On Saturday night in Winnipeg, the Carolina Hurricanes faced their first road test and came up short in a 2-1 loss to the Jets.
If I had to summarize the game in one Twitter-size comment, I stand by my Tweet immediately after the game ended.
Most troubling in #Canes loss is inability to generate anything offensively even when desperation level dialed up in 3rd period.
— Canes and Coffee (@CanesandCoffee) October 15, 2017
The game was somewhat similar to Tuesday’s 2-1 overtime loss to Columbus. Jeff Skinner managed to notch a goal, but in total the Hurricanes offense was mostly ineffective and generated minimal even decent scoring chances despite holding their own territorially.
Notes from the Carolina Hurricanes 2-1 loss to the Winnipeg Jets
From my ‘What I’m watching’ preview first…
1) The blue line
As I suggested might happen a few days back, Peters shifted to balanced defense pairings over the top-heavy ones preferred at home. The top 4 was not perfect, but in total I think they had a solid night. Noah Hanifin had his best regular season game of the young season, and despite a few mistakes, the rest of the top 4 also held up its end of the bargain. Pesce and Slavin probably had a couple significant ‘oopses’ turning the puck over in bad places; luckily the team survived those. But Pesce especially also had some strong plays defending one on one. Despite the miscues, I would take the outing from the top four defensemen.
The third pairing struggled. Putting it bluntly, I just do not think Klas Dahlbeck is a serviceable third pairing NHL defenseman on his off side. Whereas some players can shift sides with only a minimal downgrade in play, Dahlbeck unfortunately is not one of those players. He does not understand the footwork to more often receive pucks on his forehand or quickly get to it. The result is that he regularly struggles to move or even receive the puck. Haydn Fleury was not horrible, but he did have a deer in the headlights moment when the third pairing was caught on the ice with a scoring line, overmatched and tagged for a goal against. On the play, Fleury was slow to sort things out and/or take away time and space and ultimately ended up being a nice screen on Darling for a point blank chance and goal against.
Past Trevor van Riemsdyk hopefully returning to the lineup soon, it will be interesting to see what direction Bill Peters goes with this. Trevor Carrick who was recalled today is another left shot defenseman, so throwing another rookie with only a handful of NHL games experience into the fire playing on his off side seems ‘iffy’. I guess the other two alternatives I see for Peters are riding his top four or five defensemen really heavily the next couple games which could be possible given the volume of days off. The other alternative could be to move Jaccob Slavin who is comfortable playing on his off side to the right side to get back to having three capable right and three capable left defensemen. The issue there is that it would effectively elevate either Dahlbeck or Fleury into the top 4 which maybe is not ideal either.
I voted all summer for adding one more proven depth defenseman to the mix and still think given the modest cost that it could help.
2) Bill Peters’ tinkering
Peters was remarkably steadfast in his line combinations on Saturday despite the fact that not much seemed to be clicking.
3) The power play
I have been critical of the power play largely based on results through two games, so it is important to fairly give credit where it is due. The Hurricanes power play scored a big goal to pull even at 1-1. I still think the special teams unit looks a bit too static, but the goal featured quick puck movement which opens shooting lanes and forces the goalie to adjust, and the goal in four tries on Saturday night was a positive.
Other notes
Noah Hanifin
I touched on it above. Hanifin had a strong game and just looked steady and solid all night. Only three games into the season, we are still very clearly at the stage where we are getting a read on where the young players are development-wise, but after a really tough outing in the opener followed by two better outings, I think it would be fair to categorize Hanifin as capable (two solid games) but inconsistent (the tough opener) in terms of being in the top 4 through three games.
Jeff Skinner
Skinner has not yet found the gear where is dominant regularly throughout a game and puts the team on his back. But he has managed to score two goals at times when the team needed it. I easily count that as half full with Skinner doing the goal scoring thing already and certainly with upside from here when he inevitably finds a higher gear and goes on one of his streaks.
Scott Darling
He put forward another effort capable of earning a win. He did not face the volume of really tough chances as the opener, but he did have to be sharp at times on Saturday and fared especially well when things got ‘scrambly’ around his crease. The generic formula for winning in the NHL is trying to score three goals and trying to give up two goals. So Darling and the defense checked the box on the defensive side of the ledger.
MUCH too quiet offensively
The possession and shot numbers do not look abysmal, but the real truth is that the Hurricanes generated very little in terms of good scoring chances on Saturday. Per my starting point, what concerns me most is that even late in the third period when the Hurricanes should have pinned their ears back and dialed up desperation mode they really did not generate much. Skinner gets credit for scoring a goal, but I would not say that a single other Canes forward was even remotely close to being dynamic, an offensive catalyst or anything more than serviceable as a top 9 forward.
Through three games, the Hurricanes top 9 forwards have mustered only two goals at even strength. (Rask and Skinner have one each.) Needless to say, that is not enough.
It is too early for knee-jerk reactions and panic. At the same time, for a team that finished 20th in scoring last season and did not add a pure offensive catalyst to its lineup, I think it is also unwise to ignore even a short early season trend and just assume everything is going to be okay. The team needs to figure out how to start generating more offense.
What say you Caniacs?
Who else used the great weather for a true North Carolina State Fair road trip doubleheader going to the State Fair and then catching the Canes game? What did you see in Saturdays’ game?
Go Canes!
Where is the offense???
Peters kept all 4 lines constant tonight. But there was barely an offensive push 5×5.
That said, Matt, did you hear Tripp reference what Darling said – directly related to what you observed in preseason that Darling wasn’t playing the puck and was leaving it for the defense behind the goal? That is what they wanted him to do in Chicago – he told Tripp he had to learn they want him to play the puck here.
Peters has always said, “first to 3 wins”. Darling let in 1 in regulation against CBJ and only 2 tonight. He is doing what he needs to do in net. We moved the puck well out of the defensive zone and through the neutral zone. But where was the offense?
Same thing I was thinking last night, 3 to win. Too much wall hugging on offense
This was one of those disappointing games to watch that were common last season. Carolina is a better team than how they played tonight. That second Winnipeg goal was completely avoidable. Watching the replay it looked like Dahlbeck chased the puck and left the middle open and Fleury may have inadvertently screened Darling a bit. It seemed like they weren’t able to generate much offense and Winnipeg played a swarm the puck style of defense. Guess it could be rust from the extended time off.
Saimilarquestions as last game.
1. What about the face offs? We tend to lose the face offs when we need them (in the o zone, I am looking at you Mr. J Staal).
2. Where are the goals going to come from? I am on record as thinking TT is the most overhyped player in recent Canes history (no offense TT if you prove me wrong I will personally take you out for a great night out next summar, but I am just not seeing the potential that people keep going on about, I do see how Chicago let this guy go without too much protest, as a reclamation protets I would have selected quite a few other guys, including the Nail, though he hasn’t done too much yet).
3. Dahlbeck is not an NHL defenseman, why do we keep playing him and not giving our homegrown potential defensemen a chance?
Again, I hate to keep being the negative one around here (and canes, please give me a chance to be wrong) but all the hype around this season has centered around people living up to their potential, I am not seeing any cane, except skinner and Aho, some the defense, do anything close to that. darling is ok actually, with slightly improved defense and quite a bit better offense in front of him he could be great, I like that moe.
Come on guys, you can do better than this!!!
A final quick add to my somewhat ranty post (hey, we lost, it wasn’t pretty).
JW has looked invisible to me. I don’t think, based on the games I’ve seen, that he was the add that the canes needed.
Maybe it was not getting the big c on his jersey (see my comments on an earlier post and a WRAL article), but I am not seeing him being the catalyst and the leader that he is supposed to be, at least not on the ice.
We need players to come up big on the score sheet, or to help other players come up big on the score sheet, I am not seeing much of that, albeit only through 3 games. But given the Devils and the Flyers early success, I think our division is the toughest and if we are going to have more “oh, we are still figuring it out”moments, we are left back in the mediocrity we are so used to, and I don’t think there is an excuse for that anymore.
Maybe it’s having spent over $200 on Tuesday, inviting friens to the game, and feeling we got very little in return, but so far I simply feel that the team needs to do better, period, no ifs ands or butts or, we’ll be good soon, party lines, player harder, score, play like you give a damn.
This game was all to familiar to last season. How many comments did we hear about “pucks to the net” from the players and “getting to the front of the net”? Rise, wash, repeat.
It’s early, we are 1-1-1. But it’s time to play Necas and see what his playmaking can bring (BTW, Necas played in most preseason games and our offense was clicking). Not saying he is the ultimate answer but our forward lines are like round pegs and square holes. Let’s stop trying to fit the same pieces together in various combos, rather let’s insert some new talent (even if we think that talent is not ready).
GMRF improved our goaltending and it shows already. Our defense is capable and serviceable. Ronnie, it’s time to get us that top 6 forward we need. If that means departing with someone in our current top 9 then so be it.
Almost everything I was thinking has already been said…
BP, NOW IS THE TIME TO CHANGE THE LINES !!!
I see quite a bit of good skating…IF WE WERE KILLING PENALTIES…but passing and shooting…not so much!??
RF, your job building a team…AIN’T DONE YET…
The offence still sucks…ONE GOAL…really?
How many top 9 forwards does it take to screw in a light bulb?
Answer – at least one more than we have…OR MAYBE…IT’S THEIR COACHING…?
Thank God you’re back in fighting trim. IMO your comments are right on point and well stated.
Where’s the scoring mentality in others not names Jeff Skinner? We really need for someone to want to score goals. Yes, they have to play some defense, but if everyone is looking to find that guy for the pretty goal and don’t start putting pucks to the net with teammates driving there, we’re toast.
I’ve had this uneasy feeling that GMRF and BP are not on the same page. RF brings in a veteran champion to be a leader and he is immediately made… not the leader. Nor is anyone else. Alternating leaders instead.
Hmmm.
BP says Necas needs to be somewhere he can play lots of minutes and RF puts him here where BP plays him zero minutes.
The Dahlbeck situation is odd too, where you wonder what these guys are thinking or arguing about.
If there is a chasm developing here, one need only learn how to read an org chart to predict how it will end.
I think they are more on the same page than you think.
The decision on captain(s) was not made unilaterally by Peters – both BP and RF described a process which involved a lot of input from others.
BP wants to see Necas in a game but doesn’t know where to slot him. Koukkanen has been too good on the wing in lieu of Stempniak and there are no center openings. I think the disappointment that was the Winnipeg game will lead to some reshuffling and Necas may get his chance on Tuesday. But Necas needs to play center – in my opinion.
I thought they were going to bring McKeown, a right D, up from Charlotte and see if he could fill the 3R slot better than Dahlbeck. I am curious what drove the decision to bring Carrick up instead.
Last nights game importance:
1. The team seems to lack confidence that they can score without having an open net. The result is passing, skating and no shooting. Rule number 1: No shots, no goals. I guarantee it!
2. This game has more importance than just what is observed on the ice. When anyone in Raleigh wakes up and looks at where we are in the STANDINGS they see us in 7th place in the division. They causal hockey fan doesn’t look to see how many games each team has played. They just look at where we stand. When they see us in 7th place, most likely, they conclude that really nothing has changed from the previous 6 or 7 years. Trying to get the casual hockey fan to the rink becomes an almost impossible task in these circumstances. The Canes are the only team in the league that has played 3 games (WHY? Does RF have input on the scheduling?). Most have played 5 or 6 and the rest 4. If the Canes are going to create a winning persona, they must WIN these early games or attendance will never develop. On the ice, how does a team coming off preseason and ready to go be successful in 1) carrying the momentum of the preseason over into the real season when there is one week between the end of the preseason and their first game and then multiple days off before they play subsequent games, and 2) have a chance, if they win some early games, to rebuild attendance by being listed at or near the top of the standings?
Asheville, Puckgod and Apexmark…spot on.
I’ve been saying for a bit that BP and GMRF appear not in synch. BP interviews, at times, you can see the frustration and I have a gut feeling it’s due to the round peg/square hole theory. So while BP thought GMRF did a fine job getting in players (Williams, Darling) that could help steer the ship, he probably is thinking we could have gotten more had we swapped out a top 6/9 forward we already have.
This is more about chemistry between our current players. We have capable top 6 forwards, they just don’t gel well enough as a unit…which means we need a playmaking catalyst to be inserted (and lose one top 6 we already have to make it work).
3. Just one more comment…How can anyone draw a conclusion that because our power play scored one goal out of four chances that it was good? On the other three chances it was barely able to get the puck into the offensive zone. It looked miserable IMO.
Flat the whole game. not all doom and gloom yet boy’s it only game 3 in…. how about that hit by Mcginn though, ill take more of that. IMHO it seems that the canes aren’t penetrating between the dots. The majority of time spent in the ozone is peripheral board play and passing back to the point. when the do go between the dots its always on a rush and not a pass and the play is easily broken up by 2 defensemen vs 1 offensive rusher…. usually skinner. I think that both 5v5 and 5v4 the canes need to figure out how to get the puck to the center of the ice…..
All I know is… that was a pathetic hockey game and we’ll continue to be less than halfway full at PNC if it’s what we continue to get. Necas needs to be inserted to see if he can spark the offense. Skinner needs to play with a top 9 caliber center. I’d almost rather see Nicolas Roy than Ryan at this point. I cringed when he had a good preseason game or two — HES NOT A GOOD OFFENSIVE HOCKEY PLAYER. WHO CARES ABOUT A THREE POINT PRESEASON GAME. WE HAVE A VERY GOOD FOURTH LINE CENTER IN MARCUS KRUGER. DONT NEED ANOTHER ON THE THIRD LINE. Ok now that that’s out of my system… Dahlbeck also sucks. Carrick is a good, gritty hockey player that can move the puck and has a big shot too. That’s a no brainer to me. I think they’ll do fine as the third pairing in 13-16 minutes. Our top four can all handle 23-24 minutes with Slavin capable of playin damn near 30 if necessary (like Minnesota does with Suter… seriously, he was out there literally every other shift. It was nuts watching our game against them). I agree that JW has been invisible. Rask has been bad too. Had 4-5 pucks just bounce off his stick last night – he looks lost out there. His WC performance definitely isn’t carrying over. Honestly the only players I’ve enjoyed watching so far that seem to be making a consistent difference are Aho, Lindholm, Darling, Skinner, and the top four on D. Fleury has had his moments too. Everyone else is still on summer break it seems to me. Maybe it’s the lack of games, no one is getting the rust off and building up into a rhythm. I challenge you to find, outside of last night’s goal, a halfway decent sequence of a pass or two followed by a legitimately dangerous shot in our last two games. That seems less than ideal if you want to win hockey games. Better do something, because yes it’s early, but this is the EXACT SAME THING WE HAVE WATCHED FOR EIGHT GOD FORSAKEN YEARS!!!
Oh I totally forgot about Jordan Staal during that rant. He’s not very good offensively, we know that. But he’s made multiple mistakes in the D zone already this year, isn’t winning faceoffs, and just looks slow to react and slow moving in general. When a key player that’s really only above average defensively stops being good on that end… what are you left with?
I agree the sample size is small after only 3 games, yet the trend is very similar to last year. I compared the team stats for the first 3 games against last years’ full season. The results are listed below:
CATEGORY LEAGUE RANK THIS YEAR LEAGUE RANK LAST YEAR
Shots Against/Game #1 (25.0) #5 (28.3)
Goals Against/Game #11 (2.67) #18 (2.80)
Faceoff Win % #8 (53.1%) #4 (53.1%)
Shots per Game #6 (36.3) #14 (30.4)
Penalty Kill % #6 (87.5%) #6 (84%)
Hits per Game #31 (13.7) #24 (19.6%)
Shot % #28 (under 6%) #20 (8.5%)
Goals For/Game #29 #20 (2.59)
Power Play % #18 (16.7%) #21 (17.7%)
Takeaway/Giveaway Ratio #3 #2
These stats pretty much state the obvious; the Canes are a speedy, light-hitting puck-possession team with a lack of true goal scorers/finishers. The improvement this year in goals against is encouraging; the very poor shot percentage is discouraging. To expect Justin Williams to be the catalyst to ignite others to become better shooters is probably unfair, although let’s hope our young forwards and defense can deliver better shooting results. Yes, we seem to have a good system but it often only takes one breakout by a highly skilled player (i.e. Skinner, Ehlers, Milano, etc.) to change the outcome of a game.