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Which way is up from here? |
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The short week 1 of the NHL season found the Canes getting exactly 0 points in the standings. The 2 tries were against top-tier Eastern Conference teams, and I actually thought the Friday loss to Philadelphia was a decent game minus inability to finish scoring chances. So the sky is not falling.
But 1 of the keys to success over a long 82-game NHL season is the ability to keep losing streaks short. Once you start losing 4-5 in a row too often early, it takes a toll in 2 ways. First, in a parity-filled NHL with some pretty good teams in the Eastern Conference, it is difficult to make up a big 0 for 10 in terms of points in the standings. Also, longer losing streaks take their toll energy-wise trying to fight through difficult times and turn the ship the right way.
So week 2 finds the Canes with 3 division games on the schedule and none of them against the Caps who are the only proven elite team in the division in my opinion. These are winnable games against teams that at least right now are fighting for the same playoff ice that the Canes covet. The team is now minus Erik Cole but gets Joni Pitkanen back.
So how does this team get better? I say it is 3 things:
1) Jump to the puck. Especially in the Boston game, the Canes just looked very slow to any and all lose pucks, rebounds, pucks to be had on the boards and any other puck temporarily in no one's possession and there to be had.
This is the fight, fire and urgency thing that Coach Maurice has alluded to.
2) Better defensive zone coverage and more so awareness. Against Boston and to some degree Philadelphia, the Canes had far too many of those plays where players' feet were generally where they were supposed to be (covering the front of the net, skating with an opponent coming in, etc.), but they seemed to very often just lack awareness of what they should be defending as pucks whizzed past, around and through the Canes defensive zone.
This problem haunted the Canes too often through about 2/3 of last season before the team tightened things up and started giving Cam Ward a chance.
3) Joni Pitkanen. If he is 100% and can find the brand of hockey he was playing late last year, he makes the team better across at least 3 players on the blue line. Aaron Ward should get much better with primary responsibility to take care of details in his own end (his strength) while mostly handling off the responsibility of moving the puck up the ice once we get it (Pitkanen's strength). Pitkanen is better than whoever was filling in in his 2nd pairing spot, so that is 2 players better. Then I think the Canes get better at #6 with Harrison probably shifting out of the lineup and 2 veterans in that slot. You could even make an argument that Gleason/Corvo get a little better because maybe they get to more share the difficult matchup minutes.
Here are a couple quick observations through 2 games. Tell me if you see the same and/or something else.
1) Ward. He has been very steady despite not playing with a lead and being under fire at times.
2) Gleason. He has looked much more offensive early this season looking to shoot the puck more and being a little better with his passes. His strength will likely always be his strength/physical play and work in his own end, but if he can take a small step up offensively it just makes him even better.
3) Larose. He has been his usual self hounding the puck and forechecking, but thus far he has been relatively quiet offensively.
Must win is a great exaggeration for game 3 of the season, but I do think tonight is an important one. The Canes get a shot at home against a team that should be lesser than Philadelphia or Boston. Best to immediately end the first losing streak and get a positive vibe going to avoid too much duress this early in the season.
Go Canes!
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