Facing a tougher test against a New Jersey Devils team that is scratching and clawing for every point it can get to win the battle for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot, the Hurricanes tried to extend their three-game winning streak. The Hurricanes took punches but also counter-punched in a back and forth game.
The game started with the Hurricanes on their heels early. New Jersey attacked and had the better of play in the early going, but Scott Darling was sharp out of the gate and held the fort early. What was most noticeable in the early going was Darling’s crispness in terms of tracking the puck controlling rebounds. New Jersey did score first when a Darling rebound caromed right to Pavel Zacha’s stick, but I would still say that his first period was strong overall. After a start that saw the ice tilted into the Canes defensive zone early, the team surged late in the first period. Phil Di Giuseppe labeled a shot off the rush after a nice play by Jeff Skinner to win and advance the puck at the offensive blue line and a nice pass and then screen from Elias Lindholm. Then Warren Foegele scored his second goal in his second NHL game from an odd angle just like his first goal. After a slow start, the good guys emerged from the first period with a 17 to 13 shot advantage and a 2-1 lead on the scoreboard.
The second period started evenly but then saw the Devils surge again as the period wore on. Darling had another good set of saves early but was eventually touched up for a power play marker by Kyle Palmieri to tie the game at 2-2. The Hurricanes would survive and exit the second period tied at 2-2, but the momentum had shifted back to the Devils by the end of the period.
When a flurry of activity by Jeff Skinner in the offensive zone ended with a point blank chance and finish by Noah Hanifin, the Hurricanes were suddenly in the driver’s seat up 3-2 with 16 minutes remaining in the game. From that point forward, the Devils seemed to just increasingly dial up the intensity and come in waves. New Jersey out-shot the Hurricanes 13 to 5 after the Hanifin goal and eventually broke through. First was a nifty power play tip on which Darling had little chance. Then Stefan Noesen capitalized on the fact that Darling started spitting out rebounds as the third period wore on to score with 1:33 left in the game to push the Devils to a 4-3 victory.
Notes from the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 loss the New Jersey Devils
1) Special teams
The 4-3 loss can be dissected a few different ways, but in terms of charting the goals scored, the Devils had a two-goal advantage on special teams which just like this game can often be the difference in a close game. Jaccob Slavin’s run of somehow being in the middle of seemingly every power play goal against continued. He was on the ice for both New Jersey power play goals and (needs to be confirmed Wednesday morning when stat sites update) and as now been on the ice for an astounding 40 power play goals against out of 42 allowed by the team this season.
Warren Foegele showed his inexperience on the penalty kill two. His length, quickness and aggressiveness still project well to be a good penalty killer at the NHL level like he has been at lower levels. But Tuesday’s game showed him still at a level where he is defending players and not angles and passing lanes. The result too often in these situations is that elite NHL playmakers and shooters use the narrowest of openings to score goals.
From watching Slavin closely (but not finding the time to go back through a bunch of video), my assessment is that Slavin has exactly the same issue defending more like he as a man to mark than locking down the cross-ice passing angles that leave players to snipe at goalies trying to move across the crease.
2) Elias Lindholm
He continues to impress at the center position. My initial thoughts on Lindholm as a center were twofold. First was that the team needs help at right wing more than center making Lindholm more valuable there. Second was that as a defense-leaning player with modest offensive abilities that Lindholm’s skill set was too much of what the Canes already have in spades at the center position. I have not completely abandoned this line of reasoning, but his play at center has me more open-minded about him at center. The sample size is small but right now Lindholm has played a significant role in making Phil Di Giuseppe look like a completely different player offensively. Lindholm has also meshed well with Skinner which is not the easiest thing to do. As such, I continue to watch Lindholm closely.
3) Scott Darling
He did give up a rebound goal in the first period, but I thought he played well in total in the period, and I also thought he had a different air of sharpness about him early in the game. He also held the fort in the second period when the Devils pushed for a second time. In the end, his four goals against is not spectacular statistically, and rebound control played a big part in the first goal and was a problem in the third period. But whereas most of his 4-5 goals against games were just bad with almost nothing for positives, I actually put this game in a different category for Darling. He looked sharper in total and more like it just did not work out not so much that he played poorly.
4) Noah Hanifin
His scoring pace has lowed a bit of late, but reaching 10 goals is a solid number for an NHL defenseman. When I review his 2017-18 season, Hanifin’s development offensively will be a key positive for him.
5) Bad penalties
The Hurricanes were sloppy at inopportune times in terms of taking penalties. Phil Di Giuseppe took an offensive zone penalty that led to a goal against in the second period, and Valentin Zykov took a penalty while on the power play leading the the Devils’ third goal.
6) All good things must come to an end
After scoring a late empty-netter against Ottawa on Monday to extend his points streak, Sebastian Aho was quiet and held off the score sheet on Tuesday. His line in total was much less of a factor than it has been the past couple games. The game illustrates the importance of having a second scoring line and good offensive depth on the road where opposing coaches can focus on and sometimes lock down a top scoring line.
7) Warren Foegele
Another goal is obviously a good thing, and I continue to really like Foegele’s game at even strength. He is strong on the walls largely because he always keeps his skates churning, and he closes space on the forecheck and in the neutral zone in a hurry. To be honest, I do not think he is ready yet as a penalty killer. He sags too much, and was unsure what to do/indecisive when he had two forwards with one high on his side. To be clear, he still projects to be a strong penalty killer in the future, but he could benefit from some time in the video room in terms of getting there.
Next up is a Friday match up against the Washington Capitals.
Go Canes!
Goaltending, the powerplay and Taylor Hall were the difference. Also Devils just wanted it more and took advantages of the Canes fading down the stretch.
Voegele had a nice goal followed by a little penalty kill lesson (can’t blame him for having taylor Hall mess him up on his first NHL penalty kil, he had a beautiful setup for Jordan Staal on the following kill).
Another top 6 forward, upgrade in goal and hopefully one experienced d man could really make this team a playoff contender, the defense was definitely undermanned today and it showed.
Zykov was also pretty invisible, as were Aho and TT to be fair.
Young played well early. But then a very tired team by the third period. What is the league record for team who travel to play the second half of a back-to-back?
By “Young” I meant the young players. And I question the need for so many back-to-backs when one team is resting, in general, which really seems to tilt the ice.
That said, Matt, quality points on the TAZ line being shut down on the road – and the importance of Lindy to PDG’s recent surge. Lindy may be more valuable at center helping a lesser RW hit his stride than playing RW himself – there is a bit of synergy there.
And where has Williams disappeared to? – or am I simply missing whatever it is he is doing?
What are the UFA options for right wing this summer?
Keeping Lindy at center we could explore those.
Watching Taylor Hall made it painfully clear how importanit is to have that one superstar difference maker on the team, the guy who doesn’t relent and is feared every time he touches the puck. He hounded the Canes defense all night and wouldn’t let up, and has 3 points to show for his efforts.
Tavares played like that, albeit to lesser degree, in our last game against NYI.
Aho could be that a guy for us in future, after all Hall is in his 5th or 6th season as an NHL pro, but having a threat like that on the team makes a huge difference.
I hope TD wil do his best to make a splash and sign a guy like Tavares over the summer. Longshot but one can hope.
This team is very solid, but not great.
The result was to be expected, especially after winning against lottery teams of late. This was the typical game we have seen all year long, bringing the team back to reality while leveraging our draft position.
This is a shame because Darling played extremely well I thought. He was under fire most of the game and needed more help from his D allowing seam passes and not being able to clear the front of the net from bodies and rebounds. Phil Di Giuseppe continues to play the best hockey of his career. Been noticeably fast and looking far more confident. I agree on Foegele – continues to be positively noticeable and with better linemates could have even more points, actually. Zykov took a bad penalty but still looks threatening offensively. And one other note on Lindholm at center – after winning 18 of 26 faceoffs last night, he has now won 96 of 151 in the last 8 games. That’s a sharp 63.6%, an elite number. Huge positive for the team.
Just watched most of the game a second time. One thing that stood out was that TAZ line was still quite dangerous. Kincaid made some of his best stops on that line and at about 2 minutes into the third a NJ d-man barely gets his stick on Teravainen’s shot at a wide net after Zykov made a great play and got off a backhand. That line also turned the momentum of the first period after NJ was dominating. I don’t think the delay of game was actually the correct call, but Aho and Zykov were causing havoc in front of the net, which made the NJ clear appear like the desperate kind that actually is delay of the game. So while they weren’t on the score sheet, the line played as dangerously as the two Ottawa games.
The PK has been a real disappointment this year. I don’t know what has happened–if it can get back to top 5 next year that will go a long way.
My only comment is that other than the final result, it was a fun game to watch. Probably as close to a playoff game as the Canes are likely to play in 2018. It sure was from Jersey’s point of view and they played like it, just a step more desperate than the Canes. I feel for Darling. He played well enough to win and it looked for a long time like he would finally have something positive to build on. But no, Hanafin gets beat along the end boards and it’s just another loss in a long line of losses. You know how in youth hockey they have a stop sign on the back of the jersey to eliminate blind shots to the back? Darling has one that says “hit me”. Poor guy.