Hurricane Season- Week 5
Week five of the Carolina Hurricanes 2021 season (2/8–2/14)saw the team go 2–1 and brought their overall record to 9–3. The team's 18 point total is good for third place in the Discover Central Division where they are tied with Florida and trail only Tampa Bay (by 3 points, with one game in hand). Before we get to where the week began let’s talk about where it ended.
The Hurricanes broke through and won the backend of a two-game set for the first time this season in Dallas on Saturday night. The shootout win brought Carolina to 4–0 against the Stars this season with four games left to play. The team got another solid performance from Alex Nedeljkovic who made 26 saves and stopped each attempt he faced in the shootout. The young goalie has stepped into a key supporting role for the team after the injury to Mrazek and hasn’t looked out of place. Hopefully, the extra point for the Stars doesn’t come back to bite the Hurricanes as Sebastian Aho had a chance to seal the victory in regulation and failed to do so. After a questionable roughing call against Andrei Svechnikov with 1:50 left the Stars pulled their goalie in an attempt to tie the game with a 6 on 4 man advantage. After the Hurricanes created a turnover Aho had a chance to go to goal with the puck but instead, he attempted a dangerous pass to Teravainen. The pass was intercepted and on the ensuing rush Joe Pavelski tied the game for the Stars. Aho’s face after the goal said it all and I’d expect him to shoot, or at least get it deep in the zone, should he find himself in a similar situation in the future. Vincent Trocheck bailed him and the team out with another confident finish in the shootout and the Hurricanes took home the extra point. The Hurricanes began the week losing the second game of a two-game set to Columbus. The season series with the Blue Jackets is now split evenly at one apiece and they’ve been two tightly contested one-goal games so far. The unfortunate takeaway here was the defensive lapse on the game-winner for Columbus as the Hurricanes let Jake Roslovic dance straight through the middle of the ice and score. Two of Carolina’s best defensemen were on the ice at the time in Hamilton and Pesce but neither one took the body as Roslovic put the puck through his own legs as he made his way towards an eventual goal. The only other game this week for the Hurricanes was the front end of the two-game set against the Dallas Stars which Carolina won 5–3.
Brock McGinn and Vincent Trocheck both stood out this week. Brock scored against Columbus as well as in the first game against Dallas, part of a four-game goal-scoring streak for him. Trockeck tallied a goal and four assists throughout the week and added the game-winning shootout goal against the Stars. Both players have made meaningful contributions on special teams and helped Carolina bring balance to the forward lines. During week five and through the season so far, no Hurricane has been as impactful as the captain. Jordan Staal continues to be Mr. Everything for the Carolina Hurricanes. Staal is known as a player who does so many things that don’t show up in the box score, the difference so far this season is that in addition to those intangibles he’s also showing up on the score sheet on a nightly basis. Heading into Monday night’s game he leads the team in face-off percentage. His 61.43% is good enough for third overall in the NHL. He’s tied for the team lead in points with 12 and assists with 8. Staal leads the team in power-play points with 5 and is tied for the team lead in shorthanded points. The captain has done all of this while missing two games due to COVID protocol. He plays almost 18 minutes a game and is involved in all aspects of the Carolina system.
Carolina was also busy on the personnel front this week trading forward Ryan Dzingel for Cedric Paquette and Alex Galchenyuk. The Hurricanes will look for Paquette to add depth and grit down the center, while bringing his championship pedigree to the locker room. Carolina doesn’t seem to be the final destination for Galchenyuk, as the Hurricanes placed him on waivers after completing the trade. The fit never seemed right for Dzingel, although he did some good things for the Hurricanes during his time in Carolina the playing time and production never reached the levels he or the organization hoped for.
Looking ahead Hurricanes fans know they will lean heavily on Reimer in net for the foreseeable future, but they also found out this past week that they can count on Nedeljkovic. Although he’s only gone 1–1 in his two starts, he’s looked the part and his .882 save percentage has allowed the team to play their game in front of him without major alterations to accommodate the backup plan. Mrazek’s spot in the crease will be waiting for him as soon as he’s healthy, but in the meantime the team will be fine in goal.
After spending two weeks on the road the Hurricanes get to spend week six in Raleigh where they have yet to lose this season. Carolina will play one game against Columbus, one against Florida and two more against Chicago.
