‘We move on’: Canes search for consistency after losses in return from All-Star break

With 40 games scheduled in 80 days after the NHL All-Star break, the Carolina Hurricanes had to realize the ride will be anything but smooth. That will mean good games and bad, and within each game the possibility of good periods and bad, and those to erase from the memory.

The Canes had one of those games Tuesday at Ottawa — stumbling early, recovering and making a late push — though a bit too late in a 4-3 loss to the Senators at the Canadian Tire Centre.

First, the bad: The Senators scored twice in the first period and added two more early in the second for a 4-0 lead.

The good: The Canes were the better team in the second 30 minutes of the game, and used goals by Andrei Svechnikov, Brendan Smith and Vincent Trocheck in the third period to make for some tense final moments.

Jekyll? Or Hyde?

How to judge? The Canes (31-10-3) did not give up when they easily could have, down four goals. Yet, they came away with a regulation loss and no points one day after a 4-3 overtime loss in Toronto to start a four-game road trip.

“The third period was good but it’s tough,” Smith said. “If we want to be the best team in the world, you’ve got to play from when the puck drops. You’ve got to play the whole 60.”

Consistency of effort has been a strength this season, Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour has said, whether at home or away. The Canes, who would like to believe they can win the Stanley Cup this year, have prided themselves on trying to be an all-effort team for 60 minutes or longer, if need be.

By being one of the best teams in the league this season, the Canes also are getting the other team’s best shot nearly every night. So it was Tuesday, as the Senators (16-22-4) followed up a win over the New Jersey Devils on Monday with some spirited play in the first half of the game to build a nice lead.

“They were buzzing,” Smith said. “They did the right things and they were playing the right way. They were playing our game. They were playing a stress game and putting it on us.”

Tale of two nights

The Canes, in their first game after the break, played with speed and at a good pace Monday against the Maple Leafs. They spent too much time in their own zone in the first period Tuesday, then had the Sens score quickly in the second as Brady Tkachuk notched the second of the game and Chris Tierney picked off a weak Svechnikov pass and beat goalie Antti Raanta for the 4-0 lead.

“We know when we play our game we’re one of the best teams in the league,” Smith said. “When we start being cute or trying to make too many plays in the neutral zone and turning it over, teams will shove it down our throat. We have to be smart. I know it’s a cliche and everybody talks about playing 60, but that’s literally what you have to do to be the best team in the world.”

The Canes had 45 shots in the game and 16 came in the final period — eight in the last six minutes of regulation after Smith, on the defenseman’s 33rd birthday, scored his third of the season. Carolina pulled Raanta for a sixth attacker with a little less than three minutes remaining and Trocheck scored with 1:12 left in regulation.

“I love the fact that down 4-0 going into the third it would be easy just to roll over, but that’s not how these guys operate,” Brind’Amour said. “Really a pretty good second half of the game but to give up four goals, you don’t want to spot any team that. But I love the fact we kept digging in.”

News and notes

▪ For the second straight night, a former Canes goalie was the winning goalie. On Monday, it was Petr Mrazek of the Maple Leafs. On Tuesday, Anton Forsberg had 42 saves in his second win over the Canes this season.

▪ No complaints this night about power-play time. The Canes had four power plays, moved the puck well and got off eight shots, but couldn’t convert. Against Toronto, Carolina had 16 seconds of power-play time.

▪ Both games were played in arenas with a smattering of fans because of Canada’s COVID-19 restrictions. There will be big, noisy crowds awaiting in the Canes’ next two — at Boston on Thursday and then at Minnesota on Saturday.

▪ The Canes need forward Teuvo Teravainen back in the lineup and producing. A lower-body injury has kept him out of four games and has caused jumbling of the lines. Teravainen is on the trip and could be back for Boston.

▪ Not having Jesperi Kotkaniemi available this week has to be disappointing for Brind’Amour. The center apparently contracted COVID-19 during the break, tested positive and entered the NHL protocol on Sunday. But as Brind’Amour said Tuesday, “We move on.”

This story was originally published February 9, 2022 at 6:30 AM.

Chip Alexander

The News & Observer

919-829-8945

In more than 40 years at The N&O, Chip Alexander has covered the N.C. State, UNC, Duke and East Carolina beats, and now is in his 15th season on the Carolina Hurricanes beat. Alexander, who has won numerous writing awards at the state and national level, covered the Hurricanes’ move to North Carolina in 1997 and was a part of The N&O’s coverage of the Canes’ 2006 Stanley Cup run.