CAR vs.NYI First Impressions
Hurricanes begin to find their stride in series opener
If there’s one thing the Hurricanes have been consistent with, it’s starting the playoffs on a strong note on home ice. They’ve won six out of their eight series openers on home ice since Brind’Amour took over after last night’s win and while it was a close finish, they showed signs of being the dominant team they were throughout the winter. Scoring the early power play goal was probably just what they needed because they could play the rest of the game on their terms from there without drifting too much outside their comfort zone.
Stats & Thoughts
The concept of momentum heading into the playoffs can go both ways. Obviously you want to go in on a strong note, but the flipside is you have a team that coasted after punching their playoff ticket in December & another that has been fighting for their lives for 30+ games. That’s pretty much what this looked like. I almost wonder if the Islanders went into this with the mindset of knowing they were going to take some punches & just surviving the onslaught. Their defense didn’t really try to skate through Carolina’s forecheck, opting for long passes instead & there wasn’t a lot of pace to their game aside from a couple shifts early in the third period (kickstarted by a Skjei turnover along the wall). I expect more of a push from them in Game 2.
Jordan Staal as the matchup line against Horvat/Barzal seems to be the play, although it did some at the expense of Aho’s 5v5 ice-time. Every year I say that Jordan can’t be the team’s best player if they expect to go on a playoff run, but the guy puts a blanket on the other team’s top line when he’s on. The only chance Barzal & Horvat created was off the aforementioned turnover & a weird set breakout where Horvat inexplicably got behind the Canes forecheck. Speed is the issue with using Jordan in this role, but it seems unlikely to play a factor this series. Especially if this line is the one creating rushes like they were in this game.
Best forward honors for Carolina is a toss-up between anybody on the Kotkaniemi line. Aho got a lot of special teams time, which meant more 5v5 minutes for 82’s trio & the puck seemed to follow them all night. I do appreciate how Kotkaniemi tries to make the extra play in the neutral zone & add a rush threat because opportunities are going to be there if the Isles keep throwing the puck away on the forecheck. Noesen is the definition of the “Swiss Army Knife” trope because you probably want someone better than him in your top-six, but he’s reliable and can do it all while Necas has the speed & the confidence to make impossible plays happen on this line. I actually felt they left some chances on the table relative to how much they had the puck. Noesen had a glaring one, but Kotkaniemi seems to be getting most of the touches on cycles & if he’s a step with his decision making quicker, this could be a huge breakout series for him.
Favorite Play of the Night
https://twitter.com/ShutdownLine/status/1648234183557275650
This was after a long shift by the Kotkaniemi/Necas/Noesen line where they found Burns coming off the bench at full speed. I always feel like the Canes don’t utilize the high forward enough when they cycle (they love crowding the net instead) and this is exactly what I’d like to see more of. Also shows how many layers you have to work through to get to the Isles. Rebounds are there against Sorokin, but the Isles are going to fight like hell to make sure you don’t get to them.