We’re back for another season of Carolina Hurricanes hockey. After an offseason where we identified talent that we believe can get us over the proverbial hump, we now get to see the product in action. Before we go into a recap of the game, I do want to highlight the pieces of business that took place to get us to where we are:
What’s New:
- The signing of Nikolaj Ehlers is no small consolation in the ‘Mitch Marner’ bonanza – this dude has been someone on my radar since last offseason, and I believe he is going to fit like a glove.
- Our trade for Lefty Defenseman K’Andre Miller was another big swing – and we inked him for the max term – he has a great chance to be a Brady Skjei 2.0 for us. Looking forward to big things from him.
What’s New-ish:
- Alexander Nikishin will get his first full season in a Canes sweater – expectations are high for him, although I reserve any judgement for at least until the midway point. Frankly, he is a rookie and needs time to grow in the system.
What’s the Same:
- Welcome back Eric Robinson, Taylor Hall, Freddie Andersen! Good to have all three back in the fold. Additionally, we got Jackson Blake and Logan Stankoven inked to longer term deals – and their futures look bright.
A couple of side notes before I go into the game – first, we
took time to consider our options with Michael McLeod and Carter Hart. The fans think they got a win by the
organization deciding not to pursue them, as many fans were up in arms about these
two. Frankly, if they were available and
they could help, I think we should have had a conversation at least. Further – this wasn’t a “fan win” because of
some silly petition – I believe that Dr. Tulsky got the feel that Logan
Stankoven can be the right shot center we need (which means no need for McLeod)
and that we were comfortable with what we had in net with Freddie, Kochetkov
and (now) Bussi. Fans – be thankful that
we are in on everything.
Second – I believe that our movement of players isn’t over
yet. We have a contender today, but I
think we could have a juggernaut with a couple of moves and the gelling of the
talent. The gelling of the talent will
take priority early on while Dr. Tulsky figures out what needs to be added. I have a couple names earmarked as the season
progresses that I think we should take a swing on – we have the cap space to do
it.
Now, onto the ice – I have a lot of excitement as we head into this first game of eighty-two in the regular season. Our line combinations will look like this to get us started:
Our Forward Lines:
- Ehlers-Aho-Jarvis
- Svechnikov-Stankoven-Blake
- Carrier-Staal-Martinook
- Robinson-Kotkaniemi-Hall
Our Defensive Pairs:
- Slavin-Walker
- Miller-Chatfield
- Nikishin-Gostisbehere
- I’m keeping an eye on that 2nd line – they jumped on the ice as the third line over the boards and Stankoven won a faceoff early to keep a puck in zone.
- Markstrom has been sharp early – we have had a couple good looks early from all 3 scoring lines and Markstrom has been up to the task.
- Hall redirect from Gostisbehere on a bomb from the point and the good guys are on the board. New Jersey won a draw but we are on it in the corner – Gostisbehere eventually slammed a bomb from the point and Hall redirected it through the five hole to make it 1-0 us. Nikishin with the secondary assist.
- Ehlers and Aho look like they have been playing together their entire careers – they look great in the offensive zone.
- The 4th line – wow – they look like they have some great chemistry. I think if we needed to mix it up, Blake and Hall could swap spots. Just some real good puck movement between those three and I can’t think of a team that has a more skilled 4th line – overqualified.
- My goodness – Miller is a giant out there. His reach is something else. He’s also had some good offensive flair early too – it is nice to have him paired with Chatfield since Chatty can atone for any of the early lapses defensively.
- New Jersey started to buzz a little, but Freddie Andersen looked solid in the limited work he’s seen. Very steady in net.
- After one, we looked sharp. The new arrivals have been noticeable, and Stankoven has done well at the center position – winning 62.5% of his draws. Slavin has done Slavin things, Aho and Ehlers look good together and that 4th line…sheesh. We look like we are wearing them down early – we’ll see how we look in the 2nd (with long change) and the 3rd. After one, it’s 1-0 good guys.
- Get to see a power play after 22 minutes of play time – New Jersey is called for too many men on the ice. Rod starts with the 2nd unit, which was an interesting selection. K’Andre Miller and Sean Walker were on along with Jackson Blake, Logan Stankoven and Taylor Hall. And 31 seconds into the power play, Miller is called for a high stick. So much for that – we go 4-on-4. After a couple looks both ways, it remained 1-0 after the penalties.
- One thing I have noticed – it has been Nikishin that has been the defenseman back, not Gostisbehere – he is developing good habits early this season, defense first, the offensive opportunities will come.
- Slash on Cotter for New Jersey – and we get a chance to go on the power play. We should see the 1st unit for this one. Drawn by K’Andre Miller.
- Great puck movement by the top unit – some good looks from group – Bucci (who we had on our podcast two weeks ago – go check it out!) said it on the broadcast, that unit might cook – with the way we were moving the puck and making the strong penalty killers of the Devils work, I can see this unit doing work. The Devils kill it off.
- Dougie Hamilton tied it at 1 – the bump up shift right off the kill. Hamilton through the slot on a backhander – good play by Bratt to feed it, Hamilton finishes. We are back to even.
- And K’Andre Miller pots one to make it 2-1 – we lose a face-off, but we get possession on a forecheck by Carrier, it leaks out to Miller who buried it from straight away.
- Cody Glass ties it at 2 after a 2-on-1 break down – we turned it over, Svechnikov one touched it into the zone instead of going deep, they gained possession and created the 2-on-1. I know it is game one of eighty-two, but I have to wonder what Svechnikov was thinking at that moment. Why be cute?
- The story has been told by John Buccigross this second period, but it bears repeating – we are losing face-offs at a high rate – we can’t have that. And we go to the box – Jordan Staal gets called for cross-checking. He seemed frustrated and visibly off tonight. Off to the kill we go.
- We had a great 2-on-1 chance with Aho and Jarvis that clanged right off the iron. Martinook got a breakaway and Markstrom gloved it. We kill off the power play – a couple good short handed looks for us. Clearly some things stay the same in Raleigh…
- A real good flurry of activity in the offensive zone – good forecheck by Aho and starts a peppering of shots at Markstrom.
- All knotted up at 2 after 2 periods – the Devils did a good job of winning face-offs and worked well off their penalty kill. It’s been a good game, no real complaints on my end. This is the type of game you’d expect to see with two of the heavyweights in the Metro. Markstrom has been good for them.
- We’ve hit 3 posts HARD tonight – a lot of good opportunities, just hitting some iron.
- Stankoven gets hooked, draws the penalty, and we go to another power play with about 14 minutes left in the 3rd.
- The puck movement looks good. This first unit looks great – awesome job moving the puck and moving around the zone. The Devils end up killing it, but I have to think this power play is going to be much improved from last season.
- We get to go to the power play again, as they slash us – this goes to the idea that mentally you start to lapse when you are getting tired. We talked about this with Peter Harrold on our show the other day. The Devils are tired. Mental mistakes for them. Let’s see if we can capitalize.
- K’Andre Miller hat trick watch? Buried one on the power play – had a ton of space up top and Blake and Aho get the assist. Aho’s 1st unit mates went off on a change, but he decided to double shift it, ended up getting involved in the puck movement, retrieved by Blake, fed to Aho and then to Miller who was wide open up top. The puck was tipped by Markstrom, but ended up fluttering over his glove and in. 3-2 good guys.
- Bump up shift and Hall looked like he just buried one, but THAT ONE clanged off iron too. That 4th line is going to be dangerous after a power play.
- Jesper Bratt ties it at 3 – the pass intended for Hughes went right between his legs coming through the slot and Bratt was on the wing to bury it past Freddie. Square at 3.
- Another post – Jarvis this time – heavy metal night in Raleigh apparently – still 3-3. So much iron that they made a montage of the metal clangs. Thanks ESPN.
- Jarvis with the goal!!! Great rotation and movement. Nikishin does a good job to keep the puck in and keep it in the zone, feeds Ehlers to Gostibehere and then to Aho - Jarvis parked right to the left of Markstrom and got the Aho feed to bury it – 2:43 left in this one. 4-3 good guys.
- Jarvy with the empty netter – 5-3 Canes, and that should wrap this one up. Jarvis was a thief at the blue line and it goes unassisted.
- Robinson from Hall made it 6-3 – I think if there was a dude who deserved a goal tonight, it was Eric Robinson. He was really good all around, really did a lot of good things on that 4th line.
If I had to give out stars tonight, it would be K’Andre
Miller with the first star, probably Aho with a 2nd star and Jarvis
with the 3rd star. Seth
Jarvis, as Tripp Tracy would say, built a game – he wasn’t as noticeable in the
first two periods, but really came on in the 3rd period. There were a couple others that could have
gotten stars – Jaccob Slavin and Taylor Hall looked great as well.
I mentioned before I have a couple of guys that I have earmarked to really turn this thing into a potential juggernaut. Right shot D is one area - I wasn't particularly impressed with Sean Walker tonight and he looked like he was overcast for the top pair duties. I am not saying he shouldn't be offered that opportunity, but he looked like he struggled some against top lines.
Alexander Nikishin - I thought looked very good out there –
playing 3rd pair minutes against teams bottom 6, he is going to feast. The thing that I think I liked the most was
that he stayed responsible defensively and made simple plays to get the puck
out of the zone. Keep it simple my
guy.
On the flip side, Jackson Blake wasn’t awful, but he wasn’t
great either – this leads me to a point I made earlier in the blog – if there
is a guy that could totally yo-yo on a couple lines for us, it is Jackson Blake
– and I think after a couple games, it would be wise to consider placing him
with Kotkaniemi and Robinson (and move Taylor Hall up to play with Svechnikov
and Stankoven). I love Jackson Blake - I am one of his top glazers out there. But I also live in the real world too.
Final note – as fans we do have to keep in mind that it is
just the first game – there are going to be some lapses and some rust from some
of these guys as they get back into game mode.
I am encouraged by the performance in game one
Next up: A date at
home with the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday at 7:00 P.M.
No comments:
Post a Comment