The Carolina Hurricanes have put themselves in a position that a single loss is not a major concern.
Even so, as the Hurricanes continue their four-game road swing by facing the last-place Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday, it is with the motivation to not let one loss turn into two or more.
The Hurricanes arrive in Vancouver after opening their trek with a 2-1 loss to the Seattle Kraken on Monday. Not only did the defeat snap a five-game winning streak, it was their first regulation setback since mid-January and they then proceeded to compile a 10-0-2 mark.
“It’s about the next one,” captain Jordan Staal said. “We’ll learn from what we had going on (Monday), take care of the bodies, and get ready for the next game. These road trips are tough. Everyone’s got to go through them, and we’ve got to have a little better effort and get on a roll.”
The 12-game point streak was tied for the fourth-longest in Hurricanes/Hartford Whalers’ history.
As much as the Hurricanes were disappointed in the defeat that snapped the run that has put them atop the Metropolitan Division, there are plenty of positives to bring from it.
Carolina dominated play from the drop of the puck and outshot the Kraken by a 36-15. The only thing lacking was the finishing touch, although coach Rod Brind’Amour said his charges could have put that little extra oomph into their game.
“We played well,” Brind’Amour insisted. “We gave up a few too many (chances in the offensive) zone to be honest, just trying to force stuff. … We’ve got to score more than one with the amount of zone time that we had.”
The Canucks are on the other side of the spectrum. Vancouver, which is sitting at the bottom of the league standings, is coming off a 6-1 beating at the hands of the Dallas Stars on Monday.
Vancouver is winless in six games and managed only two victories in its last 22 games (2-16-4).
“We’ve got to find a way,” forward Marcus Pettersson said of the situation. “We can’t just fall down and die. We’ve got to get back on the horse. … It’s up to us, to us veterans in here, to kind of get the team back on track. And I think we can do a better job of that.”
Amidst all of the rampant trade speculation while the team flounders to the finish line, the Canucks are looking like a club that has found only a little fight left.
The 14 shots on goal generated against Dallas was a low for the season. Vancouver, which has scored two or fewer goals in nine consecutive games, has fallen to 30th in goals scored per game and sits last in goals against per game.
Evander Kane actually put the Canucks on top against Dallas, scoring his 11th goal of the season midway through the first period.
“We’re all human. We understand this isn’t very much fun,” Kane said. “At the same time, you have to have … some mental toughness and some pushback and some fight. Whether you’ve got to make up something in your head to get angry and get to work, that’s what you’ve got to do.”
In anticipation of a trade, Vancouver has held defenseman Tyler Myers out of the lineup the past few games, but may need to insert him back after defenseman Pierre-Olivier Joseph left the Dallas game early in the third period.
–Field Level Media
