There is no such thing as a must win game in the NHL in November, but whatever the next level of desperation is I think the Hurricanes have reached it for Sunday’s game against the Nashville Predators.
Interestingly, the Hurricanes losing streak is a mere two games but somehow feels like much more. Two things compound the situation. First is that both were home losses that dampened a feel-good Hurricanes hockey mood for the core fan base headed into the holidays. Second is that the rest of the Metropolitan Division continues to sprint forward.
Saturday on Twitter I noted that the Hurricanes 9-8-4 record exactly matches the team’s mark through 21 games in 2016-17. Further, the one game above .500 has slipped two points off the pace adjusted for games played and even more if you just look at the standings. And maybe most significantly, the wheels seem to have come off in terms of playing sound defensive hockey both in net and on the back end.
Against that backdrop, the Hurricanes will take to the ice for a 1pm Sunday matinee that represents a chance to salvage something from a tough week before playing most of the stretch between the winter holidays on the road.
‘What I’m watching’ for the Carolina Hurricanes versus the Nashville Predators
1) Leadership and the right kind of desperation in the face of adversity
As bad as things feel right now, the losing streak is only a couple of games. But the team does need to turn it around in terms of collecting a win to stop the losing streak short and also a return to better play. On Sunday, I will be looking for the team’s leadership to set the tone and help the team climb above the fray of whatever level of adversity has entered the locker room.
2) Sticking to it and not throwing out the baby with the bath water
The Hurricanes’ first period in Friday’s loss was actually an incredibly good period despite absolutely nothing for rewards on the scoreboard. If you asked me if I could take three periods of the Hurricanes first period level of play on Friday and magically drop it into Sunday’s game, I would take it in a heart beat. The third period was also strong and featured a never say die attitude that almost yielded a late tie to push the game to overtime.
The second period featured another batch of the defensive break downs that have too regularly crept into the Hurricanes game of late, but there is must to like and keep from the first and third periods of the Hurricanes effort on Friday. On Sunday, I will be watching to see if the Hurricanes can stay heads down and replicate the good parts of Friday’s game and not to try to do too much or make unnecessary changes in trying too hard.
3) The net
The four most recent games have been utterly bizarre in terms of the goalie position. Last weekend, Scott Darling and Cam Ward took turns standing on their heads to pull out goalie-led wins on nights when the team was ‘meh’ at best defensively. Then in the two games since then each goalie has had a rough outing albeit again with some less than sound play in front of them. On Sunday, I will be watching to see if the Hurricanes goalie can put forward at least a decent effort that gives the team a chance. I have not had time to hunt down official word on a starter, but best bet is that Darling gets the start.
4) Cleaning up the defense
I noted last weekend that stellar goaltending had masked what I thought was defense trending in the wrong direction. Suddenly, without ‘stand on your head goaltending’ in the past couple games, the team’s defensive break downs were out in the open. On Sunday, I will be watching to see if the defense can tighten up and significantly decrease the number of bad defensive break downs that they have been making of late.
The puck drops at 1pm at PNC Arena.
Go Canes!
Wow brutal last two games. Can someone tell me how Ward can be so awful at bad angle shots? Slide to the post and nothing goes in. Instead he comes out to challenge? On a bad angle shot and why butterfly just stand up like your idol Brodeur would do. I really can’t take any more of him. I thought he would be a good back up.I was wrong. We are a mess. Breakdowns in defensive position, poor efforts, poor goal tending, Its something every night. I am having a tough time watching games. Am I being to hard on a young team?
The team’s play of late is getting harder for even GMRF to defend. Did anyone see his interview on Sportsnet Hockey Central before the Leafs game? While Canadian media is highly impatient (especially Doug MacLean) the looks on their faces when GMRF explained the inconsistencies of this team were telling. The main question surrounded how good we look in one game, then how we get wacked in another. GMRF quickly defended the Dallas game being close until the empty netters, then said we only really got wacked the prior game against the Rangers. Meanwhile no mention of how we won games when our overall play was questionable. It was as if the Sportsnet guys were thinking, “Ronnie, we’ve heard this one before”.
Fast forward, and I think we got wacked pretty good against the Leafs.
I get it, we should be patient and let the kids develop. But to someone’s point yesterday, why did we not bring in a short-term center to SHOW the kids how to be winners while developing at the same time. Justin Williams is a good step, but not what we needed most upfront. Compared to last year, our power play is struggling the same, our defense is worse and our goaltending is slightly better (and we still have nobody crashing the net). Our captains are not the types to breed a winning environment either.
I hope we come out and right the ship this afternoon and build on the road. But if we don’t, I think we need to send someone good out and bring in a different skill set. One thing is for certain, the dynamic needs to change one way or the other.
As long as RF continues to buy three Volkswagens, instead of one Maserati, we will have depth (IN MEDIOCRITY)!!