Observations from the Hurricanes’ 4-2 loss to the Red Wings
The Canes have played without Jordan Staal before and won without Jordan Staal before, but they needed him Saturday.
The Canes could have used Staal’s physical presence in the defensive zone and in front of the net against the Detroit Red Wings. They needed the big center on faceoffs -- the Canes were 29-33 on draws after a 34-23 edge in the opener. They needed No. 11, their captain, in what became a 4-2 loss.
But now there’s the big uncertainty. Only the Canes and the NHL know the reason for Staal being placed on the league’s COVID-19 protocol list. Only the Canes know how many days they might be without him.
“That’s what it looks like when he’s out of our lineup and we’ve got to figure it out,” Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said on the post-game media call. “It’s a huge loss and we need guys to step up when someone like that is out and we have in the past.”
Big third for Svech
Canes forward Andrei Svechnikov is the kind of player who can all but sleep-walk through two periods and then awaken and nearly win a game himself.
Svechnikov was a non-factor the first two periods Saturday and Brind’Amour moved him around on the lines. Then, in the third, the power forward had a goal and assist and was the most forceful player on the ice.
“We were trying to find some kind of traction and he took it on himself to get it going,” Brind’Amour said. “He knew he wasn’t playing great and he led the way in the third.”
Svechnikov, to his credit, said he was disappointed in himself. He wasn’t ready, he said, from the drop of the puck.
“It’s all about the mindset, right?” Svechnikov said. “I’ve got to play better from the start of the game. We’ve got to ready from the first minute. We had a meeting after the game and Roddy said it’s all about compete and he’s right.”
Don’t blame Mrazek
Petr Mrazek played winning hockey in both of the first two games. That he won just once is more on the guys in front of him than on the goalie.
“I don’t think we gave up that many breakaways all (of last) year,” Brind’Amour said after the loss. “We gave ‘em up in one game -- power play, everything, I didn’t know what I was watching at times.”
Mrazek made a nice glove save on a Vladislav Namestnikov shorthanded breakaway in the first period. He also fought his way through a late penalty kill in the third with the score tied 2-2, although Robby Fabbri scored off a Filip Zadina pass with a quick shot in tight seconds after the power play ended.
Too much down time?
The Canes called off a Friday practice in Detroit and Brind’Amour generally conceded Saturday that might have been a mistake, saying his players “sat around” too much.
“We needed to do something,” he said. “Sitting in a hotel and not getting around, I don’t want to say that’s why we started slow but I feel like I need to do a better job of figuring that out.”
The Canes will not practice Sunday in Nashville, which is understandable. The Canes face the Predators in a back-to-back set starting Monday -- a lot of hockey early in the season. But it also means more sitting-around time in the hotel.
Coming up short
Hockey games, like most games, often are decided by a few plays. Or as Brind’Amour likes to say, inches.
With less than four minutes left in regulation, the score was tied 2-2 and the Wings on the power play. When the Wings turned the puck over on a zone entry, the Canes’ Sebastian Aho soon had it shorthanded and drove to the net. Goalie Jonathan Bernier made the stop although he was unsure at first if the puck had trickled through him. So was Aho.
A shorty by Aho, who had four shorthanded goals last season, might have been a back-breaker and game-decider. Instead, a minute later, Robby Fabbri scored for the Wings just after the power play ended for a 3-2 lead.
But there was another, more basic reason for the loss. As Canes center Vincent Trocheck succinctly put it. “They outworked us and wanted it more. The end result showed that.”
This story was originally published January 17, 2021 at 8:30 AM with the headline "Observations from the Hurricanes’ 4-2 loss to the Red Wings."
