From the ‘results matter’ category that is becoming increasingly important, Tuesday was a disappointing. The Hurricanes lost a four-point game to the Pittsburgh Penguins and in the process stayed in last place in the Metropolitan Division and fell farther below the playoff cut line.
Needless to say, the sense of urgency is ratcheting up right now.
As for the game itself, the game was not from the ‘never had a chance’ category that has reared its head a few times recently. The Hurricanes started flat and the Penguins started flying. This is usually a recipe for problems on the score board, but with Cam Ward having a strong first period, the Hurricanes headed to the locker room for the first intermission tied at 0-0 despite being outplayed early.
Toward the end of the first period at the start of the second period, the Hurricanes played their way up to game speed and at least tilted the ice back to flat with the puck flying in both directions at times. When Derek Ryan broke the scoreless tie at the end of a great shift for the Skinner/Ryan/Stempniak line, things suddenly looked bright. But less than a minute later the game took a turn for the worse when Dominik Simon beat Cam Ward from an odd angle. As has too often been the case recently, things immediately snowballed after the bad goal. Barely over a minute later, what I called a “domino effect defensive train wreck” sent Penguins forward Jean-Sebastian Dea in alone to beat Ward and very quickly turn a 1-0 lead into a 2-1 deficit. The play started when Trevor van Riemsdyk made a bad pinch and got caught up in the offensive zone. Noah Hanifin then played a 2-on-1 as if it was a 2-on-2 leaving Dea alone coming right down the middle of the ice. The play ended with Hanifin failing to take away the passing lane and Jeff Skinner failing to backcheck and the unmarked player finishing.
The rest of the game was fairly even, but the Hurricanes generated minimal high-quality scoring chances and inexplicably passed on 3-4 of the best chances to shoot. Now in three games minus leading scorer Sebastian Aho, neither second leading scorer Teuvo Teravainen nor third leading scorer Jeff Skinner have tallied a goal, and the the too many other chances (on Tuesday at least) saw players pass on point blank shooting opportunities to instead look sideways trying to find a pass. The Penguins would ultimately add a third goal for breathing room when Victor Rask and Haydn Fleury lost a puck battle and Phil Kessel quickly fed the puck right through Justin Faulk to the front of the net for a bang-bang goal.
Notes from the Carolina Hurricanes 3-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins
1) Lack of offense
Just like any other recent loss, there are many things that can be dissected, but at the highest level what jumps out at me is the lack of grade A scoring chances. The game looked like a Canes loss of old with a decent volume of shots on goal but not nearly as much for quality chances.
As I said on Twitter during the game:
I think #Canes players regularly looking to pass in obvious shooting situations tells you where this team is offensively right now. Who wants to score?
— Canes and Coffee (@CanesandCoffee) January 24, 2018
The power play which has been productive of late and a few intermittent scoring outbursts have masked the fact that the team just is not scoring enough. Since beating the Penguins in Pittsburgh for what was possibly a high point of the season, the Hurricanes are 2-6 and have been held to one goal in four of those losses.
2) Cam Ward
With the goalie play under the microscope right now, it seems only fair to critique Ward’s play just the same as I have Darling’s. On a positive note, Ward was the best player on the ice in the first period and almost single-handedly got the Hurricanes into the second period without a deficit. But singing a familiar tune of late, the first goal he allowed was the kind that changes momentum. And playing the second verse of that familiar tune, the goal saw the team’s energy swoon and the other team capitalize almost immediately for another goal. I am torn on whether to heap blame on Ward for allowing a goal that swung momentum in the game or heap blame on the team for not being able to respond, dial up their intensity and put it behind them. Lost among the fact that the goalies just have not been good is the fact that too often these situations are quickly snowballing. While Ward’s play on Tuesday was not in the horrible range, the goalie at the other end of the ice, in this case an emergency AHL call up, was better.
3) Another post for Brock McGinn
With the outcome still to be determined in the third period, Brock McGinn clanged the iron for the tenth time this season. He is inches away from a sizable boost to the respectable seven goals that he has. Again, I am torn on whether to call it bad luck, say he needs to hit the net or some combination of both.
4) The season is NOT over…it is just very clearly moving in that direction
As dire as the situation feels right now, the 2017-18 season is NOT over by any stretch of the imagination. The Flyers won again on Tuesday and are have played their way up to the tier of teams above the cut line. But the Rangers who are losing as I write this are vulnerable. I tabbed them as a team to catch based on the heavy road schedule that they have in the second half of the season, and their troubles were compounded by the fact that Kevin Shattenkirk is not out of the lineup. But the growing issue for the Hurricanes is simply the volume of teams they need to catch and beat. It is one thing to catch the Rangers, but the Hurricanes now much also catch and pass the Islanders and Penguins too. If even one of those teams gets hot, the gap which does not sound that big at three points (adjusted for games played).
But despite the growing pile of negatives, I still believe that the season will be decided in February when the Hurricanes play a run of 11 games out of 12 at home starting on January 30 against the Ottawa Senators.
Here is hoping that the Hurricanes can claim a win to go 2-2 in the short burst of games in between the bye week and the All-Star break and set the stage for perhaps the wildest stretch yet for the #CanesCoaster.
That next game is in Montreal on Thursday night.
Go Canes!
I said it on Sunday, I haven’t changed my mind. Losing this game means losing the season, another playoff miss is staring the canes right in the face, possibly with a middle finger up.
Also, going back to what I said after the Vegas game. WE all know goaltending is a problem, Ward didn’t do himself or the team any favors tonight, but the 4th line has been unacceptable. It hasn’t bee the difference maker. Both vegas and Pittsburgh are doing what we should have done from the beginning of the season, bring up the most promising youth and give them a chance.
It was one thing if our 4th line had been reliable defensively or chipped in goals. In 50 games it has done neither. Still, the players are sitting pretty, there are no consequences, and there are players down in charlotte that could have come up and made a difference. They might not have, but at least they would have gotten valuable experience that could benefit the team going forward.
This Is a management/coaching problem, and the guys making those decisions should have to explain and take the consequences for sticking with a forth line that is clearly not working.
What now?
I think RF should tell darling the next stretch of 10 games are his to play, rain or shine. Hire a vudu woman and get him focused and help him find his groove or, mer likely, bring us loser to a good draft pick, either way, the canes benefit.
Bring up a rotating set of Checker forwards.
Trade anything we can trade at the deadline, this is no new strategy, is rince and repeat. Hope the team can position themselves for a high draft pick.
hope that the new owner can inject new life and make difference making decision this summer.
Get out the golf clubs caniacs, you will meet the player on a golf course near you, come April.
I wish I could like and repost this. Breezy is dead on. You should be GM. And probably head coach too. You got any Belichick in you?
This is probably my last post of the year. I’m exhausted as a Canes fan. Matt, I feel for you having to continue subjectively writing and being positive about this trash organization. When I bash the Hurricanes they usually go on a run, so hopefully my extended absence of not paying attention to the team and not really caring will be the magic ingredient that makes this team’s light go on. I wouldn’t exactly hold my breath.
Here’s hoping 2018-19 will not be the SAME EXACT SCRIPT THE LAST NINE YEARS NOW HAVE BEEN. I hope Dundon brings some changes and accountability to this franchise. He said he’s not patient. Let’s see it.
See you next year! No point blowing it up and starting over when we’re dominating at the lower two levels. With all due respect, how many people here have rooted for losing teams before?
The Red Sox went 86 years, the Blues have never won, and yet so many people are so put out by a 9 year playoff gap, that they ignore all the efforts it takes to build a consistently successful organization. (FYI, blow it up and start over typically has a 3 year gap of further suckitude)
1. The Checkers are not dominating at the AHL level, they are in a dog fight for a playoff spot The team is promising, but far from dominating. I have not kept tabs on the level below that.
2. I think we are all suggesting blowing up the NHL team, which includes bringing up more of that promising future talent from Charlotte and elsewhere to re energize the team and better position it for next year.
The team as currently constructed is not going to make the playoffs, so why not take the risk and lean on the assets acquired during the last 3 years of rebuilt to see if we can propel the team to the playoffs or, if not, give potential key players important experience at this level to acclimate them for next season.
Why not bring up Ned from the Checkers to be our goalie for a couple of games. Look what Pit did yesterday.
The worst course to chart right now s playing the same players with the same problems and expect different rsults.
Of course you, or anyone, may believe the team is capable of more and we need to give current players more time to reveal that drive. That is a perfectly legit opinion, and I really hope that opinion is right.
But I dont think so, I think change is needed and change is good and that we should not sit around and watch mediocrity become ever more acceptable.
That will guarantee suckage for as long as this group stays together.
There’s got to be something wrong with professional sports teams that have not won in decades, especially in the era of salary cap.
A lot of this is very valid, and I do agree with the idea of bringing up NHLers. That said:
A) There are 30 other fan bases which have the exact same mentality. If you all want to get worked up about the current mediocrity fine, it doesn’t change how I feel about the big picture
B) The fans (and now Dundon) are the sole people who have any real need to win now. I get that. But I’m not Peter Karmanos, I’m just another fan. And Ron knows how to be a better hockey GM than every single one of us, and I trust him.
C) It’s been four years, why isn’t the call to fire Peters stronger seriously? We’re going to try and blow up a team of 25-and-under talent, and seemingly no one cares about the coach who has not had a single league-average goalie since he’s been here (and they were all at least league average before they got here). I like Peters as a person and as a hockey mind, but seriously, if the players aren’t buying into it, that’s his responsibility as the boss. Maybe the team needs more of a Tortorella type. Pure speculation, but while I agree sitting down and twiddling thumbs is not the right answer, the kids are the future not the coach. If we’re changing, we should probably start coach first.
You don’t win many games scoring only 1 goal.
Two posts in the third period – hockey is a game of inches played over 200 feet.
The third PIT goal was a thing of beauty – and effort.
If change is going to happen then losses have to happen. And it is not too late now for changes to make a difference.
Totally onboard with that idea. I don’t think Peters is a big part of the problem (see my wonderings re the ineffective 4th line that never changes), and he is a piece that can easily be replaced without massive restructuring.
Goodness, I meant to say that I _do_ think Peters is a big part of the problem.
I didn’t think the TVR pinch was bad. He had a high side forward to cover him. Skinner decided getting back wasn’t worth the effort.
The season isn’t over but the team really lacks the reliable effort that says they want to win.
I don’t understand our guys mind set. Give me the puck within 8 feet of the goal, alone, and I’m shooting it 100% if the time. Yet our guys wanna squeeze an ill advised pass through traffic instead??? I don’t get it. Is it a system thing or a confide thing? Ive seen them do this before.
This team has been F-R-A-G-I-L-E the last several years. Time for a change Ronnie!
This team needs to enter the “we have nothing to lose” mind set and try different things.
That is the key to making the rest of the season matter, if not for now then for the future.
Do I want to be wrong about this season being over, gosh yeah, I’d love it, I’ll buy all of y’all a beer at a tailgate in April if we’re in the playoff hunt, you can hold me to it.
But in order to improve the team has to do something different, be it a trade, bringing up top checkers, firing the coach or something.
And, again, what are your thoughts on the 4th line? Maybe Matt, you can do a little dissecting of 4th line scoring for, say, some of the top teams in the east and west and see how much a good 4th line can reasonably be expected to chip in.
I understand the goalie situation
is tricky, it’s hard to bring in a new goalie unless the team has injuries, but it should be easy to inject life into the 4th line with a call-up or two.
I have stated over and over this season that I don’t see how the coach or anyone can justify playing Kruger, Nordstrom, or DiGuiseppe on a continuing basis. What have these players done to justify their ice time? 3 goals and what else? Yet the coach not only continues to play them, he gives them offensive zone starts, plays them in third period when we are behind, etc.
The coach is an egotist. He thinks his maneuvering of players is going to win the games. I’ve got news for him and any other members of management. You are doomed to failure if you 1) can’t improve your judgement of which players to keep and play and which to discard for lack of production 2) you continue to play a system that requires maximum effort every game to GIVE US A CHANCE TO WIN (not win…just a CHANCE). A system that maybe works if you have a Lundqvist or Bobrovsky in goal, but will not work if you don’t have an elite goalie. 3) Your bag of tools consists of benching either Jooris or DiGuiseppe, Fleury or Dahlback and in game of switching linemates endlessly upsetting any flow or continuity. We are four years in and the coach hasn’t established one line other than the fourth which is totally unproductive.
I tacked this on to breezy’s comments because I think he is dead on in his assessments. Sorry for the rant, but IMO nothing is going to change without a change in the head coach and Ron Francis stop being so “overly protective” of our prospects” to the point of not giving them the opportunity to come in and possibly contribute (much like the young Pittsburgh players that beat us last night). We have a team that has shown it can’t score enough goals to win. Do we have any goal scorers in Charlotte that might help solve this problem? RF’s answer is wait until next year in training camp and we will see. Meanwhile our competitors are infusing more young talent into their lineups (see Pittsburgh, Boston, Columbus, Tampa Bay, etc.) at a faster rate than we are. Nough said.
Fragile is a good description of the mojo of this team as currently configured. Very few of the players have experienced much team success in the NHL. Rask, Faulk, Skinner, Lindholm, Hanifin, Pesce, Slavin, the list is endless. I don’t believe they don’t care if they lose, they’re competitors and wouldn’t have gotten to where they are now without that drive and will to win. However, constant losing can dim that drive to a point where it’s not acceptable, but….well kinda normal. Why is it that Williams is so important from a leadership standpoint? He only knows winning. This malaise has to be driving him insane. How about some anger after a loss? Some locker room discord would actually be good in this situation. I can’t remember the last time I saw a Canes player either on the ice or in the locker room pissed off and exhibit some emotion. It is not too late to start a streak and get back into the playoff hunt but it is time for some changes. I’d sit Skinner for one. If you don’t play the full rink, then you need to watch a game or two and figure out how to play a team game. Pull a couple of players from Charlotte and hope the added emotion (and hopefully skill) can provide a spark. Add some veterans who know how, and expect, to win and get in their team mates faces if they’re not pulling their weight. I lobbied for a sandpaper type of player last off-season. The Canes do not have a single player on the roster that other teams hate to play against. Someone who can drive the intensity level up when their play is tepid. There should be someone of that ilk that is available at or before the trade deadline from teams that have other immediate needs. Maybe a Maroon-type player who brings a lot to the table. A veteran player with size, grit and ability to actually finish and get you 15 – 20 goals if paired with the right line mates. I’m patient, but this story is getting awfully old and if I thought the issues were just growing pains, that would be different. There are those struggles for sure for the young players, but there is a structural roster problem that also needs to be addressed if the results are expected to change.
Very good writeup.
Fragile indeed. A continued, cultural issue.
I remember thinking how funny it was pre-season to be excited about the prospect of average goaltending. “Oh my! We can have average goaltending this year!” While an aspiration to be average is silly on the face of it, saving a goal every other game is quite significant.
Perhaps even more bizarre is having an aspiration to be average get crushed. Ward was same old last night, giving up a pair of goals in rapid succession. Sigh.
The key question is, is this a surgical issue that just requires repair at goalie or is the issue more sweeping? Since we didn’t get our average goaltending, I am still not sure. The fragile skaters may become less fragile with marginal competence behind them. Is the lack of scoring a symptom or a root cause?
for years Ward has had a problem glove high on bad angle shots. (right circle) How has this not been corrected. It his only real weakness.
We need a goalie to make jump to playoff team. Get it done RF.