The scoreboard doesn’t tell the full story in last night’s 3-0 loss to the Kings. Many who didn’t watch the game would think that it didn’t appear to be much of a battle. However, the Canes actually played a very competitive game but had a complete meltdown in the final five minutes. The main concern was that some of the season long problems came to the fore-front again. The good news is that the Canes now have the All-Star break to hit the reset button and focus on moving forward.
During the past five game losing streak, the Canes have been outscored 23-5 and haven’t played very competitively. Honestly, last night was one of the better performances that the Canes have given in the month of January. It was encouraging to see how strong the Canes started the first period, especially after struggling to shut teams down in the first few minutes of the game.
The main issue offensively last night is that the Canes just had zero “puck… luck. Aho had three chances that all easily could have found the back of the net. A few other Canes missed empty nets and had a few pucks skipped over their sticks in prime scoring locations. The current lack of scoring is not a result of lack of chances, it is more an issuing with finishing and “bad… bounces.
While the Canes were able to start strong and create prime scoring chances, the issue with allowing goals in the final minutes returned. This season, the Canes have struggled with early and late goals; the result has been losing many winnable games. Last night was no different as a mental error and defensive breakdown cost the Canes the game.
Looking at the first goal scored by the Kings with 4:43 remaining reminded me of the Tennyson play against Pittsburgh in which Tennyson decided to make a poor pinch in the final minutes that led to the GWG on a 2-1 rush. The mental errors on making aggressive plays as opposed to playing smart and conservative has been a season long issue.
Hainsey made a poor decision to pinch on a transition play by the Kings—to compound the problem, the two back-checking forwards were headed off for a change. The result was a quick pass from Kopitar to Doughty resulting in a 2-1 rush. McGinn was caught flat-footed and Gaborik blew past him leaving Faulk to defend the rush.
Following the goal, the Canes had a complete meltdown. I was actually surprised at how poorly the Canes responded to the Kings goal. This season, one of the Canes bright sports has been how well/quickly they tend to respond to opponents goal. The effort from the players on the ice immediately following the goal was very disappointing.
The second goal squarely falls on a poor effort by Hanifin to box out an incoming forward. Hanifin had the positioning and let Lewis go untouched from the top of the circles and to the crease to bang home a rebound. In less than a minute, the game went from tied 0-0, to the Canes down 2-0. Most likely, this will be one of the most painful losses of the season.
Looking at the standings, the Canes are now seven points out of the final wildcard position. When the Canes return from the All-Star break, they will see the Flyers who hold the final spot. This game will be one of the most important ones determining if the Canes are buyers/sellers at the deadline. Hopefully, after some rest the Canes hit the reset button and get back to playing smart, competitive hockey.
Over the next month or so, I am going to try to write a few pieces looking at how some Canes prospects have done this season. Best of luck this weekend to Faulk as he represents the Canes at the All-Star Game.