Gold: Canes ready to play hockey again!

By Adam Gold radio host 99.9 the Fan

The stopping has to stop.

When the Carolina Hurricanes meet the Columbus Blue Jackets at PNC Arena tonight it will be just the fifth game Carolina has played in the last 26 days. For a sport that thrives on rhythm and routine, the Canes have little of either since the December onslaught of Covid shut down a third of the sport.

In spite of the Canes’ own virus issues, only one of the seven games that were postponed were because of Carolina’s roster issues. Only the game at Minnesota was called off because of the Hurricanes. We still don’t know why Tuesday’s game in Philadelphia was left on the cutting room floor. The Flyers had just 4 players in protocols on Monday and placed no one else on the list the following day.

Yet somehow, with still no explanation beyond a generic “we’re following the rules” statement from the league, the game was plucked off the schedule. Here’s another head-scratcher, the Flyers practiced on Tuesday with the full complement of skaters. I recall the Hurricanes playing a game with 6 NHL regulars out of the line up and only 16 skaters due to salary cap issues.

Whatevs.

The last time the Hurricanes and Blue Jackets met was New Year’s Day when Carolina bowled over Columbus, 7-4. You remember that one, right? The game when the Canes spotted the Jackets the 4-0 lead but scored 7 straight to cruise home with the win. Brady Skjei and Steven Lorentz each scored twice. Nino Niederreiter and Ethan Bear provided the tying and go ahead goals less than a minute apart in the 3rd period. And, Freddie Andersen came on in relief of Antti Raanta to stop 8 of 9 shots over the last 40 minutes.

It was a weird game.

Speaking of weird, this stretch of inaction has absolutely taken a toll on Carolina’s play. After they beat the L.A. Kings on December 18, their next four games – three prior to the scheduled Christmas break and the first one after – were Covid casualties. Then, after beating the Canadiens and Blue Jackets in a 3-day span, they gathered dust for another five days because their game at Toronto was postponed.

It shouldn’t be a surprise that Carolina’s game has not been anything close to sharp and it finally caught up with them against the Florida Panthers on Saturday. Florida torched the Canes in transition – similar to what Columbus did in building that 4-goal lead on January 1st – and capitalized on a bad turnover to take an overtime decision in Raleigh.

Hopefully the Hurricanes will have fewer of those issues tonight, though I’m sure the head coach expects some hiccups coming off a 4-day layoff.

Carolina will be without Jaccob Slavin tonight. He was placed in the league’s Health and Safety protocols Tuesday morning. To get him back to Raleigh, the team rented Slavin a car in Philadelphia and he drove home (may I suggest the Canes Corner Podcast for the trip, Jaccob?). Slavin will definitely miss tonight and Saturday’s home game with Vancouver. The team is hoping that he’ll be able to return for Tuesday’s game at Boston.

Frederik Andersen is slated to start after backing up Alex Lyon against Florida on Saturday. Jack LaFontaine, the goaltending prospect the Hurricanes pried away from the University of Minnesota this week, was initially placed on the taxi squad. But today, Carolina sent Alex Lyon back to Chicago of the AHL and activated LaFontaine and he will serve as the Canes’ back up to Freddie Andersen tonight.

Lafontaine won the Mike Richter award as the NCAA’s top goalie a year ago, but Carolina convinced him to turn pro in the middle of this season. The Canes have been ravaged by goalie injuries throughout the organization, including at the NHL level where Raanta is bothered by an upper body issue.

In spite of the stops and starts and stops….and stops, the Hurricanes still sport the best record in the NHL based on points percentage (.758). The Canes are one of just four teams in the league with higher than a 70% rate in that category. Only Florida, Colorado and Toronto have been as consistently good.

In terms of points earned, Carolina is tied with the Rangers atop the Metropolitan Division with 50 – though the Canes have played 4 fewer games – and tied for 3rd overall behind the Panthers and Lightning who each have 53.

But, in spite of the gaudy 24-7-2 record it’s pretty clear that Carolina has not played their best hockey over the last month. Sure, there have been some very good games, but their overall play has been spotty and in order to be the best version of themselves they’re going to need more from the likes of Jordan Staal, Vincent Trocheck and Martin Necas.

Not that the three haven’t been contributors to several wins over the last few weeks, but to be the “last team standing”, as Rod Brind’Amour likes to say, those three have to provide and produce more than they are currently. Staal has a 2-game point streak, but hasn’t scored a goal since October (24 games). Trocheck has just 1 goal in his last 9 games. And, we’re still waiting for the next step in the development of Necas.

Last year, Necas appeared to have shown what the future holds with an explosive March (7 goals, 10 assists in 13 games). But, it was his sustained strong play from March 1st through the end of the season that really told the story. Throwing out the final two games where Carolina went through the motions in Nashville, Necas had 12 goals, 18 assists and was a +21 in his final 34 games! That’s an extended period of excellence that Necas has yet to find this year.

Necas started the season with a 7-game goal drought and he’s currently working on his second separate 6-game stretch without scoring. What’s worse is that he’s been unsteady with the puck for much of the year as well. It got to the point where he played just 13 ½ minutes in the overtime loss to the Panthers, significant;y below his nearly 17 minute average TOI.

The Hurricanes can not be as good as they want to be without the 88 car at full throttle. It’s really that simple.

Here’s how they’ll line up for the Blue Jackets...

Jarvis-Aho-Teravainen

Svechnikov-Trocheck-Fast

Niederreiter-Staal-Necas

Lorentz-Kotkaniemi-Stepan

Cole-Pesce

Skjei-DeAngelo

Smith-Bear

Andersen

Reminder that tonight’s game is a Hulu exclusive, so there is only local coverage on 99.9 the Fan. Stormwatch with Dennis Cox starts at 6:30 pm. Then join Tripp Tracy and Shane Willis for the live play-by-play just after 7:00. Mike Maniscalco tested positive and was placed into the team’s protocol this week. We wish Mike a very speedy recovery. Don’t forget to follow the Canes Corner Podcast wherever you get your podcasts. A new episode drops the #MorningAfter every Hurricanes game.