Could bursting bubble change elimination dynamic, for Hurricanes and others?
Even before the Carolina Hurricanes’ Game 4 collapse, Rod Brind’Amour talked Monday about how difficult life in the NHL’s coronavirus bubble in Toronto has become after three weeks away from home and family. There’s already some evidence that dynamic is having an influence on the NHL playoffs.
Not only is there no boost from going home for a pivotal Game 5, 6 or 7 for teams facing elimination, there may be a certain motivational dead zone for any team that goes down 3-0 or 3-1. Without the energy of a playoff crowd, hostile or friendly, and with escape from the bubble looming, will teams be able to muster the commitment required to mount that kind of comeback?
“Everyone that’s here, they feel it,” Brind’Amour said. “It’s a long time to be away. We’ve been away now three weeks and we’ve played three playoff games. So it’s like, guys are feeling it.”
Going into Tuesday’s games, teams facing elimination in the Edmonton and Toronto bubbles -- not counting winner-take-all Game 5s in the qualifying round or Game 7s after that -- are 3-7 (.300).
If that doesn’t sound very good, it’s because it’s not, albeit in a small sample. Teams in the same situation in 2019 went 7-9 (.437). Since 2017, they’re 20-32 (.385) outside of the bubble. (Spare a thought for Paul Maurice’s Winnipeg Jets, 0-3 in early elimination games over the past three seasons.) In all best-of-seven series historically, they’re 406-555 (.422).
“That’s the biggest thing that’s not getting talked about enough,” Brind’Amour said. “It’s the thing that wasn’t talked about enough when the format came out. It sounded great four months ago, to get back to playing.”
That’s the situation the Hurricanes are in now, down 3-1 to the Boston Bruins, although the possibility of back-to-back games on Wednesday and Thursday certainly leaves open the possibility of a quick turnaround.
When facing elimination including Game 7s, the Hurricanes are 14-13 all-time, 9-5 in North Carolina. Outside of Game 7s, they’re 9-10.
“It’s definitely a different situation,” Brock McGinn said Tuesday. “At the end of it we have a chance to win a Stanley Cup and that needs to be our mentality.”
Staal clear?
One factor in the Hurricanes’ dismal third period Monday was the loss of captain Jordan Staal after a jarring, clean hit by Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy. Staal got up slowly and went straight to the dressing room and did not return, a turning point in the game. The Bruins scored almost immediately to make it 2-2 on their way to four straight goals and a 4-3 win.
But Staal practiced Tuesday, a good sign for a player who missed a large chunk of the 2018-19 season with a concussion that was slow to resolve, although Brind’Amour wouldn’t commit to Staal being available.
“We’re kind of looking at him now, reevaluating where he is, how he feels,” Brind’Amour said. “It’s a good sign he was able to practice.”
Andrei Svechnikov and Joel Edmundson, both “unfit to play,” did not practice but were the only absentees, Brind’Amour said.
Boston coach Bruce Cassidy said Bruins forward David Pastrnak could potentially return in Game 5 after nearly full participation in practice on Tuesday.
Honoring Hawerchuk
Dale Hawerchuk, one of the great goal-scorers of his generation and Svechnikov’s junior coach with the Barrie Colts of the Ontario Hockey League, died of cancer at 57 on Tuesday, his family announced. Late in Hawerchuk’s career, he played on a line with Brind’Amour with the Philadelphia Flyers. Brind’Amour said Hawerchuk volunteered to move to the wing so Brind’Amour, seven years his junior, could play center.
“You play with a lot of teammates and you very rarely remember how they played,” Brind’Amour said. “You remember what kind of people they were, and he was such a great person. I can’t even remember the games but I remember what a great guy he was.”
Tailwinds
The Hurricanes have been outshot in five straight games. That never happened in the regular season (the high was four games, Feb. 6-14). … The Svechnikov-Sebastian Aho-Teuvo Teravainen combo has combined for 23 points, with Aho continuing to lead the NHL with 11. He’s tied with Eric Staal (2006) for the most points through seven playoff games in franchise history. The other 18 Hurricanes skaters have combined for 28 points.
This story was originally published August 18, 2020 at 3:09 PM.
