Hurricanes vs. Red Wings - The Recap

I realize this is coming in a little late - life, as would be the case, has been a little hectic over the last hand full of days.  Couple that with back-to-back games and yeah, it's been something.  But please know these posts are coming.  I'll have the recap of the Flyers game later today.  Now, on to the blog: 

After a two-day hiatus from playing, the Carolina Hurricanes welcomed the Detroit Red Wings to the Lenovo Center to put their 5-game winning streak on the line.  Over the last couple days, the questions were swirling around Andrii Svechnikov and Dimitri Orlov, both missing in action last game due to injury.  Yesterday, Rod addressed both injuries stating that they both appear minor – refreshing news to hear as we make our way towards the playoffs.

The other topic dominating national and even some local attention was the fallout of the Mikko Rantanen trade.  We did a podcast the other day to talk through everything one final time – the reality is it is over with.  And frankly, we are playing better these days, so who cares? 

Tonight, ideally, we would continue to keep the pressure on in our attacking end and continue to play a solid game defensively.  Timely saves would help as well, as has been the case in this 5-game win streak.

Below are my thoughts on the game:

• The line combinations are the same, with a couple exceptions – Jack Roslovic has moved up to the Kotkaniemi-Hall line and Logan Stankoven is playing with the dads.  Scott Morrow drew in as well, playing alongside Shane Gostisbehere for the bulk of the evening.  Sean Walker and Jalen Chatfield are also a pair.  Freddie Andersen is between the pipes.
• Early on, I could see what was happening early – we were looking to try to take away line of sight to the puck, creating traffic with all lines in front of their netminder, Petr Mrazek.  We had a couple good tip chances early, but Petr was up to the task.
• The Blake-Aho-Jarvis line, from the early stages through the contest, looked downright dominant in stretches.  It was a line I was craving, all the way back when it was first assembled several games ago.  I am glad this line is getting its time to bake. 
• The Canes had great zone time and puck possession for, really, the first two periods of this one, dominating play in the offensive zone, playing a strong low to high game, putting pucks on Mrazek and winning 50/50 battles for the rebounds.  If the puck was moved out of the zone, we would continue to be hawks in the neutral zone, pestering the Red Wing attackers to regain possession.  They had minimal time and space for anything.
• Scott Morrow built another solid game – noticeable on various shifts in a positive way.  He was almost five-holed by Alex DeBrincat (a non-goal that clanged off iron) but learned from that later in the game to come up with a key assist on a goal in the 2^nd period.  I say it a lot – but sometimes it’s about stacking quality starts.  He looks comfortable, playing just shy of 15 minutes.
• We drew two power plays in this one – none of which yielded the results, but both getting chances.  I did like some of the possession time on our first power play, but there were still some instances of lack of motion, almost like they all were standing there waiting for a play to be called.  We ended up having a solid net front presence and we did net 5 SOG the second power play, so that’s another step in the right direction.  Mo Seider saved a potential Jackson Blake goal, coming through the slot on that 2^nd power play.  Generating chances, something will eventually leak through.
• As well as we played in that first period, we were down 1-0 – the Wings were able to get a face-off draw in our zone, which we won (we were pretty dominant in the face-off circle). The puck was fed out to Jordan Martinook, who gets leveled by a pinching Ben Chiarot.  Chiarot passes to Alex DeBrincat, who buries it top shelf, blocker side.  Freddie made a nice save with about a minute left to keep it 1-0, as the Wings continued to pressure after the goal.  That said the first period was dominated by us.
• The second period started off well.  One trend I have noticed the past few of games – the Kotkaniemi line coming out to take the face-off at the beginning of periods.  I have really liked what Kotkaniemi has done for a long stretch (really since the start of the new calendar year) – I am glad he has earned that right.  He was exceptional both offensively and defensively – he was all over it tonight.
• Speaking of that line – they were responsible for so much good in that game.  Some of the highlights:
• Kotkaniemi wins the opening face-off to start the second period – the puck is moved into the zone where Jack Roslovic retrieves it deep.  The puck is fed around to Jesperi Kotkaniemi who is in the far circle – he throws a shot towards the goal and Taylor Hall ends up tipping it home – tie game at 1.
• Another great shift from the boys – all five players (including Gostisbehere and Morrow) were in on a solid shift, peppering shots and keeping zone pressure up.  After it was all said and done, Morrow feeds Kotkaniemi up top.  He has time and space to drive to the middle of the ice and use his eyes to cause Mrazek to think the shot pass was going somewhere, but it left a wide-open post available.  Jack Roslovic won a battle to get to that spot and the shot pass ended up on his tape and an easy tap in.  2-1 Hurricanes.
• This line had an excellent bump up shift off a penalty kill.  Hall, Kotkaniemi and Roslovic don’t play on the kill, so it is a great opportunity to get them out there fresh and generate some offense – they have shown of late that they can do it.
• This combination of Hall, Roslovic and Kotkaniemi seems to work well with others, especially in partial changes.  Roslovic and Eric Robinson had a 2-on-0 on a partial change that just missed. 
• Now to the part where I gush over Eric Robinson – that guy was all over the ice.  He worked his bag off, got to the forecheck, creating net front, and worked hard in the dirty areas.  He was rewarded late by being on the ice in an empty net situation.  I have also noticed him as our 5^th penalty killer in instances where one of our primary four (Staal, Jarvis, Martinook or Aho) is in the box.  Rod trusts him and it’s easy to see why.  He plays a solid north/south game, can skate and he does the dirty work.  Don’t be surprised if he’s a Hurricane for a while (like Jordan Martinook has been).
• The dominance of Jarvis-Aho-Blake can’t be overstated.  Those three had dominant shift after dominant shift.  One such instance, they held puck possession for what appeared to be at least a minute in the offensive zone, only for the Wings to gain control and slowly start to move it out. They couldn’t get any farther than their side of the neutral zone, though, as the group all backtracked to hound the puck.  Jarvis eventually gained possession and fed Walker who shipped the puck to Chatfield and Chatty does the rest, burying the one-timer.  3-1 Carolina.
• More on the Aho line – the sum of the parts was, in a word, dominant.  But the parts were also dominant in other ways singularly throughout the night.  Blake had a couple great stick plays in the defensive zone to take away the puck or alter shots.  He also skated hard to try to negate an icing (which I thought he did, but I am not the referee).  Jarvis and Aho played hard minutes on penalty kills as well – especially late in that one when the game was still in doubt.  Just an awesome night by those three.
• Time for some Jaccob Slavin love – that dude is an absolute ace on the defensive end.  Loved his game all around, but especially the defensive stops, whether it was a stick to deflect a shot or him just doing Slavin things (if you know, you know).  Excellent game
• The game was 3-2 after a Michael Rassmussen goal early in the 3^rd period – he was being defended by Jack Roslovic (not a specialty of his) and ended up finally burying the puck – the third time being the charm (Andersen had stuffed the first two offerings).  I want to highlight Frederik Andersen, though.  He was dynamite in the game – making grade-A saves look easy.  I had so many notes on him during key times of the game where he made a save to rob a Wing from a goal or a stretch where he made a couple back-to-back saves when the Wings were able to pressure.  Just an outstanding job as the backstop tonight.
• The first two periods were Hurricane hockey – and for some parts of the third it was too.  Detroit, as any good team would, came out and pushed tempo in our own end, pressured and got chances, but in the end, with the empty net available, a backhanded clear that turned into a shot after some hard work on a loose puck after a draw, none other than Eric Robinson found the back of the net.  And well deserved for Eric – he had a great game.  4-2 good guys – and that would be your final.

This game was a great step forward for the Hurricanes.  We dominated play the first two periods with great net front, generating traffic in front of Mrazek, solid in transition defense, and excellent work ethic along the boards winning puck battles. 

Two other points – first, I would have probably given the three stars of the game to Jesperi Kotkaniemi (1^st), Freddie Andersen (2^nd) and Eric Robinson (3^rd).  I am not sure how they figure these things out, but it can’t just be about point production and lighting the lamp.  Second, it was a Friday night and the lower bowl looked about half full – I know ticket prices are starting to creep up, but we have to do better on a Friday night.  A side note to fans – and specifically to “Big Mike”, who starts our crowd chants with the horn – enough with the “refs you suck” chants.  It’s dumb.  It helps nothing.  Cool it.

We are 6 for our last 6, continuing to bank points.  Next on the schedule:  a date in Philadelphia to take on the Flyers.