As I have said a few times this season, results matter. Especially for a team that has not seen the playoffs for awhile and that has seen its past two seasons largely die during October/November struggles, any kind of win following a two-game losing streak is a huge one. Credit to the Hurricanes for responding and beating a Maple Leafs team that has been very good thus far in 2017-18.
So by the most important measure, Thursday’s 6-3 win over Toronto was a huge success.
As I said on Twitter during the game, the version of NHL hockey is the one that the NHL desperately needs to market itself as a fun and entertaining sport to a broader audience. Especially the first two periods, the game featured an incredible back and forth pace that saw the neutral used primarily to generate speed and both teams trading rushes and chances.
In addition to being fun to watch, the Hurricanes seem to thrive when things open up and turn into a track meet.
‘What I’m watching’ follow up for the Carolina Hurricanes versus the Toronto Maple Leafs
If you missed it and care to read the details, the ‘what I’m watching’ style game preview is HERE.
1) The right kind of desperation
Needing a win entering with a two-game losing streak, the Hurricanes brought the intensity early, started on time and jumped out to an early lead which set the tone for the game. Credit to the team’s leadership for channeling whatever came out of Tuesday’s loss into a good start.
2) The blue line
The game was so wide open at times, that it was a tough one for the defensemen. The neutral zone was uncontested for runs of shifts and mostly just served as a place to gather speed before flying in on defensemen.
The most positive story for the defense was a very prosperous night for Haydn Fleury and Trevor van Riemsdyk. Every other shift that they touched seemed to turn to gold. They were on the ice for four goals for and zero goals against and collected three assists between them along the way. No doubt, being on the ice for so many goals have an element of luck to it, but they also played well.
To my slight surprise, Peters stuck with Slavin/Pesce and Hanifin/Faulk as the split for the top 2 pairings. By no means were Slavin and Pesce flawless nor was it their best game, but they held their own against a talented Toronto scoring punch that came in leading the league in scoring.
I thought Hanifin/Faulk struggled in the fast game and were too often an adventure again. The biggest play was the goal against off the rush. Faulk stepped up at center ice and actually deflected a puck out of mid-air. The fact that the deflection found a Toronto stick was just bad luck, but his decision to step up and stay on the boards was the wrong one and the result was the puck flying by him for a 2-on-1 that might have been prevented or at least slowed if he backed up and moved to the middle of the ice. Instead, he stepped forward and stayed on the wall which created a rush behind him. Hanifin was covering behind Faulk like he should have been and admittedly in a difficult situation. His first priority in that situation is to at least take away the pass, so the chance on Darling is from in front of him not one where he has to fly across the crease at the last minute and make a moving save. Hanifin basically backed up too far, did not manage to take away the passing lane and did not manage to get to either the on rushing player who scored or the rebound that found him. That play was the headline, but in general the duo has yet to put things together.
3) As spark or two offensively
Maybe fittingly, much of the spark came from the depth forwards who have been pretty good in their limited role thus far this season. Josh Jooris scored the all-important first goal and added another tally late. Joakim Nordstrom could easily have had a goal or two even but just did not finish on any of the good chances that he played his way into. And former fourth-liner Brock McGinn had a solid game and was rewarded for his hard hat and lunch pail work with a late goal. When you tally it up, the fourth line and 2017-18 fourth line alumni (Brock McGinn) scored three goals. That is HUGE production from a checking line plus help and even bigger when you consider how starved for scoring the team was coming into the game. Teuvo Teravainen is the other player who most stood out on a strong night with many standouts.
4) Bill Peters’ line combinations
Peters did not do anything drastic, but what he did do worked. Teravainen and Rask seemed to help lift each other out of scoring funks. And though I am not a fan of it logically, Skinner/Ryan/Williams had a number of dominant puck possession shifts. They were not rewarded on the score sheet as much as other lines (only a single assist for Skinner), but they played much better than top line scoring statistics give them credit for.
Other notes
Scott Darling
Darling’s game log has other cleaner games where he gave up the standard two goals that should more often than not earn a win, but three of those (not counting the piling on at the end of the Lightning game that made for a 5-1 final score) turned into 2-1 losses. On Thursday night in Toronto, Darling seemed to be fighting the puck a bit. He had a number of controllable rebounds leak out into the crease area. And somewhat like the season opener, he seemed to be fighting off first shots as best he could. But the game was wide open and wild through two periods at least, and Darling outplayed the goalie at the other end and picked up a win in the process. The game also makes for a nice transition point with Darling getting the team back into the win column before a day off with Ward likely to start on Friday in the second half of the back to back.
The fourth line
I cannot say enough how big of a game this was for the depth forwards. Jooris getting on the score board early immediately dialed down the level of stick squeezing from at least 8 to something reasonable.
Brock McGinn
He continues to impress me. He is on track to become the next Chad LaRose=>Patrick Dwyer=>Nathan Gerbe who is maybe overslotted in the top 9 and somehow incurs the wrath of the fan base due to no fault of his own. I have never been as high on McGinn as most in terms of being an NHL scorer, and nothing has changed in that regard. McGinn would need to find a different gear or trajectory to score enough to be an every game top 9 forward for me. Nonetheless, I have been impressed with his play thus far in 2017-18. He has a clear identity for his game and an unwavering every shift consistency. Not counting the goal which was a bigger play, McGinn had at least 7-8 small plays again on Thursday freeing up pucks, forcing defensemen to unload the puck early because he was coming, creating havoc on the forecheck, etc. Good for him being rewarded for his hard hat and lunch pail work.
Teuvo Teravainen
He had his second stellar game of the year. He has four points in those two games and exactly none in the other six games. The next level for Teravainen is figuring out how to get more out of the ‘meh’ games. It is not possible to be lights out every night in the NHL. Even elite scorers like Jeff Skinner are streaky. But the key is to avoid the invisibility cloak and make a few plays and grind out a few points even on the slow days. Right now, Teravainen scores in the 90th percentile for his great games and in the 15th percentile for the games in between. I actually do not think he needs more 90’s. What he needs is the ability to turn many of the 15’s into 40’s or 50’s.
Skinner/Ryan/Williams
Because they did not register a goal in a high scoring game, they were the under the radar version of good. The stereotype for an offensive zone possession line is three big, strong players who cycle the puck on the boards. This group is not that obviously, but they had multiple dominant offensive zone shifts that just did not quite end with a goal.
Victor Rask
On a team with a number of players sputtering offensively coming into Thursday, Rask who had not scored since opening day was probably near the top of the ranking of players who needed to break out. His face-off win netted him an assist, and a great receive/finish goal got him into that column. The precise finish by Rask on Teravainen’s pass is the video version of why I think he could be an interesting partner for Aho who at least right now is a playmaker waiting to happen from the wing.
Next up is a quick turnaround and also likely a less friendly game against one of the heavies from the Western Conference who unlike Toronto who was happy playing in the middle of the rink will try to push the game to the walls.
Go Canes!
Nice to see the response after Toronto tied it. Skinner-Ryan-Williams line was great even though they didn’t score. 3rd pairing solid. If Teuvo can play like this consistently he can be a difference maker.
Only negatives were the awful giveaway by Lindholm leading to the first goal and Nordstrom fanning on every scoring chance .
Balanced scoring, early scoring ,not giving up when things got tight(Leafs are 3rd overall in the East, not a easy win). They just gotta play this well this weekend.
This was the type of game I wanted and expected to see – I just didn’t know who was going to win 6-3. 🙂
I am a bit troubled by Darling’s rebound control but I don’t think any of those 3 goals rest entirely on his shoulders.
I have been complaining about McGinn’s lack of NHL play/scoring. Well, excuuuuse me! LOL! That was a pretty play.
Aho’s goal was robbed…by Lindholm.
The third pairing was +8 combined although I think Fleury lost Matthews on his second.
We do well against teams that attack – Bolts, Oilers, Leafs. Close-checking and grinding games – not so well.
I am happy with what I saw tonight.
I hope all of you contributors will please shred or otherwise destroy virtually all of my comments from yesterday. Based upon the Toronto game the team made most of them look ridiculous (so you say “What’s new?”). The only thing that I had correct was the Canes needed to get traffic in and around the net which they did do rather well in this game.
davej, dogbutler, and raleightj have said well what I would have said about the game. Great to see the 60 minute effort. It’s obvious we have some very skilled players and Darling made numerous outstanding saves.
Ward expected to play against St Louis. Here’s wishing him well. I hope he has a great game. I predicted we would win all three of the games remaining before tonight’s game. Based upon what I saw tonight that may be achievable.
I saw your comments. I disagreed with them. I chose to ignore them. Why argue when future events will show what will be.
I am really beginning to sign into the thought of what type of game will we be playing – open with movement, close checking, grinding. St. Louis and Anaheim present different challenges than TB and TOR.
I think after the past couple of years, knee jerk panic/frustration is justified….It was just nice to see 40+ comments after a game, and that kinda dialogue has been missing for a while. Keep your stick on the ice Red Ryder.
That was a fun game to watch!
The pucks found the back of the net tonight, but they were all great chances. 4 from the slot, 1 tipped, and McGinn was on the edge of the slot on the rush. The first 3 were directly off of O zone faceoff wins if memory serves.
There may have been a “hot seat” halo effect helping drive desperation. Peters said he would play everybody in this back-to-back, and the top 5 hot seat candidates (TVR, Fleury, McGinn, Jooris, Nordstrom) all had very good games.
It would be a good discussion topic for tomorrow’s game thread to see who people would sub out (if any). My ideas seem a little wacky right now so I think I’ll sleep on it.
Great game to watch as a canes fan. I think it was well played (for the most part-minus Faulk being invisible again) and a couple miscues. As those of you on here know I’m a huge Mcginn fan and seeing (Ol’ Hardhat-thanks for the nickname Matt) rewarded with a snipe of a goal was great. There is a role for players like him, and you only have to look at his opponent tonight in Matt Martin to see how much a physical presence with limited offensive upside can help a line-up with some moxie. But Martin is not a liability and if Mcginn is going to succeed he has to continue to improve and make an impact every night. Good to see Rask get rolling again. I think some commentators pointed out after the Tampa game that he might be have been gripping the stick and had the yips. Tonight to echo what guys like Red Ryder said getting pucks and traffic to the net is a must and when the puck found his stick he didn’t have time to think about it and just ripped it….voila, which was the same with Aho and Lindholm, quick shot, deflection, net front presence equals goals. TT rocked it out with a great game but the highlight for me was Skinner. His play was phenomenal and his energy and forechecking helped Jooris feel pretty good in front of the hometown crowd. Im liking what I’m seeing in his game. It seems he’s committed to putting the offense on his back and theres been 100 percent effort on his part even on the back check which has been an issue in the past. He has become leader and the heart and soul of this team. This year it looks personal for him, give him a C. Negative impression of the Murphy, I’m mean Faulk, Hannifin pairing. Not the kind of game you want to see from your Co-captain on a desperate need a win kind of night. Not sure what the issue is but I’m seeing a pattern over a stretch of time that tells me is not all Mai Thais and Yahtzee in Faulks game right now, and he hung his partner out to dry multiple times tonight. On the flip side Fluery and TVR showed how its done. Each game Fluery has more and more confidence and I can’t wait until he throws a cross check back at some forward picking on the Rook. Have a great day Caniacs
Six goals is a cure for most Canes’ fans.
A few points.
McGinn–if you add in the last game in Philly last year, he is actually tied with Skinner for most points. I have read that his brothers say Brock is the most talented of the three and actually as talented as some of their top-line teammates. Maybe his style of play has us all underestimating his offensive skills.
Teravainen. This is a case where I like the advanced stats (ok you all know that I always like the advanced stats because I am a nerd). TT has Corsi and expected goals numbers that make him look like an all-star. In today’s other thread, I argue that opposing goalies are a big factor in the Canes’ early-season offensive struggles. This applies to Teravainen, in every game he has had 1 or 2 good shots and 2 or 3 nice passes. But his and his teammates’ shots didn’t find the net. That doesn’t make those games 15%. Like any player, he will have some outstanding nights and some poor nights, but I think he is more consistent that most think. I also hold to my prediction before the first game–TT leads the team in points this year.
Fourth line–I was WRONG. I said repeatedly that Kruger and Nordstrom were locks but Jooris might easily be replaced by a prospect. You see RedRyder, you are not alone. Whatever the scouts, BP, and GMRF saw in Jooris to grab him on the first day of free agency was obviously quite astute. One day I will learn not to think I am smarter than they are!
This game was great to see the response of the team. Like after the Calgary game, I need to see some consistency before I believe we’ve turned the corner. The concerns are still concerns until the team proves this isn’t a flash in the pan.
The team responded well after the diversity throughout the game. We had 6 legitimate scoring chances in the 1st. Jordan fanned on two wide open nets (ugggh) and Hanifin was robbed. Two of their goals a Cane had a secondary assist. Lindholm’s turnover and Faulk unnecessary high stick mentioned above. Of course the 3rd goal, BP must have believed the contact wasn’t enough. Through all that they kept their head up and fought.
It was about time we played with some passion!
Glad we won, and love the passion as golden24 stated!
Though my overall concern of not having enough offensively is still there. This is because TO’s defense is not that great and we’ve been known to have ad hoc games of greatness anyway (especially in Canada).
If the team puts together efforts like this every night (against bigger, tougher teams with better defenses such as this weekend) then I will be more sold we are a playoff team. Until that happens, I’m still in the camp we’re a team that thrives in run-n-gun games where we score most when we give up more. Look at our wins against MIN, EDM and now TOR. The way this team is built, grinding 2-1 games may not be the formula for success. The team right now is still in the process of learning how to capitalize in those grinding games, which remains our biggest struggle.
Didn’t get to watch last night, just got text updates from my dad during the game. I was pretty concerned when he told me Toronto had tied it, but I’m glad to see we were resilient and bounced back to earn the W. I hate this is a game I missed as it seems like it was a fun one. Hopefully this is a launching point for some of our forwards like Rask and Teravainen, and the depth guys like Jooris and McGinn have just been awesome. Let’s hope we can keep it up tonight against STL and close it out with a win over a beatable Anaheim squad. 6-3-1 would be beautiful.
Man, this was a fun game!
I´m perplexed that BP idn´t try to call interference on the third goal, last year he called out a few situations that didn´t make sense to me, but now he´s backed off too far, I think (and so did Tracy).
Not sure where Justin Faulk’s head is at right now. I hope he finds a way to become the offensive force he has been in ears past, somehow.
That pairing was a huge weakness for us, but Noah is still a kid who’s learning (Victor Hedman was not a particularly awesome defenseman for the Lightening for the first 2 or 3 years, but now he has turned into one of the NHL’s best).
I don’t expect to see many games like this, but if we can squeak out 1 point from the next two games, I’d say the Canes are still very much in it.
Hopefully we can replicate the Calgary game and come down hard on the Ducks, who were mauled by the Panthers yesterday.