Seven games in, questions about Hurricanes’ power play surface. ‘Tis the season
The Pollening is complete, spring has sprung, we’re seven games into the NHL postseason and the calendar says it’s time to start fretting about the Carolina Hurricanes’ power play.
‘Tis the season.
After ripping through the New Jersey Devils to the tune of 31.6 percent, closing out the series on their sixth power-play goal in five games, the Hurricanes are 1-for-5 in two games against the Washington Capitals, although the numbers belie the scope of the issue.
Not only did they lose whatever momentum they had in the week between the first and second rounds, they have at times reverted to the bad habits they tend to display at their worst. Static. Passing pucks perpetually around the perimeter. A team that hammers the puck at the net at every opportunity five-on-five appears hesitant to shoot it with the man advantage.
The one power-play goal the Hurricanes did get, late in Game 2, came off a fortuitous deflection to Shayne Gostisbehere, a defenseman who had rotated out of his usual position — by design, but still not what made the Hurricanes successful in the regular season or against the Devils.
“It’s only been two games,” Gostisbehere said Friday ahead of Saturday’s Game 3 at the Lenovo Center. “Obviously we didn’t score in the first game but we got a big goal in the second and gave our team a chance to get back into the game. It gets harder as these playoffs go on. There’s more tape out there. We’re playing the same team over and over and they’ve got a good PK too. I think for us it’s just sticking with it.”
When they’re at their best, the Hurricanes’ bumper player drops from the slot to the top of the crease and the low player moves to the side of the net or in front, and the three umbrella players shoot looking for tips or rebounds. Or, they funnel play through the bumper between the circles, often Seth Jarvis, to create open shots and back-door plays.
They have done very little of that against the Capitals, despite continuing to have great success with their zone entries in the post-Martin Necas era. They get set up, then fizzle. Per Natural Stat Trick, they have two high-danger chances on the power play in this series. Against the Devils, they averaged one per power play.
“We certainly had our looks,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “I liked some of it. Our entries have been OK. We’ve gotten good zone time. We’ve got to keep firing pucks. The way they’re killing, that’s what you have to do. You have to take what they’re giving you. I thought we’ve done a decent job of it. We just have to keep at it.”
The good news is the series is 1-1 coming back to Raleigh, Frederik Andersen has been solid, the penalty-kill continues to shine despite allowing its first goal in 22 periods of playoff hockey, Alex Ovechkin has been held to four shots on goal (and only five shot attempts) and the Hurricanes have mostly imposed their game at five-on-five, deterred only by some struggles in the faceoff circle, a few untimely and uncharacteristic turnovers and one godawful bounce off Gostisbehere’s throat.
But a failure to convert on the power play, especially at critical moments, has been at the top of every postseason post mortem in the previous six summers, just slightly above “goaltender injuries and misc. breakdowns in net.” The Hurricanes’ first-period power play in Game 2 when they had a chance to take control was a prime example of that. They haven’t held a lead in the last nine periods of regulation play; converting early would have changed the entire game Thursday night.
The problem is compounded when your top players are struggling to score at five-on-five and on the power play. That tends to snowball, same as it can generate synergy when one or the other is rolling. Sebastian Aho and Jackson Blake combined for four goals in the five games against the Devils, but that line had only four shots on goal total in Game 2 — although there’s certainly nothing wrong with Andrei Svechnikov’s overall game.
Gostisbehere is right: It is only two games. And the Capitals were in the top third of the league killing penalties and are a lot closer to full strength than the decimated Devils were (although that hurt the Devils more on the power play than the penalty kill). Still, the Hurricanes won the special-teams battle decisively in the first round, a big reason for the gentleman’s sweep. They have to come closer than they have so far in the second.
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