Coming off of a successful 4-1 road trip, the Hurricanes jumped back into action at home on Friday night against the Edmonton Oilers.
The game started with a bang. The Oilers struggled mightily to get started and sort things out defensively early, and the Hurricanes pounced on the opportunity. First, Nino Niederreiter finished a Sebastian Aho pass only 37 seconds into the game. Next the Hurricanes returned the favor defensively when Justin Faulk pinched and missed. Brett Pesce got too deep too early trying to defend a 2-on-1 and had the puck pass him twice on a pretty passing play and goal for Leon Draisaitl. But the Oilers continued to offer chances early and Lucas Wallmark finished next on a heady pass from Teuvo Teravainen. At that point, a barn burner seemed to be underway. The remainder of the first period did see more ‘iffy’ defensive play generate more scoring chances, but the goalies covered up some of the mess in front of them early. As the game settled down, the Oilers took the upper hand.
Other than McElhinney, the second period was completely forgettable from a Hurricanes standpoint. The Canes were out-shot 17-5, took two penalties and generated very little offensively.
The Hurricanes were somewhat better in the third period but still seemed to be holding on more than pulling away. But when Aho fed Niederreiter on the rush with less than four minutes remaining, the Hurricanes were on their way to a 3-1 win.
Usually my recaps are a bit longer, but I really just did not see that much noteworthy in this game. Once things settled down, the Hurricanes faded. Their pace was down a small notch, and they really did not make enough plays offensively.
Player and other notes
1) Curtis McElhinney
As he has done multiple times this season, Curtis McElhinney had the answer when the team in front of him did not. Save for being opportunistic early, the Hurricanes were not very good on Friday night. But McElhinney made a couple goals stand up with a near perfect night. He continues to be a key factor in what is good about the Hurricanes thus far this season.
2) Justin Faulk
He was in the middle of much of the first period mess. His pinch led to the 2-on-1 that turned into Draisaitl’s goal, and he had an Oiler forward blow by him in the neutral zone and storm to the net alone also in the first period. It is just my observation, but after a generally strong season at least partly because he looks a step quicker, Faulk suddenly seems to be struggling in terms of mobility in transition. He had a couple such situations in the Ottawa win and now a couple more against Edmonton. One has to wonder if perhaps he is dinged up right now and laboring a bit with a lower body injury or if perhaps he has just hit a lull physically.
3) Nino Niederreiter
His retaliation penalty after a missed boarding call was a bad one and not one a team with playoff hopes can take. But otherwise, he obviously had another great game. I continue to marvel at the perfect simplicity of his game. He generally reads what to do and when correctly, but when he has nothing better to do and his team has possession of the puck with incredibly consistency he goes to between the face-off circles and has his stick ready to receive and shoot. In addition to his two goals, he also had a nice play where he separated an Oilers defenseman from the puck behind the net and quickly put the puck on Justin Williams stick for a point blank chance.
4) Justin Williams
With Sebastian Aho as the team’s best forward and newcomer Niederreiter racking up points, Williams contributions on the first line should not be overlooked. Williams too has meshed well. His ability to win and keep pucks puts the team in the offensive zone where goals happen. And the chemistry of this line right now makes it possible to use Teravainen on another line to spread the skill and scoring.
5) The penalty kill
When the Hurricanes were being outplayed and were clinging to a 2-1 lead the penalty kill stood strong. Slavin and de Haan in particular seemed to do a tremendous job of getting into shooting and passing lanes on a perfect night.
6) Calvin de Haan
In a season where he has been good overall, he is playing some of his best hockey right now. As noted above, he was a standout on the penalty kill and just generally solid all night defensively.
7) Results matter most but the trend in terms of level of play right now is not favorable
Sitting three points out of a playoff spot entering the game now past the two-thirds mark of the season, results trump all else. So the 3-1 win is the most important thing. That said, the Hurricanes level of play has fallen off over the past few games. In three games against sub-.500 teams, the Hurricanes really have not won handily in any of them. The Canes lost to New Jersey. The team needed a rode a third period surge to a win over Ottawa in a game that was otherwise a ‘meh’ effort. And in my opinion, the Hurricanes were outplayed in Friday’s win but were saved by McElhinney.
Next up for the Hurricanes is a bigger challenge on against a Dallas Stars team that is currently in playoff position. The game is a late start at 8pm on Saturday at PNC Arena.
Go Canes!
An energetic start and then the team fell flat, playing sub-par hockey too much of it in the d-zone. And that is except for the N-A-W, as you note. When they were on ice the play was favorable and it kept the pairing of McDavid, who looked off tonight, and Draisaitl mostly in their d-zone. In a game like this, the goalie decides it and Mac was superb – I didn’t see a highlight reel save but there a lot of blocks and not a lot of rebounds.
That said, because I was sitting next to a pretty young blonde who wanted to talk and I had bum earbuds I didn’t follow the game as closely as I usually do – did I mention she was a pretty young blonde??? LOL!
buddy, ya got to keep your priorities straight!
You win and lose games you shouldn’t. This time of year style points don’t matter much…if anything winning games you shouldn’t builds more character and confidence. That’s what this team has right now.
P.S. Atta boy TJ!
Often the first home game after a 5 game road trip is a substandard effort leading to a loss. Last night was a substandard effort that lead to 2 points largely due to good goaltending. While not comforting the outcome is sign suggestive of “playoff worthiness” in the big picture. Tonight will be a better measure of where this team is at this point of the season.
TJ, that sounds pretty frustrating. If it would help, I’ll take one for the team and switch seats with you next time.
The write-up and comments are spot on. Since results matter, we gladly take the win and burn the tape.
He canes came out carrying the puck into the zone and getting bodies to the middle of the ice. Very exciting and fun to watch . It led to two quick goals for, and due to a little over aggressiveness, there were plenty of whoopses the other way.
Then we got away from our game and “got the puck in deep” for the last 50 minutes.
Give Edmonton credit, though. They neutralized the forecheck with a strong passing and possession game.
Were the first two stars Mac and Nino, or the leadership committee that brought them both here? Maybe yes to both.
This team is special. If they make the playoffs they could go deep.
Lessthanstable, if you are out there come on back. I miss your commentary.
I re-watched some of the game. The Canes actually played well in the third, especially the top line and top D-pairing as Faulk improved from the first period.
Totally agree that Williams is playing his best hockey. I have to believe he will want a 2-year contract after this season. He can see what all of us are seeing, this team could be a serious contender in 20-21. If he doesn’t slow down another step, Williams can continue to contribute on a top line because he makes so many heads-up plays. For instance, the play along the boards to get the puck available for Aho on the last goal.
Speaking of the last goal, Pesce made a play that likely kept the game from being tied as McDavid was speeding toward the net when Pesce intercepted the puck. Though it hasn’t got much attention, in seeing it again it may have been the play of the game.
McElhinney is so solid. He looks like he is in control even when the game around him is chaotic and dangerous. It is hard to imagine a better fit in goal for this young team.
Above all Aho is the best player on the ice when it counts most. Sign him for 8 years!