After finishing up November with a playoff-ish 95-point pace and 15 out of a possible 26 points, the Hurricanes kicked off what will be a road-heavy December on Friday night against the New York Rangers.
December started with a thud and a 5-1 loss. For those who did not watch the game, the 5-1 score is misleading as it includes two empty-net goals and then even an extra power play goal after that from a power play created when a last desperate gasp saw the Hurricanes net a penalty on a failed offside challenge. On the one hand, the adjusted 2-1 score was not nearly as bad as the final score. On the other hand, the circumstances and story were just as bad or worse than 5-1 might make someone feel.
Per my game preview, the Hurricanes started on time and even caught an early break when Justin Williams found the net behind Henrik Lundqvist from nearly wide of the face-off circle for a soft goal and a 1-0 lead only a minute into the game. Other than doing early and often for taking too many ‘bleh’ penalties, the Hurricanes played a solid first period and exited the first stanza with a 1-0 lead.
But start of the second period featured what could best be described as a chain reaction implosion of a high magnitude. Haydn Fleury took a penalty only 21 seconds into the third period. Then Scott Darling allowed a goal on a gaffe that rivaled his glove ‘oops’ from last week. He somehow mishandled a harmless dump in from center ice and in the process left it laying right in the crease for David Desharnais to tap in. Only 45 seconds later Phil Di Giuseppe took an offensive zone penalty. And then at the 1:52 mark while playing 4-on-4, Noah Hanifin did very little to impede Kevin Shattenkirk’s lane to the outside and nothing to take away any passing lane back to the middle. Shattenkirk found Michael Grabner on the back door with Justin Faulk a step or two behind him. The series of plays first saw the Hurricanes looking like a deer in the headlights as things swirled around them and then look like a team that was deflated for awhile afterward.
The Hurricanes were the better team other than the mini implosion, but especially once Lundqvist settled in seemed too content to just try to play ‘beat the goalie’ mostly on harmless shots that Lundqvist could track off the shooters’ sticks all the way to him.
As noted above, the 5-1 loss is misleading. The game was a 2-1 loss with a bunch of extra shenanigans tacked on once it was mostly over.
Notes from the Carolina Hurricanes 5-1 loss to the New York Rangers
Scott Darling
Not talking about Scott Darling’s ‘big oops’ would be ignoring the elephant in the room. On a scale of 100, his mishandling would rate pretty close to 100/100 for horrible. The timing was also horrible. The Hurricanes were up 1-0 and the goal seemed to both add to a strangely bad start to the second period and deflate the team. At a basic level, Scott Darling and the Hurricanes goaltending in total continued a rough patch that is growing, and Darling needs to tighten things up and put an end to a run that seems to see him allow a grade A soft goal more often than not recently. That said, I think it is possible to both not excuse the gaffe but also recognize that his game in total was not bad beyond the unfortunate top highlight. Not counting the inconsequential garbage goal, Darling allowed only two goals and had no chance on the second goal which means that a decent night offensively could have helped bail him out.
The team’s reaction
I think another key story is the team’s reaction. The bad goal happened less than a minute into the second period and made for a tie score at 1-1. I really think that was a point in time where the team needed to respond. Be it a couple really strong shifts with some physical play, a higher level of intensity, a key bounce back goal or something. Instead, Darling’s ‘oops’ seemed to start the snowball down the hill. The goal against was followed by an offensive zone penalty, another goal against on a defensive breakdown and then a stretch of subdued play as the Hurricanes tried to regain their balance.
Justin Williams
Justin Williams’ post-game interview was refreshing and case in point for why he was my choice to be named captain. He was clearly agitated and salty about the result, stated very clearly that the results versus the Rangers were not good enough and had nothing to do with taking the easy way out and hanging the result on the soft goal.
I think the Hurricanes need Williams’ dose and a few more of “This is just not good enough, and that isn’t okay” attitude. It’s not, “We just need to focus on the next game.” It’s not, “We didn’t catch any breaks” or “We faced a good goalie.” It’s just not good enough, and it’s just no acceptable.
As the team continues to tread water within range of a playoff spot but also a short burst of badness for being right where they were a year ago, I hope Justin Williams’ cantankerous tone, agitated demeanor and level of desperation are contagious and can help effect a change in mentality.
Too many penalties
Not counting the penalty at the end for the failed coach’s challenge, the Hurricanes took six penalties. After most of the 2017-18 season taking very few penalties, the team has recently been giving up power plays in bunches. I think it goes hand in hand with the general sloppiness and lack of attention to detail that is permeating other areas of the team’s game right now and maybe most notably showing up on the number of defensive break downs of late.
Justin Faulk
After a run of stronger play defensively, he had a rough game on Friday. He was beaten to the net for the Rangers’ second goal and also had a bad turnover and a few other ‘iffy’ plays when the Hurricanes were struggling.
One step forward, two steps back in terms of net front presence
In total, the Hurricanes have done a better job of getting bodies and pucks to the front of the net of late, especially on the power play. But sitting below the uglier headlines was the fact that the Hurricanes seemed to revert to ‘try to beat the goalie’ again without enough chaos in front of the net. Because the Hurricanes really do not have enough players whose naturally tendency is to go to the front of the net, I fear that this could continue to be up and down all year as Peters and the coaches harping about it is oftentimes offset by long-time habits that see players in different roles.
Next up is a quick turnaround and a game against the Florida Panthers at PNC Arena on Saturday night. With a win, the Hurricanes can salvage a treading water 1-1-1 mark before the December road trip begins in earnest.
Go Canes!
Faulk needs to go. Canes team looked completely disorganized, confused, and flat. Make Williams captain. I will say the most lopsided officiating I’ve seen this year. Also Darling’s mulligans are officially cut off. The door in the metro is going to close fast. Better make some changes quick.
If your team is not offensively gifted which this one is obviously not then you better out work teams. We have to many players not willing to do this Faulk, Rask, Skinner are lazy and could not win a one one battle of they had too, and why is PDG still playing he has been up a few times and is worthless why not try some one who is actually a scoring threat.I don’t know if ownership will let Francis make a move but if he has the freedom to do that we need to unload some players that fail to put in the hard work that is required for us to win
For me this game was the confirmation that without a major shake up the Canes are officially out of the playoffs.
* The goaltending is not good enough. As Trip kept saying, it’s not the saves you make, it’s the ones you let in. Darling simply is not getting the job done for us. He is a great guy, and I still hope he can find a way, but if he does it will alrady be too late for this season.
* Faulk’s play is just bad. NO scoring, defensive lapses in bunches. I don’t know if he is dealing with injury, or fatique or frustration, but this kid is not finding his game right now. AGain, he might, but only when it’s too late (not unless he finds his game starting tomorrow and goes on a scoring binge on the roadttip).
* Skinner’s scoring is MIA. Not counting the meaningless goal against the Stars a few weeks ago, he hasn’t scored in weeks, and he is supposed to be our top scorer.
* The team never looked like mounting a serious challenge against the Rangers after the first period, in a 4 point game, against the team most likely to take the last wildcard spot.
* Team taking 7 penalties.
* Rask looking lost again, Lindholm not looking good.
* BP letting JJ sit for a game, despite being one of the team’s best players (granted, maybe he is under the weather or nursing an injury, we don’t know, but if not, that is a downright puzzling decision).
The Canes have managed to scratch and claw their way to a better-than-last-year record, but the problem is that many of those wins looked like combination of either unusual goaltending or scoring luck. Out of all the games this year I think only 2 or 3 are solid wins where the team had it all figured out. I think, all things considered, the Canes have been lucky this year and their record is better than their performance.
Sadly, I feel like I have been teleported to the last 4 (make it 8) seasons, where the team is going to play well enough not to get top talent in the draft but not well enough for the playoffs. With budget getting a lot tighter next year, the ownership situation in flux, our only hope is for a miracle or for one of the upcoming Checkers or Nichas to be given a chance and be able to change the picture for next year.
This is the point where changes have to be made or this season is official depositatum est latrina, to use the pig Latin term.
I stand by what I said before the PHX game, if they lost that game they should fire the staff. We can’t get all new players but we should have done something. Now it’s almost to late to get a new coach and have any chance of making the playoffs.
I would trade both Faulk and Skinner. They have high trade value and they can’t really help this team to take the next step. For those two players it should be possible to get some real impact player(s) in return.
Skinner could be a valuable player in the playoffs but the Canes really should start getting there first and worry about the rest later.
I have only watched the Canes after TT and Aho joined the team so I don’t really know how Faulk and Skinner have played before last season. Skinner can score goals but he doesn’t have any chemistry with anyone. He never makes his linemates better. He actually always seems to make them worse.
Can’t hang this one on Darling. I think the old cliche about goalies bailing out the team is funny, because the bigger problem is our offense can’t even bail out themselves. Wide angle shots all night lead to lost points and lower place in standings. Good on Williams for stepping up and saying it.
Since the beginning of the season I (and a few others) have been saying we are one offensive catalyst and veteran defenseman away from seriously becoming a playoff contender. To obtain this, we have to trade something good. I agree with finnishcold, Faulk needs to be dealt and he can turn it around with another team. Skinner is a great east/west skater and has streaks of gold in him, but he’s not a guy to put the team on his shoulders (think Messier type).
The problem is management as a whole is too patient and believing the analytics will somehow take this team to the playoffs. I agree to be patient and build around Aho, TT and the rest of the young guns especially on defense. But for the next 2-3 years we need to change the culture otherwise the young players will not want to re-sign here. We have enough issues bringing in veteran guys because of the environment that is harbored.
The dynamic of this team is simply off and needs fixing. Trade a few pieces while we can, and do it fast otherwise the entire Metro division will be looking at us from their rear view mirror.
I agree with analysis in Matt’s summary, but will add one more important dimension seldom written down in the world of hockey.
And that is… all Hurricanes games refereed by Tim Peel look about like this one. All teams know if they flop and dive he will call penalties against us. The game opened with Lindquist going full snow angel, after the first cane got close to the crease he flopped onto his back with his arms out like he had been shot. Peel didn’t call that one, but he asserted himself early and often. On the PDG holding penalty it looked like PDG was actually trying to keep a flopping ranger on his feet.
When Lindholm received the slashing penalty in the third, I cheered out loud because it was a real slash.
Our net front presence is eliminated by the way the game is officiated. Go back and watch most any Tim Peel game and it features lots of shooting from the outside with no net front presence. Net front presence gets you time on the box and everybody knows it.
The early Toronto win was remarkable because it was a Brad Watson refereed game. Note that our goals all came off face offs and the rush on that one, no cycling with net front presence. Not allowed.
I used to request a refund for my ticket when either of those clowns came to town.
It is a serious and persistent dirty secret in the NHL that will have to be resolved with the referee’s union. The fans and players and teams deserve an NHL with a commitment to neutrality and consistency that we see in the NFL.
Matt, I would not be offended if you delete this comment for obvious reasons.
There’s not much more to add, sooooo other than pretty much agreeing with everyone, I think it’s time to FIX THE PROBLEM WITH MANAGEMENT…yes STARTING AT THE TOP…BYE BYE Ronnie!