|
One Man Show as Gaudreau Torches Canes |
|
|
|
|
|
The Canes lost 3-1 yesterday to the Flames in another strong overall effort. The true difference maker last night was just a little bit of "puck luck," as two of the Flames goals came off of fortunate bounces. Other than the bounces, the main story-line was Gaudreau putting on a show with three points (2g, 1a). Overall, most of the game was played relatively evenly between the teams despite the Canes 35-24 shot advantage.
While the Canes played a decent game, there continue to be some consistent concerns. The first surrounds the faster pace and turnovers. Since February 17th, the Canes have the most giveaways in the NHL with 63. The Canes had a total of 10 giveaways to the Flames zero. In addition, the Flames had 24 takeaways throughout the game.
The Canes have been trying to transition the puck faster and I think the result is a less controlled game. In addition, the Canes are typically giving up at least one goal recently due to a turnover/transition play. The second goal came directly after a poor turnover from Stempniak on an entry to the offensive zone.
Looking at who struggled with turnovers the most, Hanifin really stood out. He had a total of 3 giveaways and was also on the ice for all 3 of the Flames goals. While he did have an assist on the Canes lone goal, he continues to struggle with boxing guys out from the front of the net.
Defensively, he continues to struggle with situational awareness and positioning. On the Flames second goal, he let a Flames forward establish the net front positioning in front of Lack. He also was walked by Gaudreau on the pivotal third goal—Gaudreau caught Hanifin over-committing to covering him down the boards and cut across center to fire a puck off of Pesce and in.
Di Giuseppe has provided some good offense since being recalled, however, he continues to be a liability defensively still. I think a large portion surrounding his assignment to the AHL was because of his defensive lapses. I think the Canes really need to watch putting him and Hanifin out at the same time.
I was a bit surprised at the distribution of TOI for the forwards. While Di Giuseppe did have 3 assists in two games coming into yesterday, I think Coach Peters over-played him. He was second for forwards TOI with 18:33. I just don’t think that it makes sense that PDG is playing more than Skinner, Aho, Rask, Lindholm or Tuevo.
At some point, I think Coach Peters needs to form his two most offensively skilled lines and two defensively focused lines. Another issue is that the Canes continued to shift line combinations throughout the game and it seems like it hurts the chemistry and also helps compounds the turnover issue.
It was great to see Rask get a PPG too—he broke a long goalless streak. He now has a goal and an assist in the past two games, after enduring a tough 14-game drought. He had some great shots and Elliot had 2-3 really strong shoulder saves on him. I thought him and Aho created the most promising offensive opportunities.
Finally, the Canes continue to go into another tough shooting drought. This isn’t the first time this season that the Canes have hit times where the “puck luck” just isn’t there. Going back to February 17th, the Canes are only shooting 3.4% which is the worst in the NHL. The second worst team is shooting at 6% and is Montreal.
The good news is that much of what is costing the Canes games are fixable problems. The Canes need to keep focusing on continuing to instill good habits. While the goal-scoring and poor bounces are frustrating, they need to manage the “highs and lows” and focus on the habits that result in success.
Over the past month, I think the Canes young team got a bit focused on “results” and the
pressure to perform kicked in. As the pressure to perform for a playoff push starts to decrease now, hopefully the Canes can focus on having fun again and winning a bit more consistently.
Carolina Hurricanes Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»