The backsliding Carolina Hurricanes are in the midst of a five-game losing streak, dropping games to good teams (Colorado, Winnipeg and Boston) and not-so-good teams (Minnesota and Arizona) in that span. And the way they’re losing these five games is different – four of the five losses have come in overtime. That’s not something you see every day in the NHL. Much is expected of this Hurricanes squad, but after getting out to an 8-2-1 start to the regular season, they’ve gone 2-4-4 in their past 10 games.
You’d think, with the law of averages, Carolina would have won one or two of those overtime games, but each time, they’ve stumbled and dropped OT games to the Bruins, Avalanche, Wild and Jets. And the only loss in the five-game skid that wasn’t a one-goal game was a 4-0 loss to the lowly Coyotes. The ‘Canes have squandered the early cushion they had in the Metropolitan standings, and now sit tied for third, but technically, in the fourth spot in the division. And it’s not too difficult to see what’s ailing them.
Carolina still has a top-four group of defensemen that most NHL GMs would kill for, but their veteran goaltending tandem of Frederik Andersen and Antti Raanta has not been good – regular starter Andersen was 5-3-0 with an .891 save percentage before he was injured (again) in early November, and Raanta (.902 SP) hasn’t been much better. The Hurricanes’ best goalie this year has been third-stringer Pyotr Kochetkov (.913 SP), and he’s the one Carolina has gone with for five of their past six games. We’re happy for the 23-year-old Kochetkov, but when your team’s best goalie is your third-stringer, it definitely causes concern.
Meanwhile, the ‘Canes’ offense isn’t helping matters. In fact, the offense is sputtering significantly, with Carolina having the league’s fifth-worst offense at a measly 2.67 goals-for average per game. Contrast that with their high-octane offense of last season, when the Hurricanes had the eighth-best offense in the NHL at 3.38 goals-for.
Three of their top forwards – center Sebastien Aho, and wingers Martin Necas and Andrei Svechnikov – are producing at or above a point-per-game pace, but it’s slim pickings after that. No other player besides D-man Brent Burns is at the double-digit plateau in points. Forwards Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Jesper Fast and Jordan Staal all are producing at a pace worse than the ones they were on last year. It’s all strained and a general mess in the offensive zone much of the time for Carolina, and that has to change. It’s no wonder the Hurricanes have just two wins in their past eight games (2-4-2), and that Metro frontrunner New Jersey has nine more standings points than they do.
We likely will see improvement out of the Canes when Andersen returns, but he isn’t expected back soon. Carolina also could get a boost on offense when currently-injured top forward Max Pacioretty returns to the lineup to make his Hurricanes debut in January. But that’s a long time to wait for the help those two veterans can provide. And the schedule-maker hasn’t been kind to them, as, in the 15 games they’ll play between now and New Year’s Day, Carolina will have only three games against subpar teams (Anaheim, Philadelphia and Chicago). The remaining dozen all are teams the ‘Canes could lose to if they don’t balance out their attack.
In pre-season predictions, the Hurricanes were a popular pick to win the Stanley Cup this season. This writer was one of more than a few who did so. It’s not too late for them to rediscover their early-season groove and become a legitimate Cup threat, but the adversity they’re currently trying to get past could keep them in the lower half of the Metro post-season picture, and that could cost them valuable home-ice advantage when games matter most. We’ll soon see if they have the resilience and fortitude to push them back at or near the top of the Eastern Conference.
