Regular Season, Game 21: Hurricanes at Dallas Stars

I don't quite know how to express the way I'm feeling about tonight's game in Dallas against the Stars. Yesterday, it was announced that Brett Pesce and Tony DeAngelo would be joining Ethan Bear in COVID protocol, giving the Canes no right-shot defensemen on the active roster. This, as you might be able to figure out, is less than ideal. It's even worse when you consider the team lost its last game against Washington on Sunday afternoon, has lost three of their last four games, and both Pesce and DeAngelo are integral parts of the power play. In their place, the Canes have called up Maxime Lajoie and Jalen Chatfield from AHL Chicago. Lajoie got some time with the team last season during the postseason, playing in games 3 and 4 of the Nashville series, so this will be his regular-season debut with the club. He has 62 games of experience with Ottawa from 2018-20 and has 15 points (7-8-15), and he's played in 17 games in the AHL this season with eight points (1-7-8). Chatfield will be making his Hurricanes debut after signing with the team this offseason. He made his NHL debut during the shortened season with Vancouver, struggling quite a bit in his 18 games and recording just one assist. He's also played 17 games in the AHL this season, scoring four goals and seven points. With both quarterbacks on the power play missing tonight's game, the first unit will be an all-forward unit as Martin Necas moves up, while the second unit will be quarterbacked by Lajoie with Jesperi Kotkaniemi taking Necas' spot. As for tonight's matchup, it's a battle of former division opponents from last season who're finally back in their respective divisions for this year. They played eight times last season and the Canes went 6-1-1. The Stars are currently 10-7-2 this season, sitting sixth in the Central Division. They're coming off a 3-2 win over Arizona on Saturday and have won four straight, allowing just five goals in those four games. Their play is being led by their usual stars, namely Pavelski, Heiskanen, Robertson, Benn, and Seguin. Braden Holtby will get the start tonight for the Stars, while Frederik Andersen gets the nod for the Canes. The goal for Carolina tonight should be to make it out with anyone getting hurt. While a win would be great, the team's health is the most important part. Bear should be out of protocol tomorrow and my hope is he'll be back and ready to go on Thursday, but that might be wishful thinking. They just need to get through tonight because this isn't going to be easy. 

1st Period

Scoring

(DAL) 1:13- Roope Hintz (8) (assisted by Joe Pavelski (9))

Thoughts

I'm not quite sure what to make of this first period for the Canes. They gave up a goal on their second shot after Andersen stopped the first one right before it. I thought the power play has looked really bad, even with five of the most skilled forwards on the team making up the first unit. Dallas could easily be up 2-0 or 3-0, that's how bad the period started. The Canes initially benefitted from friendly fire when the Stars were called for high-sticking when it was really Skjei accidentally high-sticking Kotkaniemi, only for it to mean nothing when Kotkaniemi was called for embellishing a hook from Jamie Benn. The Canes doubled up the Stars in shots, but none felt like they were particularly high danger chances. The fourth line was the most dangerous for the Canes, which isn't bad, but it's less than ideal. I hope Rod Brind'Amour has some choice words for the team because there needs to be a new attitude in the second period. 

2nd Period

Scoring

(DAL) 14:57- Roope Hintz (9) (assisted by Joe Pavelski (10), Jason Robertson (9))

Thoughts

It's these periods where the Canes controlled the play and had a bunch of chances to score that make it even more frustrating when they don't score and go into the intermission in a deeper hole than they entered the period in. Anyone that says Roope Hintz hasn't been the best player on the ice the entire ice is wrong. He capitalizes on a great pass and some indecision from the Canes defense that leads to the goal. You can't even put this on Frederik Andersen. They've had their chances. They just aren't scoring. The penalty on Teuvo Teravainen was ridiculous in that Radek Faksa didn't get an embellishment call when it looked even more egregious than Kotkaniemi's in the first period. They were able to crawl out of a 2-0 hole against Washington on Sunday, so it's not out of the realm of possibility, but I'm not seeing any big spark from anywhere on the ice for the Canes. 

3rd Period

Scoring

(DAL) 9:31- Joe Pavelski (7) (assisted by Jason Robertson (10))

(CAR) 16:27- Jesperi Kotkaniemi (6) (assisted by Jaccob Slavin (10) & Nino Niederreiter (3))

(DAL) 17:10- Roope Hintz (10) EN (unassisted)

Thoughts

My brother texted me after the Kotkaniemi goal and said "It's about damn time", which I totally agreed with. Arguably the hottest forward on the team at the moment is Jesperi Kotkaniemi and he benefitted mightily from the referee refusing to blow the whistle during a mad scramble as he deposits it into the net. Unfortunately, this goal is sandwiched between two Stars goals, which means they held onto the lead and added another in the loss column for the Canes tonight. The team controlled the puck for a lot of the period, but the Kotkaniemi goal is all they have to show for it. The last flurry of saves from Braden Holtby was very indicative of the current collective offensive problem the Canes are going to need to fight through. 

Canes' Three Stars of the Game

Tonight is the first time where I'm not going to give out three stars. Despite the optimism from the broadcasting team tonight, the fact remains that no matter how many shots you put on the net and no matter how well your defense prevents shots, the final score is what matters. I didn't think the Canes were good tonight, even with them controlling a lot of the play in the latter two periods. It never felt like they stood a chance after the first goal. Jesperi Kotkaniemi scored the only goal and Slavin and Niederreiter are credited with the assists. Outside of the penalty kill being perfect, I didn't find much else positive from the effort. 

Final Thoughts

I hate to say it, but it's time to call this what it is. The Canes are in a slump. They've now lost four of their last five and have been held to five goals in those four losses combined. The easy excuse is going to be that they're playing without three important defensemen, but the defense wasn't the problem. You'd like to get a save from Andersen on one of the first two Hintz goals, but it doesn't matter how many shots he stops if the offense can't solve the goalie. They haven't felt like they're getting too many high danger chances. Braden Holtby was great, but I didn't think he was challenged all that much until the last five minutes of the game. One line did all the scoring for the Stars, accounting for all four goals. Hintz (3 G), Pavelski (1 G, 2 A), and Robertson (2 A) are the only three Stars players that recorded points tonight. I feel like I'm being a real Debbie Downer about this game, but I just had a bad feeling during the second and third periods. The power play was probably my least favorite part of the game tonight. It generated almost no offense, and I only say "almost" because they had maybe two or three shots on net. I'm not sure what the problem is, but it needs to get solved quickly. One of my lone bright spots tonight is the continued goals streak of Jesperi Kotkaniemi, who now has goals in three straight games and in four of his last six. Ethan Bear is set to leave COVID protocol tomorrow, so I'm interested to see if he'll be ready for Thursday's game at home against Ottawa. It's time to put the end of November behind us and get ready for December because this team needs a reset.