Hurricanes still figuring out how to play without Dougie Hamilton, although maybe not for long
If Henrik Lundqvist hadn’t gotten all the way across the crease to get his blocker in front of Jake Gardiner’s shot from point-blank range and deny him what Gardiner must have thought was an open net, the postgame assessment of the Carolina Hurricanes’ third defensive pairing Saturday might be completely different.
A goal there would have essentially sealed the game, and maybe no one would have noticed Gardiner lost at sea — he was hardly alone in that respect, to be sure — on the New York Rangers’ shorthanded goal that made a game of it in the final two minutes.
As things stand, though, in the harsh light of the day after that series-opening 3-2 win in the NHL’s Toronto bubble, if there’s one area of an otherwise sterling Hurricanes performance that needs to be addressed heading into the Monday-Tuesday back-to-back that will essentially decide this best-of-five series, it’s how the Hurricanes go about papering over Dougie Hamilton’s latest absence, however much longer it lasts.
“Do you change the lineup? Maybe,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said Sunday. “If we’re going to advance and be successful, we’re going to need everybody. I don’t want anyone sitting out too long. Trevor definitely could be in there right now. We have seven guys who can play and when Dougie gets back we’ll have eight.”
Sami Vatanen, playing on the right alongside Jaccob Slavin, had more than a few moments of near-calamity, but that’s easy to understand and excuse. This was his first competitive appearance with the Hurricanes, and Rod Brind’Amour’s defensive system has proven tricky for even smart, veteran defensemen to grasp quickly. (The time off seemed to get Brady Skjei across that line; the trade-deadline acquisition was stellar against his former team, playing alongside Joel Edmundson.)
But the third pairing of Gardiner and Hadyn Fleury struggled at times, and that’s really where the trickle-down effect of Hamilton’s absence (and Brett Pesce’s, not that he’ll be back anytime soon) is most keenly felt. Brind’Amour went with Fleury over Trevor van Riemsdyk on Saturday, and even coming off a win, van Riemsdyk’s outstanding postseason pre-injury performance a year ago makes a strong argument to get him out of the stands and into the lineup.
There wasn’t much else worth deeper examination: Vincent Trocheck was excellent, perhaps his best performance since his arrival; the Morgan Geekie-centered fourth line had its moments; Brind’Amour’s choice to start Petr Mrazek over James Reimer was entirely validated; the Hurricanes’ stars delivered, with Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov and Teuvo Teravainen all on the scoresheet.
When Hamilton returns — which is probably still a week or so away; he skated solo before practice Sunday — the Hurricanes will be in a strong position defensively, with a top pairing of Slavin and Hamilton and a remodeled-on-the-fly second pairing of Skjei and Vatanen. That’s a strong enough top four to carry the Hurricanes deep into the playoffs, and it will give them the freedom to pick and choose from among Edmundson, Fleury, Gardiner and van Riemsdyk on a credible, capable and versatile third pair, with each bringing different strengths and attributes.
The Hurricanes aren’t there yet, and even when Hamilton is cleared, it will no doubt take him some time to get up to playoff speed. Until then, it’s up to Brind’Amour to find the right mix on defense, and up to the players who get that call to deliver.
