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Evaluating Nordstrom's Game and Banged Up Canes Head to Brooklyn |
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The Canes have gotten a bit banged up as of late. In around a week, the Canes have lost Di Giuseppe, McGinn and newcomer Zykov. Zykov is the most recent injury and is being evaluated today. All three of them appear to be out for a decent amount of time and Coach Peters doesn’t see them close to returning.
Given the recent injuries, the Canes have called up another Charlotte Checker and Lucas Wallmark is set to make his NHL debut tonight. He is set to center the fourth line with Nordstrom and Stempniak as the Canes take on the Islanders in Brooklyn. He is the third Checker to get called up since the trade deadline now.
I think the biggest question for tonight is how much of a liability will the bottom two lines be. The third line is set to be McClement-Ryan-Brown. Neither the third or fourth line really provide much optimism for offensive contributions.
While neither of them provide much offensive benefit, I don’t think they will be too much of defensive liabilities either. The third line should be a strong checking line, however, is honestly best suited with fourth line minutes. If both the third and fourth line get fourth line minutes, it will be interesting to see how the top two lines perform with added ice time.
One player that has really lost his offensive production is Nordstrom. I thought he provided a strong third or fourth line option through most of the first half of the season. In his first 31 games, he had three goals and four assists—he also provided some good physicality and PK minutes. However, in the last 34 games, he has only registered one assist.
It is disappointing for a few reasons—in his first 156 NHL games, he tallied 37 points (14g, 23a). At that time, he was getting a point almost every fourth game. Despite the offensive set-back, there is a strong argument that previously being on a line with Stalberg and McClement is more the reason to explain his offensive decline.
Nordstrom still provides great physicality and leads the team in hits with 70 since December 18th. The only two people who provided more hits per game were Stalberg and McGinn—both aren't on the Canes as Stalberg was traded and McGinn is hurt. It will be important that moving forward Nordstrom continues to find his physical game.
Another area that he is playing well in is the PK. He is second on the team for forwards since December 18th for PK minutes and only trails McClement. As long as he continues to not be a liability defensively, I think he still is a valuable role player.
Looking at the keys for tonight, I think the Canes need to have a strong effort from the third and fourth line. I think the top two lines will provide good offensive opportunities, so the burden really falls on the the bottom two.
As I’m watching the game, my focus is on guys like McClement, Ryan, Stempniak and Nordstrom to ensure that their lines are defensively sound with the call-ups of Brown and Wallmark. Brown especially has been a liability, as he is a minus 5 in his six games.
The Canes have also been playing undisciplined and need to clean up the penalties. It has resulted in a four PPGA in the past three games. Since the trade deadline on March 1st, the Canes have the third worst PK at 68.4%. The loses of Hainsey and Stalberg have definitely hurt the PK, however, the Canes need guys to step up.
I imagine tonight will be another offensive showdown—the big question is with a banged up roster, can the Canes keep up? The Canes won the first two games and both teams combined for 20 goals.
Puck drop is at 7:30 (EST) and is on NBCS.
Anticipated Lines:
Aho-Staal-Tervainen
Skinner-Rask-Lindholm
McClement-Ryan-Brown
Nordstrom-Wallmark-Stempniak
Slavin-Faulk
Hanifin-Pesce
Dahlbeck-Tennyson
Ward
Carolina Hurricanes Blogger • 
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