Carolina Hurricanes

A Bedeviling Problem That Needs to Stop Tonight
March 25, 2017, 2:45 PM ET [1 Comments]
Ben Case
Carolina Hurricanes Blogger • RSS • Archive • CONTACT
The Metro division has not been kind to the Canes this season, as they are 8-13-4 against division opponents. Currently, the Devils are last in the Eastern Conference and the third worst team in hockey. Despite that, the Devils are one of the teams that have given the Canes the most problems. The Canes are 0-2-1 in the first three match-ups and only managed four goals.

Looking at the Canes “head-to-head” season statistics, they have scored less goals per game against one team—the Avalanche at one goal per game. So, of the 29 teams the Canes played this season, the Devils rank 28th for the Canes offensive production at 1.33 GF/G. The big question is will the offense be able to score tonight?

The good news for the Canes is that the offense is running very well right now. The Canes are 7-1-3 in their last 11 games and have scored 37 goals. This offensive production is significantly higher than what we have seen most of the season. In fact, these 11 games have produced just shy of 20% of the Canes total season goals.

The Canes have a total of 190 goals—in the 61 games before this most recent stretch, the Canes only scored 153. They are averaging just below 3.4 GF/G in the past 11, whereas in the other 61 were right at 2.5 GF/G. It also helps that since March 5th, the Canes PP has heated up.

Looking at the PP, they have scored seven goals in 27 opportunities in the past eleven games. This is vastly different than the first 61 games, as the Canes only scored 30 PPG on 176 attempts (17%)—which gave them the 8th worst PP% and 6th least PPG scored. Surprisingly, since March 5th, the Canes PP is one of the NHL’s hottest and is the 6th best in the NHL converting on 25.9% of opportunities.

While the team has been seeing production from almost everyone in the line-up, Skinner, Aho, and Lindholm have been very strong. Skinner now has 29 goals this season and is only four away from tying his career high of 33 goals in 2013-14. Based on how he is currently playing, I think he has four more goals in the final ten games.

Furthermore, his shooting percentage in the past eleven games is 27.3% and he is proving to be lethal with nine goals. Currently, he is on a five-game point streak with seven points (6g, 1a). I’d say he is making a strong push for Coach Peters to consider him the as the Captain next season.

Lindholm is also having a terrific second half of the season—since January 1st, he is tied with Staal with the most points on the team. He has 28 points (6g, 22a) in 32 games and is first on the team for points per game ratio (Staal played 36). His production has been huge for the Canes and he is riding a nine-game point streak (4g, 6a).

Finally, Aho is riding a five-game point streak (1g, 5a) and continues to look better each night. His hockey IQ and ability to make smart decisions is off the charts—Canes fans should be very excited to see what he brings offensively next year.

He has also proven to be one of the most valuable PP players for the Canes in the second half—since January 1st, he leads the teams with PP points with ten (5g, 5a). He has three more PP points than the next person, as Teravainen and Lindholm are tied for second with seven points.

Tonight is obviously a big game for the Canes if they want to continue an unlikely playoff push. The Bruins and Islanders face each other tonight, so regardless of if the Canes win, they will still be somewhere between five to seven points out.

Based on the remaining schedule for both the Islanders and Bruins, I think the Canes need to be rooting for the Bruins, as they have played one more game than the Islanders and have a tougher road ahead.

After tonight, the Bruins will have seven games remaining and it doesn’t look to be an easy path—they play Nashville, Dallas, Florida, at Chicago, Tampa Bay, Ottawa and end the season with Washington. Despite six being at home, only Dallas appears to be an “easier” game.

As for the Islanders, they will have eight games remaining and their path seems to have more “easy” games—they play Nashville, at Philadelphia, New Jersey, at Buffalo, at Nashville, at Carolina, at New Jersey and finish with Ottawa. The two games against NJD and one against the Sabres certainly have to be ones Islanders’ fans are counting on.

To say the least, after tonight the new favorite teams for Caniacs will be Nashville, New Jersey and Ottawa. All three of these teams can have a good impact on helping the Canes continue their current climb in the standings.

Let’s hope New Jersey starts helping the Canes tonight and don’t sweep the season series. Puck drop is at 7:00 and is on FSCR and MSG+2—Go Canes!