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Controversial Finish Doesn't Deter Hurricanes From Winning Thrilling Opener |
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The Hurricanes won in a shootout in exciting fashion in their season opener against the Wild. The sellout crowd in Raleigh was treated to a fast-paced affair and some late-game theatrics by the Wild to tie it at four as time expired. Before we get into discussing the game, I want to address the final goal and my real objection to it.
Now, the play was reviewed for goaltender interference, but honestly, it never should have gotten that far. Eric Staal blatantly targets Kruger and tries to cross-check him multiple times through the head before tackling him and shoving his head into the ice.
The ref is obviously distracted watching the scramble in front, but there is zero excuse for this play not to be blown dead. I understand battling for positioning and the play that comes with it, however, this doesn’t fall within the scope of a “hockey play.” Not only is the play a combination of interference, cross-checking, and roughing, the targets to Kruger’s head could warrant a review by the player safety department.
I also strongly believe that Kruger would have gotten the loose puck if it weren’t for Staal. If the NHL wants us to tolerate these weak slashing calls that now allow guys to cut the bottom of circles like it’s men's league with little to no D, then they better start calling plays that are a risk – head shots. I’ll let you tell me which one is more prominent the last thirty years – concussions or broken hands.
Now that we’ve talked about the final goal, let’s discuss the game. Overall, the Hurricanes looked strong and did a strong job of controlling most of the pace. The shots were 42-27, however, it still felt that Minnesota created more “high-scoring” chances.
Not to take away from how well the Hurricanes played, it is worth noting that the Wild were without Parise and Granlund, and Dubnyk didn’t start. While this is still a very good Wild team, by no means was that their “best” team last night.
At times, last night felt very similar to what we witnessed a lot last year. The Hurricanes would dominate but then make a “mental error” that would lead to a breakaway/odd-man rush. The three biggest areas of concern were transitional plays and the angles taken, gap control, and poor rotational play in the D zone as pucks circulated off the boards and around the point.
Two of the Wild’s goals came off breakaways, and another was a wide open backdoor tip-in off a play that started on the boards and worked around the point. This doesn’t include the plays that didn’t find twine that Darling stood tall on. I can think of at least 2-3 board sequences where Darling made huge saves on slot shots because of poor rotational marking and anticipation. The good news is that these mistakes are relatively easier to fix than a lack of skill/depth issue.
The D occasionally struggled with transition plays and gap control—IE Staal’s and Stewart’s breakaway goals. This was most notable with the Pesce-Hanifin combination, and they didn’t appear to mesh great. Coach Peters split the pair up after the first period. The top-four pairings were shuffled around a few times throughout the game.
The biggest concern came on a play where TVR appeared to hurt his leg/foot when he went feet first into the boards half-way through the third. It has not been reported yet if the injury is substantial and if he will miss any playing time.
If TVR is down for a bit, I would imagine the Hurricanes would call up McKeown to fill the RHD spot on the 3rd pair. While Dahlbeck was scratched last night, he is traditionally playing LHD. It could be a good opportunity to get McKeown some NHL experience for a few games potentially. He is waiver exempt, so there is no risk to bringing him up.
Regarding goaltending last night, Darling did exactly what he needed to do too. His rebound control was excellent, and he ate up some high scoring chances at critical times. The biggest thing was that when the Hurricanes gave up a great scoring chance, most of the time he came up huge. I don’t think anyone was looking at Darling on any of the four goals the Wild scored.
One of the most memorable saves was late in the second period on Suter who was wide open in the slot on a pass-out play from the goal-line. My favorite part of it was how quickly Darling established his positioning two feet outside the crease. It showed great speed and footwork given the lack of time he had and who the shooter was.
Overall, Darling provided the Hurricanes with the saves when they needed them. Traditionally, it felt that the Hurricanes would get some of those saves, however, the few that got away would always cost the team in the long run. It is only the first game but last night was one that I think last year would have gotten away from the Hurricanes.
There was one play I liked a lot by Nordstrom in the third period. Darling made a save on his glove side and left a juicy rebound on the blocker side for an open Wild player (almost his only bad rebound all game). Nordstrom quickly picked the player up and broke up what would’ve been a tap-in goal. Looking back at last year, there were a decent amount of similar plays where the opposing player wasn’t picked up, and the result was a goal.
Looking at the offensive play and lines, Coach Peters made a few adjustments throughout the game. The most notable was with switching Williams and Kuokkanen to start the second period. This made the lines change to Skinner-Ryan-Williams and TT-Rask-Kuokkanen. The changes appeared to work well as the Hurricanes controlled the second and outshot the Wild 17-7.
I was a bit surprised to see the change because I thought the Skinner-Ryan-Kuokkanen line created a few nice chances in the first period. Kuokkanen looked strong and created two good chances – one off a nice play around the net and pass to the point for a backdoor deflection by Skinner and another on a tip and rebound opportunity.
To me, it appeared the change was more to get TT and Rask going, as their line didn’t have the much impact in the first period. It did appear that the changes at RW made both lines perform better throughout the game.
The player that had the best overall game though was Aho. He took over the third period and was the difference maker. Lindholm also could be nominated from his third period effort, but I think Aho was more of a consistent threat.
Aho had two assists, and both came off of impressive moves with the puck and passes locating an open teammate. His first assist for a Hanifin finish was a great play down low, however, his second assist was truly special. Not only was his move across the circles stellar, but the pass was also right in Rask’s wheelhouse.
Also, he also almost scored a goal on a wrap-around opportunity that Stalock made a dazzling full extension pad save on. He was all over the ice, and when he had a shift, it was rare you didn’t hear his name. I’d be surprised if Aho doesn’t have at least 60 points this season.
Finally, I liked the choice by Coach Peters to have Slavin in the shootout. Stalock was in the AHL most of the last year, so it is reasonable to believe he wouldn’t be too familiar with Slavin. His entire career has been on Western Conference teams too. Those who don’t know, Slavin has a dirty forehand-backhand move that works quite often, and it didn’t fail him last night to seal the win.
The Hurricanes will get their first Metro division test on Tuesday when Columbus comes to town. It’ll be the last home game for two-weeks while the Hurricanes go on a four-game road-trip.
Carolina Hurricanes Blogger • 
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