RALEIGH, N.C. — The Carolina Hurricanes are trying to survive Friday night. The snow on the way home might cause them more problems than the Vancouver Canucks.
For the fifth time in seven nights and the second time in 24 hours, the Hurricanes scored late in the first quarter and early in the second, clogging the middle of their zone and holding the Canucks to just 15 shots. , and ultimately lost to Vancouver 2-0.
As general manager Patrik Allvin explores trade options for Elias Pettersson and JT Miller, and team clings to National Hockey League wild card The Canucks should be desperate for a playoff spot. But the weather is more pressing than the visiting team, as the Raleigh-Durham area got its first snowfall in nearly three years.
The Canucks were scrambling to fly to Toronto for Saturday night’s game against the Maple Leafs, who lost 6-3 to the Hurricanes on Thursday. But the Canucks will need more urgency and determination to put the puck and body in the net to have any chance of winning and getting through this tough five-game road trip.
Facing recycling project goalie Dustin Tokarski, the Canucks had only five shots on goal in the first quarter and four in the second. Vancouver’s six shots in the third period included two in the final two minutes, when they skated six-on-five.
Although they didn’t create many quality chances, the Canucks had 29 shots blocked and another 21 missed. Sometimes, like on a short-handed three-on-one in the third period and a two-on-one in the second, they gave the puck to anyone instead of testing Tokarski.
“You’ve got to hit the net,” Canucks coach Rick Tocchet told reporters. “I mean, that’s the frustrating part. We had a lot of time in the ozone zone and we just missed opportunities. You guys look at the shot clock, I look at the missed opportunities. Two-on-one, we tried to pass the ball ( “
Unlike the winter storm, the Canucks’ low shot total isn’t a phenomenon.
Since Dec. 5, the Canucks are averaging 23.3 shots per game, easily the lowest in the NHL. To be fair, they only allowed 26.6 shots in that stretch, so low-conference hockey goes both ways.
The Hurricanes took just 20 shots on Friday. But leading 2-0 in the final 38 minutes, they didn’t need many shots.
The Canucks had Thursday off and had one of their best games of the season on Wednesday in Washington, beating the mighty Capitals 31-18 in overtime before falling 2-1. Their lack of consistent anticipation and shooting (on target) and second-chance shots in both periods on Friday was puzzling.
This team has been searching for its identity since the start of the season, but it’s no closer to it in Carolina.
“Whether they play at night or before, we want to end the game some way,” Canucks defenseman Tyler Myers said. “We did some good things. Some things that needed to be cleaned up and some ways to get more pucks in the net, more bodies in the net, and I think that’s going to help our team. But you know what? You’ve got to stay positive Attitude. We have a chance to come back and win a hockey game tomorrow night and we have to come together and be ready for tomorrow’s game.”
“They protected the net well,” Canucks center Teddy Brueger said. “I mean, we tried to get some traffic there, but a lot of shots were blocked. But, yeah, 15 shots is obviously very low for a game.”
“The execution could be better — the breakout, the neutral zone,” Brueger said. “If you can get the puck into the offensive zone, that helps a lot. So when we throw it in, execute those elements (and) win more puck battles on the wall. Anticipate. Try to exploit the middle of the ice. Part of it. It’s one thing to have the ball on the perimeter, but, you know, putting the ball in the net and putting your body in the net and getting guys shots, that’s the next level. That’s maybe what we can do more of. Good thing.”
Jordan Staal opened the scoring for Carolina at 14:41, hitting Canucks defenseman Noah You on a pass from Dimitry Orlov. The puck bounced high past Noah Juulsen and sailed through traffic and past Vancouver goalie Thatcher Demko to set up Carolina’s first score.
Andrei Svechnikov doubled the lead 1:37 into the second period when he easily beat defenseman Carson Sue from the side boards Carson Soucy, took the puck into the net and fired the shot before Juulsen or JT Miller could stop Demko.
Canucks center Elias Pettersson returned to the lineup after missing six games with an upper-body injury and took several penalties in the third period. But he had no shots on net and missed the target from prime position on the final power play.
Several of the Canucks’ depth forwards had big games, including Brugger, Denton Heinen, Phil DiGiuseppe and Kiefer Sherwood. But in the starting lineup, Pettersson and Miller lost to the Hurricanes’ best players at five-on-five.
“I feel good,” Pettersson said. “I’ve been working hard to come back and, yeah, it’s been fun coming back.
“We knew what type of game they were going to play the night before. It’s hard to predict them because they have good pace (backs) and they have support from their forwards. We had some chances to score but, we couldn’t Score the ball.”
The Canucks have a record of 2 wins, 4 draws and 5 losses in the past 11 games, and have scored a goal or failed to score a goal in 4 of the past 6 games.
“You have to keep at it,” Tocchet said. “You have to work on your game. Rest assured, you can’t buy that in the store. You have to keep working. You have to put the puck on the net. The power play has to set a goal for us. Bottom line.”
Yes, that’s what professional sports is: the bottom line.
