Another first-round matchup of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs is in the books. The Carolina Hurricanes took down the New York Islanders in five games to advance to the second round. The Hurricanes will face off against a very strong New York Rangers team in round two, but let’s look at this first-round matchup.
It Wasn’t Pretty, But Carolina’s Depth Pulled Through
In our latest article covering this series, we took a look at how the Hurricanes were getting contributions from many different players throughout the first three games. At that time, the Hurricanes were leading the Islanders 3-0 in the series even though they had not had a complete sixty-minute game. The final two games seemed to follow the same pattern.
Game four saw the Islanders win in double-overtime. The Hurricanes power play came through with two goals but they couldn’t get anything else at five on five. They also gave up a goal on the penalty kill themselves. But the Islanders kept coming and if it wasn’t for Frederik Andersen, the game might have ended sooner. It was then Mathew Barzal tipping a Robert Bortuzzo shot near the beginning of the second overtime that ended the game.
Game five saw Carolina explode out of the gates with two early goals. The Islanders would get one back soon after however on the power play. But then the Hurricanes got a penalty shot and who else but Evgeny Kuznetsov would use his signature VERY slow move to put up the Hurricanes 3-1. They largely dominated the first period. But then the second period started and Carolina played equally as bad as they had played good in the first period. Once again the Islanders kept coming and ended up finishing the period tied 3-3 after scoring in the last 30 seconds of the period.
But then in the third period, it was Carolina scoring two back to back in less than ten seconds apart that would seal the deal. Yeah, they had some luck on their last two, but the playoffs seem to hinge on who can take advantage of opportunities and that was what those were.
Special Teams Good but Not Great
One big story entering this series was the special teams battle. It was Carolina’s second-ranked power play against New York’s bottom-ranked penalty kill and Carolina’s top-ranked kill against the Islanders middle ranked power play from the regular season. With the man advantage, Carolina was pretty solid. They finished with a 33.3% effectiveness. These goals came at big moments and helped them take advantage of opportunities. They were 100% on the power play in game five, granted it was just one opportunity.
On the other side, Carolina’s penalty kill slumped from their regular season standards. They finished at 72.7% which sat them at the middle of the teams in the playoffs through their five games. It isn’t bad, but there were many times when a power play goal from the Islanders seemed to hamper momentum Carolina would gain. In the Islander’s game four win, it was a power play goal that pulled New York ahead before Carolina would tie it with a power play goal themselves. The Hurricanes did kill 3/4 in game five which turned to be big.
The Hurricanes special teams seemed to be nothing to boast too strongly about, but also not something to be embarrassed about at the end of the day. It did what it needed to.
A True Team Effort
The Hurricanes team depth and score-by-committee approach is nothing new. The difference this year was that they appeared to have gotten a little more top-heavy with the Jake Guentzel acquisition and the growth of Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis. Not to mention a healthy Andrei Svechnikov. But this series showed that the score-by-committee mantra remains true in Carolina.
Twelve different players registered a goal for the Hurricanes. It seemed like a different player or group stepped up each game. Some games saw lights-out performances from Frederik Andersen in net. Other games saw top guys like Aho take over. Game three saw strong defensive scoring. And game five saw the Hurricanes depth scoring come through. It was a little bit of a lot and not a lot of anything specifically.
Even off the scoresheet, players were stepping up. Jesperi Kotkaniemi continued to be snake-bit in this one as he was one of two Hurricanes players to fail to register a point. But he did have multiple posts, a huge hit knocking off Cal Clutterbuck‘s helmet, and the driving play that led to the Kuznetsov penalty shot. Tony DeAngelo stepped in for the injured Brett Pesce as well and played a very solid three games.
At the end of the day, budding star Seth Jarvis led the Hurricanes in points with seven. Stefan Noesen tied him for the team lead in goals while Svechnikov, Martin Necas and Brady Skjei all tied for second in points. Once again, getting contributions from everyone is what helped carry the Hurricanes here. It is a focus that coach Rod Brind’Amour stresses and its one the players seem to buy into. At some point, a star performance may be more needed, but for round one the team won on depth.
Good Enough but Another Level Left
As mentioned above, this was not the Hurricanes best performance. It was their skill and depth that ultimately pulled them through, but there was a lot left to be desired. Having to play catch up and struggling to put a game away before the end seemed to be the story every game. Not to mention, there were large amounts of time where the Islanders had the Hurricanes hemmed in their own end and were beating them to 50/50 pucks (beyond the Hurricanes abysmal faceoff percentage in game four). They did control the expected goal share with 56.08% and the Corsi percentage at 59.63%, but it didn’t entirely feel like Hurricanes hockey at times.
But you have to start by giving the Islanders a ton of credit. They were very well coached in this series and seemed to play against Carolina’s strengths very well. Had they been able to finish a touch better, and maybe had another bounce or two, this series may still be ongoing. With an aging core and a struggling Ilya Sorokin, the Islanders played the Hurricanes strongly and wouldn’t give up. It’s what got them into the playoffs at the end of the year and almost pushed this series further. Even with this encouragement, it will be interesting to see what Lou Lamoriello does in the offseason.
Cause for Concern or Encouragement
Turning back to the Hurricanes, you ask the question, is their play in round one a cause for concern or encouragement? On one hand, they won the series 4-1 (better than last year) without truly playing a full 60-minute game. Star player Guentzel only had one goal and three assists in this series for example. That isn’t bad but for a player with a history of strong playoff performances, he was relatively quiet. So the encouragement comes in by saying, “Wait until they play a full game” or “Wait until Guentzel takes off.”
But herein lies the other side of the coin. If this play is more indicative of where they just are as a team, a stronger team like the Rangers will give them way more trouble. Most know this team has another level, but if they can’t get to it, it doesn’t matter. The good thing is that past results have no bearing on future performance. They show likelihoods and tendencies, but it is up to the team to take their game to the level it needs to be. But at least for a short time, Carolina can celebrate the round one win even though it’s not the ultimate goal.
Main Photo Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports
