The Hurricanes first two wins featured bursts of strong play, the ability to make key plays when needed, high entertainment value and maybe more than anything just a ‘find a way’ approach to winning hockey games.
In terms of putting together a complete effort, Sunday’s win over the Tampa Bay Lightning was by far the Hurricanes best effort thus far in the 2019-20 season. The team suffered from a few costly ‘oopses’ again in the first period, but aside from intermittent issues handling the puck in their own end, the Hurricanes dictated play and by far had the better of possession and chances throughout pretty much the entire game.
The first period started with a frenetic pace mostly to the Hurricanes benefit. Brock McGinn fired off the post and then fired another shot from close range early, and the Hurricanes collected four or five decent scoring chances on the first two shifts against former teammate Curtis McElhinney. In the middle of it, Brett Pesce shot through traffic created by Andrei Svechnikov to push the Hurricanes to a 1-0 lead only 1:14 into the game. But from that point forward, the Hurricanes shot themselves in the foot with repeated puck management ‘oopses’ in their own end. First, a soft, blind clear to the middle by Martin Necas was stolen and quickly moved stick to stick for a quick shot through traffic and a goal. Next Kevin Shattenkirk shot through traffic on the power play to put Tampa Bay up 2-1. And then Sebastian Aho offered not one but two ‘wish’ clearing attempts that were both stolen. The second one was quickly behind Petr Mrazek courtesy of Steven Stamkos.
The first period and its 3-1 deficit were odd. Measured in time controlling play, the period was a strong one for the Hurricanes. But plagued by puck management issues, the Hurricanes gifted away too many grade A scoring chances and paid for it dearly. And in the middle of it all, Petr Mrazek seemed to have on blinders in terms of tracking the puck. All three goals saw Mrazek unable to find the puck the through traffic. He had at least two other near misses where he had no idea where the puck was.
But in terms of controlling play, the Hurricanes picked up right where they left off in the second period. The period was utterly dominant with the Hurricanes out-shooting the Lightning by a 16 to 0 margin. Following a theme from the previous two comeback wins, the charge was started by another Hurricanes power play goal again by Erik Haula and again from within a step of the crease. He has quickly established himself as a difference-maker with the man advantage as a finisher in close. Despite the massive second period surge, the Hurricanes netted only that lone goal and for the third time in three games entered the third period down, this time by a 3-2 margin.
The third period featured more of the same with the Hurricanes dominating play and eventually being rewarded. This time it was Dougie Hamilton firing through a screen by Erik Haula set up in his new office within a step of the crease. The goal tied the game at 3-3 and set up another frenetic finish. Ultimately the game pushed to overtime for the third straight game. Following the game’s theme, the Hurricanes again had the better of play and won when Jordan Staal fed Jaccob Slavin who finished just up under the cross bar for another fun win.
The Hurricanes out-shot a good Tampa Bay Lightning team by a whopping margin of 27 to 2 over the final two periods and overtime.
Impressive to say the least!
Player and other notes
1) Erik Haula and the power play as a difference-maker
In consecutive games against good teams down two goals and desperately needing to scratch to make a game of it, Erik Haula did exactly that from in close on the power play. Without an Erik Haula power play tally to narrow the gap, build momentum and apply pressure, might the Hurricanes be 1-2 right now?
2) The blue line as a catalyst
The Hurricanes top 5 defenders have been tremendous through three games. Especially when on considers that a chunk of the goals against were driven by forward turnovers (one was admittedly Edmundson’s), the defense has been better than goals against might suggest against well above average offensive competition. More significantly, the blue line has been the catalyst for the offense. The group has now tallied an impressive five goals in three games including three on Sunday. In addition, three other goals were pretty directly the result of a point shot via tip or rebound. Player by player — Dougie Hamilton 1 goal, 2 point shot assists; shootout game-winner; Brett Pesce 1 goal, 1 point shot assist; Jaccob Slavin 2 goals including overtime-game-winner; Jake Gardiner 1 goal including overtime game-winner.
The tally is all three game-winners counting Hamilton’s shootout tally, five total goals.
Through three games, I think any of Dougie Hamilton, Jaccob Slavin and Brett Pesce have a legitimate claim to being the team’s best player so far. Of the rest of the roster, I think only Erik Haula and possibly Teuvo Teravainen could climb into that conversation.
3) Petr Mrazek
The game was an odd one for Mrazek. On the one hand, none of the three goals against him were necessarily soft goals. He was screened on all three. But by book one of my measures of a goalie in a groove is his ability to seemingly see right through the mess in front of him and find the puck no matter what. As noted above, Mrazek was the exact opposite on Sunday night. He was screened on all three goals against and at least two other players where he never reacted to shots. One cannot say if he rebounded or not because the bizarre game saw him face only two shots in the 40 plus minutes that followed. This one is maybe worth watching heading into Mrazek’s next start.
4) Puck management
Arguably the Hurricanes greatest Achilles’ heel thus far has been puck management in their own end. Two of Tampa Bay’s goals came directly from the bad variety of defensive zone turnovers by Necas and Aho. Edmundson had one on Saturday. Through three games, digging holes and then storming back to win has been incredibly fun, but this recipe is not a great one for the long haul. Especially with the young group, I will be watching to see if the team can tighten up in terms of not losing the puck in bad places in its own end.
5) Dougie Hamilton
Following on my more general comments on the blue line, Dougie Hamilton has arguably been the team’s best player offensively through three games. His ability to get pucks to the front of the net and in the vicinity of teammates has netted a good number of goals and scoring chances on top of that. The version of Dougie Hamilton that we have seen through three games is the wild card version of him that is maximum upside. He is capable defensively but also a rare offensive catalyst from the back end.
6) Brock McGinn
He was not rewarded for it, but Brock McGinn had a solid game offensively. He regularly found himself in high danger areas with the puck on his stick and made no mistake getting the puck to the net. He had a post, a good chance on net and another near miss early. McGinn just does not have the finishing ability of a couple other forwards, but if he plays with a nose for the net and a propensity to shoot like he did on Sunday, he will produce at least at a good depth scoring clip.
7) Haydn Fleury
As much as it pains me to say it, I have not been overly impressed with Fleury’s play through three games. It is often the little things that make a difference. On two goals against, Fleury was in front of the shooter, tried to block the shot by turning and going down but in the process missed and became a screen as the puck found its way past the Canes goalie. In my opinion, he was also slow to read the play and help to the middle on the Edmundson turnover that led to a goal against. Finally, he still exhibits the same hockey 101 mentality to just get the puck out of his own end too often. The results are too many times where Fleury possession in his own end leads to the opponent’s possession in the neutral zone when he quickly defers to safe play/small mistake. I oscillate game by game on whether he is a player for whom continued patience will yield rewards or whether he really just will never be more than a serviceable #6/#7 type defenseman. With Brind’Amour seemingly having the same propensity to play with five defensemen late in games and Trevor van Riemsdyk nearing return, could it be time to collect some value for Fleury and just go with someone like Forsling in the #7 slot? I would have leaned against that a few weeks ago but increasingly wonder if the team will consider this route.
Next up is a trip to South Florida on Tuesday to take on the Florida Panthers.
Go Canes!
Some random hits.
It was a fun, exciting game. I do like the fact that the team knows they own the third period – but living on that high wire is fraught with risk.
Mrazek didn’t see at least two of the 3 pucks that went past him. We need to be better clearing out the area in front of the crease.
I like that Necas came right back out after a bad turnover with an excellent opportunity. It wasn’t until the last 5 minutes that Necas remained on the bench. I hope that is a sign of confidence.
Fleury came close a couple of times to getting the goal monkey off his back – but I did notice he didn’t circle all the way back to the point after joining the rush. And he had a couple of turnovers.
I did not realize until after the game when I was walking to my car and talking with someone that Haula’s game isn’t just speed and 2-way play; he is know for PP net front presence.
Gotta love the 2nd PP unit which has now become the first – Hamilton, Svech, Turbo, and Haula play off each other so well.
Both Pesce and Slavin are showing some offensive and finishing capabilities. Gotta love seeing that.
While Svech on Staal’s line makes that even a better posession line, his 5×5 offense is really suffering on that line. I am not sure where he should be slotted, but being on Staal’s line doesn’t seem to give him or the team the great chance for success – at least so far.
The T-A-N line is ever so close to what should be a breakout game.
We were magnificent again!
Mrazek was great. As great as we needed him to be. How great do you need to be when your teammates in front of you choke the life out of the enemy by depriving them of any shots in the second period and allowing them only 2 shots in the third?
Eric “GAG” (Goal-A-Game) Haula was his amazing self. Taking a lion’s share of face offs, establishing a permanent residence in front of enemy goalkeepers, putting the puck in the enemy nets, and just doing everything superbly. Donny’s best acquisition yet.
Svech doing his thing drawing penalties and setting up his teammates for a goal.
I could go on. But one player stands out like a sore thumb. You guessed it. Our Haydn.
What did he do wrong this time, you ask?
Nothing.
Well. That in itself is remarkable. But there is more.
Much more. At 10:53 of the first (I marked the time in my mind), i witnessed our Haydn engage an enemy player in front of our net. He arrived ahead of the enemy player and locked cross checks with him. He successfully moved that player out from in front of Mrazek. I asked a guy near me, “Am i seeing things?”. He assured me i was not. Later, i saw him back check,
catching up to and keeping up with the attacker and keeping him from crashing the net. He engaged several other enemy players successfully throughout the game. He even jumped in to be part of the offense.
I was amazed. If he can string a few of these games together, our Haydn just might become a bona fide NHL defenseman. Wow!
If that happens I hope they let our Haydn work with the same coach that helped Pesce and Slavin with their shots. His is really pathetic.
But that’s a waste because he often finds himself in a position to shoot. His shot wouldn’t break a wet Kleenex.
Here’s to our Haydn! Let’s hope tonight wasn’t a fluke. Let’s hope it foretells good things ahead for our Haydn and my beloved Canes.
Another great team effort to secure a win. Atmosphere in the arena was electric. The crowd really saluted Hamilton after the game chanting his name so loud that his interview with Mike M was drowned out.
I want to second pwrlss’ last paragraph statement. I am also hoping tonight’s game wasn’t a fluke on Hayden’s part and that his play will continue to get better and better. I also agree that Hayden’s shot sure can use some improvement…no it needs a lot of spiffing up since it’s at a “wet Kleenex” level right now.
raleightj also has several good comments about the game worth noting. Of particular note IMO are his comments about Haula and Svechnikov.
Great performance last night. Except for a few. I was not impressed with Mrazek last night. Wasn’t fighting through to see shots at all. Seemed out of sync totally. There is going to be traffic. The goalie has to work through it. He looked fine only seeing two shots in the second and third. (sarcasm)
I also think Aho is still in a funk. He seems to be moving better, but his decisions are just…off.
The Canes obviously dominated from the second period forward, but they pretty much played equal with the Lightning in the first. The difference was guys who can bury the puck vs. guys who can’t. Both McGinn and Nino had grade A chances with open net, but couldn’t elevate the puck. If you give Tyler Johnson and Steven Stamkos those chances they get buried. A lack of skill is still the Canes Achilles heel. Glad the PP is finally working, because they are struggling 5 on 5 to find the net.
I agree lts, Mrazek was not seeing anything. There were a couple of other shots where he was totally in the wrong position and we were lucky they just missed. I felt very uncomfortable with him in the net.. Mac played significantly better. Thank goodness our D shut them down for two periods. Mrazek was not impressive. It’s only one gene but I hope this does not turn into last years slow start for him. Reimer has looked better.
For crying out loud why do fans need a punching bag? Fleury has been OK. Yes, he will turn over a puck now and then. They all do. No, he isn’t a great player, but would you rather see Fleury or the 2017-18 version of Noah Hanifin? Heck, they made Hanifin an all star, and he got a $5M contract! What a joke. Fleury is a #6 defenseman on a team with 5 high quality d-men. Even considering Forsling is nonsense. All six D aren’t going to be studs. Even Tampa Bay is playing Shattenkirk. Woof.
For a high first round draft pick flurry has not been the stud D we had hoped for yet, but he has not been playing that bad. There has been a lot of good in there. His shot has been a zero. I am hoping he gets one and he gets out of that funk. He can do it because we saw it last year with the checkers. Very debatable moving Fleury rather then letting him develop. I still believe he is a good #7 to fill in when somebody gets hurt. He has not been the top 4 D his draft position would suggest. But he still fills a role with upside at a low salary. No one picked off Forsling via waiver. I do not believe Fleury would make it through waivers. The point, IMO, I would rather have Fleury as #7, let him develop. He has not been horrible.
Not sure what has upset you regarding Fleury. Virtually everyone has stated his performance has improved and the only negative has been about his lack of demonstrating much of a shot. He certainly is an outstanding skater (mobile defenseman) and is not an atrocious defenseman. As is the case with every player, he has his oops, but he appears IMO to be growing into being a serviceable 3rd pairing defenseman. IMO he needs to use his strength of being an excellent skater and use it to move the puck out of the defensive zone more and not become immobile trying to locate an outlet by passing as much. But hey, I’m a slightly out-of-shape (okay…not slightly) retiree who never was an expert on how to play hockey (my friends will back me up on this) and certainly no threat to Rod’s job. So, if Rod keeps playing him, you can bet the kid is getting the job done.
My comments about Fleury being a whipping boy isn’t just about this board. It’s even worse among fans not on this board. And when Tripp starts chiming in…well…
Another really fun game!
What does Haula have to do to get noticed by the canes PR staff? 14 of 19 face offs won, goal in 3rd straight game and he had the screen on Dougies goal. Still hasn’t cracked the 3 stars.
Speaking of which, one of the great statistical atrocities in sports is not giving an assist to the screener. What was more important to the goal – the secondary pass or the fact that the goalie couldn’t see the puck? Haula has scored all 3 of his goals from dirty areas and is part of the scoring success story for the defenseman. He creates chaos in the slot. This chaos in the slot is something the canes lacked for years, and I couldn’t be happier with Haula,
It is a small sample size so far, but directionally his trade could rank right up there with Nino and Dougie trades.
Aho is struggling a bit early, but as with slumps in previous years, this too shall pass.
Still can’t believe the canes outshot TBL 27-2 over the last 44 minutes. They are a very good team. My goodness, what will the next game bring?
Matt says that poor puck management in our own end is my beloved Canes’ Achillies heel. I agree with that.
Less than says that the Achilles heel for my beloved Canes is a lack of skill? A lack of skill? Preposterous!
Achilles had only one vulnerable heel. So, in my book, Matt wins.
The current edition of the Canes is the most skilled I have ever seen.
My evaluation of Haydn Fleury remains largely unchanged. He has still only played 90 NHL games, way below the threshold of games considered necessary to reach competency at the position. (In most of those 90 games he has played less than 11 minutes as well slowing progress further.) The Canes strength on defense is allowing RBA to slowly move Fleury into the deep end of the pool. He is showing improvement, but not in a straight line. But looking back to the first half of last season he is noticeably better. Given his limited usage his progress seems acceptable. Unlike some here I don’t focus on the player when he is on the ice, but, I notice him less now than earlier in his career. There is a big upside if Fleury can reach competency for a 3rd pairing defenseman. Should that happen TVR, in his UFA year becomes more tradeable. TVR is 28, his cap hit is $2.3million/year. He is good, but not a core member of the defense. He needs to be paid next year, but it won’t be here, cap management just won’t allow it. Today the Canes are only $1.84million under the cap lacking the space to just take TVR off LTIR when he is healthy.
Haula has been amazing. What a trade. Asheville has it right, right up there with the NN trade. WOW is he dangerous with his net front on the PP. I believe he has a chip on his shoulder and is out to show Vegas they messed up. They did. He is two way, very fast, dangerous shot and has been one of our best players, without being named a star.
I kind of wonder if that big contract is mentally causing big self induce pressure on Aho? Having to live up to the big expectations is pressure he has not had previously. I am sure he will come out of it. He just seemed a little off last night. Not worried, just an observation.
Think about what happens when Aho and NN click in as well. TT has been very good, elite passing. We could have balanced attack with all 4 lines. McGinn is ringing posts again. Some of those will start going in. Don’t like digging hole but it is not over until it is over with this team. We own the third periods.