RALEIGH, N.C. — This column doesn’t do it justice. Not really. Not when a bounce here, a whistle there, a lucky break somewhere, anywhere could change the entire perception and narrative of this series, this team, this organization. When this team looks so strong at five-on-five, when the short-lived nature of special teams is the root cause of its current ills, when every game it plays — and every game it loses Not even when a damn game seems to be decided. That wasn’t the case when this team enjoyed the longest stretch of sustained success in franchise history.
But we need to talk about the Carolina Hurricanes.
Not the same sentence as the Toronto Maple Leafs – that’s too harsh, too dramatic. But in the same paragraph.
Because it doesn’t work. It didn’t work. It seems it doesn’t work.
Now you know what a hurricane is. Deeper than an elite finisher. Quantity of shots outweighs quality. Coldness is better than resourcefulness. Goalkeepers are always good enough, but never great enough. From October to April, it operates so beautifully, so majestically. But it was not successful in May, and they did not even make it to June.
Carolina is an organizational marvel with one of the best-run, most forward-thinking front offices in the league. The Hurricanes have built a monster, a team so deep, so fast, so efficient, so ferocious. They won the battle. They retrieved the puck. They wear down their opponents. They won the NHL’s Metropolitan Division for three consecutive years, but were beaten by just three points this season by the Presidents’ Trophy-winning New York Rangers. They have finished in the top three in the league in each of the last four seasons. Analytical models adore them, bettors favor them, and hockey players and computer geeks respect them.
And then the playoffs came and, well, this occur.
The Hurricanes were once again on the brink of collapse in the second after Artemi Panarin’s acrobatic tip-in at 1:43 of overtime gave New York a 3-2 win Thursday night. Trailing the Rangers 3-0 in the series. Carolina’s loss was heartbreaking, especially after Andrei Svechnikov tied the game with 1:36 left in regulation, sending a raucous PNC Arena into absolute chaos. It feels like this could be a turning point for the series. Instead, it was just another turning point.
Play the game, Andre! pic.twitter.com/6jfaD9Af6H
— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) May 10, 2024
Game 2 on Tuesday night was just as brutal, with the Hurricanes losing in double overtime at Madison Square Garden. When they lost the first game 4-3. , one of which came in four overtimes, Game 6 — the longest game in NHL history. Their last eight playoff losses have been by one goal, and five of them have come in overtime.
Always chase a goal. Always try to overcome difficulties. Never quite got there.
“It’s kind of a record-breaker,” Canes captain Jordan Staal said quietly Thursday night. He’s talking about another game in which special teams — which have been strong all season — betrayed Carolina. The league’s second-best power offense went 0-for-5 for the third straight game. The Hurricanes even allowed a shorthanded goal from Chris Kreider, in addition to two great shorthanded opportunities.
But Staal can also talk about the bigger picture. Because we’ve seen May’s frustration so many times.
If you include the 2020 bubble playoff play-ins, Carolina has won the playoffs in six consecutive seasons. Most teams in the league will do whatever it takes to achieve this level of continued competitiveness. But in those six seasons, Carolina hasn’t won a game after the second round and was swept in the Eastern Conference finals in 2019 and 2023. It could allow wild-card-level playoff teams to hit the ground running, such as the New York Islanders the past two seasons.
But against other elite teams — those with world-class players like Panarin, Matthew Tkachuk and Alexander Barkov, Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point, and Iran Teams with world-class goalkeepers like Gore Shesterkin, Sergei Bobrovsky or Andrei Vasilevskiy – they will appear only briefly. painful short. It’s so short that it feels like a toss-up every time, it feels unfair to blame them for these losses, it feels like the hockey gods are just toying with them in their own cruel way.
But still very short. Always short.
So Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour can say ad nauseam that he loves Carolina’s five-on-five matchup against the Rangers. He should. The Hurricanes have been the better team in draws in all three games. We could point to Pyotr Kochetkov’s brilliant save on Kreider’s breakaway in the final minute of regulation, or Frederik Andersen’s in the first two games. Andersen’s many saves. We should do this. Both goalies are solid. What we can point out is that Carolina got the closer it has been lacking in Jake Guentzel and he has scored three goals in the last two games. We should do this. He is as advertised.
But eventually, stumbling became a trend and stumbling became a symbol. While the extremes of each situation vary widely, the Hurricanes find themselves in a similar position to the Maple Leafs, who turned “running back” into a punchline and hit a brick wall one spring after another. Canes are better than leaves. The Canes have accomplished more than the Maple Leafs. The cane is built in the exact opposite way to the starry, top-heavy leaves. But the Canes have won as many Stanley Cups as the Maple Leafs. That’s what it’s about, right? Both are built to win championships. Neither is that close yet.
Toronto fired coach Sheldon Keefe on Thursday. Carolina obviously isn’t going to do the same thing with one of the best coaches in the league, Brind’Amour. He will be offered a new contract, but a backup role anywhere else would be unthinkable for the franchise icon. He will be back.but carolina able Rethink things. Top duo Sebastian Aho and Svechnikov are locked up long-term, but the roster is filled with pending free agents. General manager Don Waddell will have salary cap flexibility that most contenders can only dream of. Waddle can pursue more high-end talent up front and even in front of goal. Brind’Amour could tinker with his system, perhaps loosen the structure and constraints of Carolina’s throw-and-chase, funnel-the-ball-from-anywhere, anywhere style of play and encourage more creativity, more Courage to attack. something. anything. Because the Rangers attack the net. Hurricane just shot at it.
Barring a historic comeback from a 3-0 deficit that makes this column and the narrative of this article even more meaningless than the silly notion that hockey can’t thrive in a southern market, Waddell and Brind’Amour will have to decide whether they want to play too Campaigning is back. Or if it’s time to do something different.
“Tomorrow is a new day,” Starr said. “It’s going to hurt tonight – can’t sleep. But tomorrow we have a new day and we will find a way to win a game. This has been our pattern for a long time.
And it’s been working for a long time. It’s just not good enough. Just not when it matters most.
(Photo by Martin Necas: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
