Five points for the Hurricanes going into Game 3
1. VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY “We have to rediscover our game,” Hurricanes captain Justin Williams said after Game 2, and that’s exactly it: The Hurricanes have lost what got them here in the first place, the quick-transition, hard-forechecking attack that has made them a difficult out even in the games they have lost. Some of that is because of the Bruins; some of it is self-inflicted. They’re running out of time to recapture that identity.
2. HOME ICE AND HOME COOKING It’s not a coincidence the Hurricanes are 5-0 at home in these playoffs; the energy of the crowd has fed their high-octane offense. The Bruins got a boost from their crowd, and it didn’t help the Hurricanes that the (generally and not atypically poor) officiating tended to favor the home team, not at all unexpectedly. A little of both would help the Hurricanes get back into the series. Not that they have done anything with their power plays nor been able to stop the Bruins from scoring on theirs, but still.
3. START FROM THE BACK Almost all of the Hurricanes’ five-on-five issues in this series – the less said about their radioactive special teams the better at this point – stem from their inability to move the puck quickly and efficiently out of their own zone, a stunning collapse given the talent on the blue line. If the Hurricanes can start making a quick transition to offense again, they can get to their game and get going and turn this series around.
4. YOUR BEST PLAYERS HAVE TO BE YOUR BEST PLAYERS This again? This again. Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen were split up in practice Monday but Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said not to read too much into that. Either way, Aho and Teravainen have been utterly stymied by the defensive pairing of Brandon Carlo and Torey Krug. Having last change at home will help with some of that, but the Hurricanes – again – need more from their best players, and that extends to Jordan Staal and Justin Williams and Nino Niederreiter as well.
5. REACH WITHIN Leave it to the youngest player on the team to diagnose the real issue. Whether because of the layoff between series or the accumulated mental fatigue of the four-month grind to make the playoffs, the Hurricanes haven’t been able to maintain the same edge. Andrei Svechnikov had the best explanation: he tapped his heart and said, “Everything is right here you need.”
This story was originally published May 13, 2019 at 4:43 PM with the headline "Five points for the Hurricanes going into Game 3."
