Standards are higher now for Carolina. They’re not expected to advance in the first round, they’re expected to dominate. That doesn’t always happen in the playoffs. Even when they pile up the shots, the games are close. Saturday’s opener against the Islanders was a bit of a shocker even though they won. The Islanders either matched or had the better of play, especially in the second period and Carolina struggled to get any offense going until the third period.
What happened and is there anything they can do to help get back to their game?
The Stats
This was similar to your typical Canes game, or at least ones they’ve been used to playing in the post-season. The difference was they couldn’t get anything to the net. The Islanders did a great job at blocking shots and just getting in the way in general. They went to school on how the Aho line likes to create their offense & pressured Carolina down low so the net-front plays to Guentzel were tougher to execute. Thought Barzal did a fantastic job here in particular.
Reloading through the neutral zone is another thing the Islanders did a good job of taking away. Carolina loves to hem you in & then quickly get the puck up the ice to attack a tired group. The Islanders were either getting counter-attack chances or negating Carolina’s shots on the re-entry.
I don’t think Carolina needs to overhaul their process yet. They have a game to give & are at least getting opportunities. These opportunities aren’t going to be easy to come by in the playoffs, especially against a veteran team like the Isles, so they probably just need to keep going to the well. They already made a slight tweak to the top line by putting Svechnikov in Jarvis’ place & it worked to a point. Aho got a great chance early in the third period & he was getting more pucks to the net. The line switch also seemed to get Jarvis going too, as he’s in more of a checking mindset on Staal’s line.
I don’t love giving up 14 chances, but if they can limit the east-west passes like they did the other night, I think they will be in good shape. Andersen is usually good at making the initial stop if he doesn’t have to worry about a pass or a layer of screens.
Isles are pushing for more controlled exits for some quick-strike offense. Canes handled it well (especially Orlov & Chatfield), but it’s something they should be aware of. Pulock/Pelech had 9 exits with possession this game, which is more than they had all of the series last year.
Individual Standouts
The top pair was not good. They weren’t getting to a lot of pucks & the Isles created five scoring chances on entries where they were targeted, one of which was off a dump-in. They did an okay job of stopping the bleeding & protecting the net, but couldn’t do much to push play in the other direction. Even when it came to flipping pucks out, they struggled because the Isles beat them to the punch. I doubt that happens again, but if we’re talking about this in Game 3 we have a problem. That first Isles goal was kind of a red flag.
Barzal had a typical Mat Barzal game, 6 controlled entries on 10 opportunities, 3 shots and 4 setups, which could have been more had it not been for some misfires by the Islanders. I was more impressed with how much he stuck with the Canes forwards in the defensive zone than anything he did offensively, but he’s someone I’m usually worried about when the Canes play the Isles just because his skill is on another level. I also love the fit with Cizikas as the bloodhound on that line.
Kuznetsov had the magic touch going. Great shot on the power play for the opening goal, a smart play to get the puck through layers on Noesen’s goal & some good simple hockey the rest of the game. I was surprised he didn’t get promoted to Necas’ line, but I think putting him with Drury & Noesen works. Drury is so good at knowing where to be & covering for his linemates that I want to keep him on this line unless Kotkaniemi really starts to drag down that Necas line.
Svechnikov didn’t have a lot of quality chances, but he was the team’s most dangerous player this game. He was throwing everything at the net & playing more of a straight-line game. Sometimes you need that when you’re held to only 10 shots through 40 minutes. Also led the team in controlled entries with 4 on 6 attempts. I would not be shocked if he leads the team in most boxcar stats by the end of the series.