On steamy summer night…in October? the Carolina Hurricanes kicked off the 2019-20 season with an exciting 4-3 shootout win over the Montreal Canadiens. The first period had a decent pace but was fairly controlled in terms of openings and grade A chances. The game opened up in the second period to the tune of four goals, and the third period had a similar hectic pace through much of it despite only offering up a single goal.
The story of the first period was a carry over of the solid defensive hockey from the 2018-19 season. I thought the Habs had the upper hand by a slight margin in the first period, but the Hurricanes were good defending off the rush and in their own end such that the shot totals rose but the number of high-quality chances were modest. In addition, the Hurricanes did a nice job of counter punching with occasional strikes despite not being able to mount a sustained attack. Ryan Dzingel fired off the top of the cross bar off the rush. Martin Necas was sprung for a path to the net before trying instead to cut back and losing the puck in the process. And Sebastian Aho worked over a Canadiens forward 1-on-1 off the rush while shorthanded. None of the rushes yielded a goal, the Hurricanes did strike first when Lucas Wallmark showed great hand-eye coordination first tipping a Brett Pesce point shot and then whacking in his own rebound. The first period would end with the Hurricanes staked to a 1-0 lead.
Via some combination of an attacking pace and a bit of early season sloppiness, the game opened up in the second period. Shortly after Jordan Staal clanged the post with a grade A power play chance, Martin Necas would score the Hurricanes second deflection goal of the night on a power play tally on a Dougie Hamilton point shot. But from there the Canadiens capitalized on some defensive breakdowns to reel off three straight goals to go up 3-2. First a series of small errors on the penalty kill compounded and led to a Tomas Tatar goal against. First, Warren Foegele to clear the puck. Erik Haula over-anticipated and skated right past the point man who intercepted the clear. And then admittedly caught in a bad spot, Haydn Fleury did not offer much to better the situation. The second Canadiens goal had the Canes running around a bit. Mrazek spit out a rebound and Jesperi Kotkaniemi scored a heady goal out-waiting Mrazek on the rebound. The third Habs goal saw Warren Foegele initially go to a secondary attacker off the rush but then incorrectly leave him thinking the defense had him covered. But with the puck on the far side, Slavin was on the puck and Hamilton had the forward in the middle lane leaving Jordan Weal wide open to score.
The third period saw the Hurricanes finally find high gear and run off some stretches of the aggressive, pressuring hockey that represents the team at its best. Dzingel/Haula/Necas were dangerous all period. And the Canes in general had the upper hand. The good guys were finally rewarded for their effort just seconds after a power play expired. Ryan Dzingel made a nifty through the legs pass to Hamilton out in front. Haula ultimately banged in the loose change to pull the Hurricanes even at 3-3.
The overtime saw each team have a stretch of puck possession but not quite be able to finish against a tired opposing trio. Dougie Hamilton was first on the shootout and scored only goal in it, to push the Hurricanes to a fun 4-3 shootout victory.
Notes
1) Martin Necas
Necas actually struggled early. He was hit with a break out pass and instead of trying to exploit the small head start he had, he instead turned back into the defender and was stripped. He also backed away from shoulder to shoulder contact on the power play resulting in Montreal seizing the puck and salting away power play time. And he had a few minor issues receiving or handling the puck. But the power play goal and maybe Brind’Amour’s line shuffling seemed to jump start his game. In addition to the power play goal, Necas had at least two pretty passes to set up line mates for shots, and he looked every bit the playmaker that he has been at lower levels.
2) Joel Edmundson
I liked his first regular season game in a Hurricanes uniform. Edmundson is correctly labeled as a stay-home defenseman, but what stands out about his game is that he is not a passive stay-home type who sits back. Rather, he has the same puck-challenging instincts that are integral to Pesce and Slavin’s games.
3) Bodies to the net
An underlying but significant theme to this game was the Hurricanes’ consistent effort to get players to the top of the crease. The first two goals were on rebounds. And in general the Canes did a great job getting players to the top of the crease and then getting the puck to there.
4) Dzingel/Haula/Necas
I had this as my third line from before training camp started. Once put together around the midway point of the game (Necas started on Wallmark’s line), this line reminded me of Whitney/Cullen/LaRose from the 2005-06 season. Both trios have enough speed and skill to exert significant pressure on the opposing defense and exploit match ups against lesser defenders. Dzingel and Necas both have the same effortless skating ability that is fast in straight lines but maybe more importantly gives them a ‘swooping’ ability that constantly moves to find open ice space with or without the puck.
5) Warren Foegele
He continues to try to fight his way out of a funk. He had the bad, intercepted clearing attempt on the Canadiens first goal, and he also made the incorrect sorting out decision that left Weal alone for the third Canadiens goal. Later Foegele was in alone on Carey Price and did not even manage to get a shot off as the puck rolled off his stick. He continues to fight it just as he did in preseason.
6) The power play
The power play was odd. On the one hand, it was quite disjointed at times in terms of cohesively moving the puck up into the offensive zone. But the positive is that even with a modest amount of offensive zone time, the team capitalized to the tune of a goal, another goal shortly after a penalty expired and two posts. That is pretty productive and at least potentially a positive sign.
7) Points count
With the aim of not requiring a 40-game push to climb the standings ladder into the playoffs like in 2018-19, getting off to a better start is critical. Especially with games against expected Eastern Conference leaders Tampa Bay and Washington looming over the weekend, netting a first win is an underrated positive.
Next up is a Saturday match up in Washington, D.C. against the Capitals.
Go Canes!
Go back and check that first Habs goal – I believe it was Foegele who tried to clear through the center…and didn’t.
I thought that clear to the middle was foegele also. He had a rough night. I hope he snaps out of it. He looked bad in pre-season and last night as well. I love his energy (a player I like a lot) but he needs to step it up. Hopefully, if it is rust, he gets going. RBA will give him some time but he will be on the bench if this dose not change.
Thanks for keeping me honest. In relooking at it, Edmundson did retrieve the puck but lost it, and it was in fact Foegele whose clear was intercepted.
So I guess that subtracts the one small negative from a good game from Edmundson and piles onto the ‘Foegele is struggling a bit’ theme.
Have corrected it above.
Man, not sure what’s up with Foegele. Hopefully he’s just rusty.
Despite the goal, I thought there was more bad than good from Necas. Playing him on 4th line is just puzzling too. Bishop would be better in that slot. Definitely seemed like his play improved as the game went on, especially with Haula-Dzingle.
Thought Mrazek looked more in control of himself and steady with his movements – rather than constant scrambling in net.
I think RBA is still feeling things out as several players really did not have a chance to have much time together in pre-season. We only have 21on the roster (TVR on IR), so I can see some tweaks or call-ups. I hope Foegele gets his game back or he may be sitting for a while.
The word “rust” is being used a lot. It looks like the canes didn’t take the pre-season seriously.
Willy would tell them there is only one way to play this game, and any time spent not playing the right way is wasted.
Got that off my chest.
What promise though. When the lines are buzzing it is beautiful, we got bodies and pucks in the crease.
It is always fun to see what the boys have been working on. In only one game it looked like zone entries were improved with fewer dump ins. I’ve always thought of dump or carry as either/or, but oddly, the canes carried it in and THEN dumped to a corner on numerous occasions. Well they got step 1 down and will get to step 2.
All in a a fun game filled with promise of things to come.
The word “Rust” should be used a lot. Dzingel, Haula, Edmundson, Gardiner played very little in the 6 pre-season, almost none with their line mates last night. The other words that should be used a lot are “Price” as in Cary, or “Pipes” as in Dzingel.
The Montreal goal tender kept the Habs in the game single handedly. Much of my end of pre-season concern about offensive ability for this team was reduced last night.
Man, some of you guys are hard on Necas. He was a factor all night. In the first half of the game the fourth line was buzzing. It was mainly Wallmark and Necas. Yes, he isn’t perfect, but he was the most dynamic Cane on the ice not named Aho. I cold nit-pick Svechnikov’s game like some are Necas. Svech still gets caught flat-footed on D, throws away pucks to nowhere, and is just plain bad on the wall during the breakout. Both players bring a lot to the table with the puck on their stick and seem to be improving the other parts of their games. No way Gauthier would have brought anything close to what Necas did last night. Bottom line re Necas? Rod Brind’Amour – 1 Fans/Media – 0.
I like the ability to move Teravainen back and forth between the Staal and Aho lines. It gives Brind’Amour the ability to stimulate the line he thinks needs it depending upon their play and the matchups he is seeing. Loved Teravainen in the third last night. As expected after a 100 degree day the ice was awful, and particularly so in the third. Teravainen seemed to be the only player on either team that could handle the puck. It made a difference.
Loved the PP with Gardiner and Necas. Puck movement! With Aho and Necas on the PP breakout they have two guys who can fly and handle the puck. They can’t key on Aho because Necas will just blow into the zone like he did last night. Yes, everything broke down on the Necas goal, but that’s a good thing when you have the extra man. Skill and creativity tops structure in that case.
Lots of lapses last night, but they will clean that up. I saw lots to like for this year with the Canes.
I agree with you on Necas. And after the game said they will work with him – which is great to hear. Svech frustrated RBA a lot early last season but he kept using it as a training tool. Hopefully they are spending serious time with Necas in the video room today – they were some blatant whoopsies but there was a lot to like i his game.
No doubt Necas made plenty of mistakes. He still seems to be thinking without the puck. Doesn’t move decisively to his assignments or to the backcheck. A lot of that is just experience and confidence. Going to have to ride that out with him. As long as he’s bringing it like last night you can live with it.
Absolutely. Necas was very good. People seem really eager to label him a bust for some reason. And honestly, he was fine defensively. Obviously he’s a work in progress there, but he needs to play in the NHL to learn and last night showed me he’s got what it takes enough to maintain a positive impact while he gets better on that end.
Love the varied thoughts on Necas’ play and mostly agree with both sides of it.
I think what stood out to me about Necas’ game is very simple. He was a difference-maker with the puck. He had the skilled tip goal. In addition, he put the puck on Dzingel’s stick twice for very good scoring chances (only 1 post to show for it) and also had another ‘vision/playmaking’ pass through a seem.
What troubled me about Necas’ short audition in 2018-19 was not his unrefined play without the puck. What troubled me was that he was also invisible offensively which should be the more mature, developed part of his game.
So if he can continue to bring what he did offensively on Thursday, he should be break even or even better even with his ‘learning on the job’ play away from the puck. And that I think is viable for having him learn, grow and even contribute at the NHL level on the way to being a more complete player.
There was a lot to like last night. Price is a real good goal and we were creating traffic in front of him. A lot of guys really just staring to play together. A few goals against we basically caused ourselves. We were still relentless. Winning a shootout, which for a long time was a sure loss. A few more reps and we are not only going to be hard to play against (defensively) but have firepower as well. As this team gels it can be pretty good.
I was not crazy about sending Gauthier down when I felt Necas did not show much in preseason. There is a good reason I am not a coach or GM. That redirect was beautiful.
I think our 4th line is beyond normal 4th lines. I also hope we can keep the one ice time even with the lines. Keeps our guys fresh and not much drop off. They are all scoring capable lines.
Two tough games coming up but our guys are pretty good. The more time they are together the more dangerous we are going to be. We are right there with WAS and TB. I counted 3 posts last night.
At least 3 posts. I thought Price was OK, but was a couple bounces from getting run.
So Sara Civian made a case that sending Gauthier down was due to cap concerns, and it makes sense. If that’s the case though, I’d prefer sending McGinn down, or better yet, trading him, so the temptation to make him a Top 6 guy can just go away forever, hahaha. Still, Necas showed me a lot last night. Goat will be a great first call-up to have, too. Lots of nice problems to have!
You don’t keep a guy up for “cap purposes” and then put him on the #1 PP and give him 15 minutes of ice time. People will go to amazing lengths to justify their debunked opinions. I’ve been a huge critic of Necas, but Necas and Brind’Amour have proven me to be wrong. At least through one game…
I saw this but do not really think it holds water.
If you are debating whether the Canes should keep 13 forwards and possibly healthy scratching a veteran to put Gauthier in the lineup, then certainly sending Gauthier down saves $900k against the cap.
But if instead you consider it a decision on whether to keep Gauthier or Necas both of whom are waiver-exempt and Gauthier’s salary is exactly the same.
Regardless, Necas impressed me in game 1 even with the intermittent issues with his play away from the puck, so I am eager to watch him progress.
The weekend B2B with Washington away on Saturday, and against Tampa here at 5pm on Sunday is not as unbalanced as it appears. Washington plays the Rangers tonight then travel home to meet us in Washington for their home opener on Saturday. On Saturday Tampa plays Florida on the road at 7pm. Both Tampa and the Canes will have flights to Raleigh for the 5pm start here on Sunday.
Thought Mtl looked good, another team that will be tough to keep out of the playoffs.
Edmundson looked really good, maybe the Blues did not have confidence in him. Speaking of having no confidence in a player, our Hayden hardly played in the third. The canes should move on from him – maybe he develops somewhere else.
As far as Svetch, like was said on this elsewhere site, I think keeping him on Aho’s wing gives him the best chance to succeed.
Off topic. In this article there is a rumor from a fairly reliable source that the Canes tried to trade Julien Gauthier for Jesse Puljujarvi. https://www.prohockeyrumors.com/2019/10/pacific-notes-seattle-canucks-puljujarvi-palmu.html#comments
Man, surgalt. The Bull for Edmonton’s fallen Finn? I am torn. I will defer to Donny, Tommy, and Roddy. Much wiser than I.
I must admit that less than’s comments about Necas are spot on. I also liked less than’s comments about Gardiner and the Turbo.
I really like what I see with Svech. Roddy keeps saying that he loves the way he keeps trying to score. So do I. The enemy is onto him though. He gets beaten up in every game, but keeps doing what he does. Hang in there, Svech! The scoring will come.
I agree. That would be a hard call. JP did very little with EDM. The goat is a big body with upside. I totally believe he will be called up this year and will grow. The failed fin was great with Aho back in the day but who is to say that could happen again. I certainly would not give EDM more then that for an unproven player, draft position or not. What meter is performance. Smaller NHL ice, who knows, JP was not progressing. Definitely a brain trust decision.
Regarding Foegele, I made the comment last night to someone whether this version of Foegele would have made the team coming out of camp last season and I doubt that he would have. He is not bringing any of the strengths of his game to the ice. I will be curious to see if this continues and, if it does, how RBA handles it with the “hammer of ice time”.
I’m a little late to the party today, but my first take:
1/ TT hardly had a mention last night but was excellent on both sides of the puck. Having a player that can play on multiple lines without losing productivity is priceless. He is still highly underrated (and definitely under talked-about).
2/ We are going to score a lot of goals this season. You can just tell that we have far more “finishers” and guys with hands. When you count our posts and incompleted Grade-A passes, we had plenty of chances.
3/ Dougie is already in mid-season form. Full stop.
4/ During last season’s audition, Necas was fast but almost always used his speed to carry the puck into trouble. You can already tell his game has matured and he knows how to use his speed to create more time and space. As a rookie, Aho had that circling move once he crossed the blue line and held up for teammates to open lanes. I see Necas developing in a similar way.
5/ Svetch is a bull. His cycling work with Staal was excellent. I am starting to see in him as a possession player like Hossa was, and someone who was next to impossible to steal the puck from. His defense has improved. He has taken a step forward.
6/ Edmondson and Gardiner fit in and played well for their first real action. I didn’t think Fleury was as bad as coach RBA obviously did. When TvR returns, our defense is really going to be something.
7/ Having said all that, our forecheck is not the same as it was last year and we found it hard to sustain that same level of pressure. Credit to MTL. (Max Domi is becoming quite a player.)
8/ That 3-goal run by MTL was a wake-up call to stay focused and make the right plays. I’m hoping we don’t see that happen much more this season and the lesson was learned.
9/ No one mentioned Aho much. Or Slavin or Staal or Pesce. And we still won. That’s a good sign.
#6 point – Just a comment, I was watching Fleury. He was moving the puck out of the zone. He had some real good defensive plays. He was battling. I thought he looked like he belonged. I know some here do not share that opinion but I thought he played well. I was specifically looking for the mess-ups, really because of the discussion we have here. I was thinking to myself during the game, gosh, he’s playing well.
Just my opinion. TVR is very good. It will be an awesome D when he returns. I think Fleury is doing pretty well too. Even when TVR comes back, Fleury is a pretty good #7.