Canes’ penalty killing, still good at home, has been a struggle on road in playoffs
The disparity is striking and was brought to the attention of Carolina Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour on Tuesday morning.
The Canes, who led the NHL in penalty killing in the regular season, have killed off 94.1% of their penalties at home in the playoffs. Opponents have gone 1-for-17 against Carolina and the Canes’ Brendan Smith has a shorthanded goal.
On the road? The Canes stood at 68.4% entering Game 4 of their second-round series against the New York Rangers, allowing six power-play goals (6-of-19).
“If you really dive into it I think a couple of those were 5-on-3’s on the road and one of those was questionable, in my opinion,” Brind’Amour said, chuckling. “So if you take those out what’s the number? It’s pretty close.
“It’s still a pretty small sample size. And this time of year you’re playing against elite power plays. That’s another thing that’s tough.”
The Rangers’ first goal in Game 3 came on the power play as Mika Zibanejad ripped a shot past goalie Antti Raanta. The Rangers never trailed in winning 3-1 for their first win in the series.
“Obviously special teams have not been a huge positive for us thus far and we know that and we’re trying to swing that in our favor,” Canes defenseman Ian Cole said Tuesday.
The Canes are 5-for-43 on the power play in the playoffs, going 1-for-19 on the road, before Tuesday’s game.
Reaves gets their attention
The Canes are fully aware of the Rangers’ Ryan Reaves speaking out and promising some nastiness in Game 4, saying he would “run some people and get in their face.”
Reaves was responding to the end of Game 3, when the Canes’ Max Domi wrestled with Ryan Lingdren and Rangers coach Gerard Gallant and the Canes’ Tony DeAngelo exchanged some angry words.
Cole, a former teammate of Reaves, noted that he was a “big, fast, physical guy” and added, “He hits hard. That’s what he does.” But …
“I don’t think him saying he’s going to run guys is surprising to anyone,” Cole said. “That’s fine. He can come and run us and we’ll move the puck and try to go score. That’s fine.”
Of note: Cole, like Reaves, has linebacker size at 6-1 and 225 pounds.
Let’s talk later about that
One subject Brind’Amour did not want to discuss Tuesday was the Tampa Bay Lightning sweeping the Florida Panthers in their second-round series.
The Canes or Rangers will face the Lightning, the 2020 and 2021 Stanley Cup champion, in the Eastern Conference finals. The Lightning also will have extra days of rest and preparation.
But that can wait and will wait, Brind’Amour said.
“We’ve got our hands full with this to start worrying about the next phase,” he said.
Quotable
“Everyone is aware of the situation in terms of that we need to take a stranglehold on the series. I think there’s a sense of urgency and desperation that we don’t want to put ourselves in the same situation we did against Boston.” -- Cole
Quick on the draws
The Canes, after winning 58.7% of their faceoffs in Game 3, have a league-best faceoff win percentage (58.1%) during the second round. Vincent Trocheck has won 67.5% of his draws and Jordan Staal 67.2%.
Brind’Amour always likes to point out that winning a draw isn’t just about the faceoff man but also the other four players fighting for the puck. There’s also the matter of reacting quickly and well if the faceoff is lost.
“To me it’s more about the details after the faceoff, just knowing what you’re doing if you lose it and making sure you’ve got the coverage,” Brind’Amour said. “That’s actually more important than the actual faceoff itself.
“Obviously every team works on it and every team wants to start with the puck. But it’s always what happens after, both winning and losing it. That’s what’s important.”
This story was originally published May 24, 2022 at 1:17 PM.
