Apparently, Brett Pesce missed the playoffs. Hurricanes defenseman shines in return
What might have been the most impressive play Brett Pesce made all night was lost entirely in the shuffle. It wasn’t either of his assists, although it did figure in the stunning analytics the Carolina Hurricanes defenseman posted.
It was one play that summed up Pesce’s value to the team, if that wasn’t clear enough last August.
In one motion, Pesce neatly disarmed a Nashville attack as it entered the Hurricanes’ zone, wheeled to his left and winged a perfect pass to Sebastian Aho going the other direction to spring the center loose on a one-on-one that quickly turned into a one-on-none as Aho blew past Nashville Predators defenseman Ben Harpur, skating in a completely different gear.
Juuse Saros made the save on Aho, but moments later Jordan Staal would turn the Hurricanes’ one-goal lead into a two-goal lead on their way to a 5-2 win, the second of two Staal goals on the night.
The first came off a pinpoint Pesce pass.
It was that kind of game for Pesce, who missed all of last year’s playoffs after suffering a shoulder injury that required surgery. And it was not only something the Hurricanes desperately needed, with Jaccob Slavin less than 100 percent Monday night, but a reminder of just how sorely the Hurricanes missed Pesce in the first-round series against the Boston Bruins last August.
“I’m definitely not going to take it for granted this time,” Pesce said.
The Hurricanes controlled 71 percent of possession with Pesce on the ice Monday night, in isolation dramatically better than any of his teammates. No one on the team spent more time killing penalties as the Hurricanes went 3-for-3 against Nashville’s power play.
It was a stunning all-around performance in a critical moment, which is exactly what the Hurricanes expect from Pesce.
As the third leg of the Hurricanes’ big three on defense, Pesce sometimes gets lost in the shuffle. He doesn’t have the Pappy Van Winkle smoothness of Slavin, or the explosive offensive unpredictability of Dougie Hamilton. Pesce just does a little of everything and does it all very well without attracting a ton of attention. His puck-moving skills and mobility are underrated, outshined by his defensive instincts and willingness to sacrifice his body.
Monday, he did it all.
“We know how good he is,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “You’re talking about an elite defender. Playoff hockey is all about limiting chances and he does that as well as anyone. Slavin is in the same category. Those two guys are as good as they come. They’re huge, huge parts of what we’re doing. If either one of those guys can’t go, you can’t replace that.”
The Hurricanes saw that all too clearly in the five-game loss to the Bruins, when Pesce’s physical edge in particular would have been welcome, but far more than that he was missed as the Hurricanes struggled to contain Boston’s powerful top line of Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak.
That’s the kind of heavy duty Pesce handles regularly, as he did Monday against the Predators. Slavin and Hamilton saw slightly more ice time against Nashville’s top line ... but Pesce and Brady Skjei had better results against it.
This story was originally published May 19, 2021 at 6:30 AM.
