Entering the final month of the regular season Carolina Hurricanes fans are suffering from a serious case of whiplash. Last week Caniacs were on top of the world after their team outscored their opponents 14 to 4 in their previous three games. The final of the three was a 6-0 shutout of the Tampa Bay Lightning. Excitement was in the air. Then Tuesday’s game against the Montreal Canadiens started.
Carolina would have to recover from a 2-0 deficit to force overtime. Jesperi Kotkaniemi would have a storybook ending finishing the Canadians off in the shootout as Habs fans filled the Bell Center with boos. The game was easy to write off. Fluke games happen. Yes, they started late but there was no need to panic.
Two days later the Canes were at home inside PNC Arena to take on the Philadelphia Flyers. A power-play goal from Andrei Svechnikov just 2:09 into the game would prove to be the game-winner. It would also be the only goal scored through sixty minutes. This was the moment some fans started to speculate that something was off. But any signs of momentum slipping away from the team were overshadowed by rookie goalie Poytor Kochetkov claiming his fourth shutout of the season.
This wouldn’t be the first stretch this season where the Hurricanes didn’t play to the standard they’ve set for themselves but still managed to get points in the standings. The team could recover against the Vegas Golden Knights Saturday night and it would be as if nothing had happened.
Vegas opened scoring 4:03 into the first period with a goal from Jonathan Marchessault. The 18,000 Hurricanes fans in attendance didn’t lose faith. Jonathan Quick was a recent acquisition for Vegas who’d been struggling this season leading to the trade. Surely Carolina would be able to level the game at one… They didn’t. Quick would continue his redemption story by getting his second shutout of the season and extending his winning streak with Vegas to three.
All eyes shifted to the next night. The Hurricanes traveled to Newark, New Jersey to take on their Metro Division foes. If Carolina lost they would hand over their lead in the Metro to the Devils. It would also be the “last straw” for fans who have been ready to write the team off since the trade deadline.
Two early goals from Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt set the tone. My heart can’t handle this one. So I’ll skip to the end. Carolina would lose 3-0. Getting shutout for the second game in a row. It’s happened before. But it would mark the first time in the team’s history that they were shutout twice in just two calendar days.
So what has happened? Why does Carolina feel like a completely different team than they did a week ago? The truth is nothing has changed. Nothing is different. There is no one thing to point out that can be fixed before mid-April.
Some of this comes down to luck. Carolina didn’t get any lucky bounces in their past two games. But you can still win a hockey game when the bounces don’t fall your way. Defensive misplays also played a large role in their last two losses. “We played hard all night. I thought we were in control of everything we were doing, Head Coach Rod Brind’Amour said after the loss to the Devils. “You can’t give a team like that two goals.”
Brind’Amour was asked if he was concerned about his team’s lack of scoring. He turned the question around on the reporter. “What did you see tonight?” The now veteran NHL head coach said with a smirk. When the reporter now in a lower voice responded with “chances” Brind’Amour agreed before answering the original question. “If you’re not getting those you’ve got an issue. We scored six and six and now we’ve gotten one in three games. It goes like that sometimes. Obviously now we’re in a little stretch where we haven’t been able to find the net.”
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