kept making bad turnovers in bad areas which leads to goals against any day that ends in a “y”. Bad mistakes lead to goals against in the best league in the world, even against teams you should comfortably handle like the New Jersey Devils. They lost, now they have to go and prepare for the next game with this sour taste hanging around.