In the midst of the beginning of basketball madness just starting in March, we get a Canes game aimed at taking another small step toward the still improbable chance of hockey craziness in April. Right in the middle of the semifinals of the ACC tourney that now looks to feature a big NC State vs. Duke matchup (pending a Clemson upset as I watch and write this) that has NC State possibly playing for an NCAA tourney berth that seemed out of reach only a few days ago. Sounds kind of like our hockey team.
With 2 good home wins to start the week, the Canes have worked their way up to the big challenge – the Boston Bruins on the road. The Bruins come in having won 7 straight and are in the process of staking a claim to being a favorite to repeat their 2013 run through the Eastern Conference playoffs and again represent the East in the Stanley Cup Finals.
Having given away too many “should win” points earlier in the season and facing a sizable 7-point deficit to climb into a playoff spot, this game clearly sets up a as “point reclamation game” to make up for a bad loss earlier. When you look at the Canes schedule that sees remaining road games against Pittsburgh and Chicago too, you can see that it is not going to be enough to just win the winnable games. The team needs to somehow find some points in the tough ones. The 1st chance is Saturday at 1pm in Boston.
The biggest challenge in trying to shut down the Bruins is that there really is nothing to shut down. They are just a pretty darn good hockey team top to bottom. They are strong on defense both on the blue line but maybe even more so at forward. They get good goaltending. While lacking Richard trophy types, the team is deep on offense with 9 players (including defensemen Krug and Chara) with 12 or more goals. They are near the top of the league in terms of scoring but also defense, and of course both special teams units are good as well. There just is not a specific target to lock onto to beat the Bruins. Instead, you have to play a really good game across 3 defense pairings, 4 forward lines and your goalie and be very close to mistake-free under pressure. To put it in Carolina Hurricanes’ terms, think the win versus St. Louis.
The Canes do come in playing good hockey and riding momentum with a couple earned wins. To beat Boston, it takes efforts pretty similar to the 2 previous games this week with the ability to do it under more pressure, maybe get some additional clutch scoring and catch a break or 2 along the way. There is a decent chance that the game will see Justin Faulk rejoin the effort.
Keys to the game from the Canes side:
1) Bigger challenge but same game. The Canes need to bring the same brand of hockey that they have been playing this week and not overthink the opponent. Tlusty/JStaal/Semin has been incredibly good of late. Can they offer similar against a healthy helping of Chara, Bergeron, Rask, etc.? Or is this the game that EStaal and/or Skinner go off with Chara chasing Jordan’s line all night?
2) Attack. On the same note, the Canes do need to take care of the puck and play smart, but if they show up timid and cautious in a slow way, they will find themselves hemmed in their own end playing survival mode hockey for most of the game. The end result is a lopsided game in terms of possession time and chances and likely a loss. The Canes need to skate, move the puck and attack with the aim of winning not just hanging in or surviving.
3) Line by line. As noted above, Boston is deep and good defensively across its lines. The Canes need to be able to match them line by line, get strong outings across the entire roster.
With the 1pm matinee puck drop and the basketball conflict, use your DVR if you must!
Twitter=@CarolinaMatt63
Go Canes!
Matt on Google+ 
Carolina Hurricanes Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»