Special Teams, Goaltending and Even Strength: Three Takeaways From the Carolina Hurricanes 8-2 Loss to Tampa Bay Lightning
The Carolina Hurricanes lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning 8-2 in a Black Friday blowout.
For 20 minutes, things were going good for Carolina who had a 1-0 lead, but things quickly unraveled.
Here are my three takeaways from the game:
Special Teams Implosion
At the end of the day, the game came down to special teams.
The Lightning went 4-for-5 on the man advantage and what really sealed the deal for Carolina was the Bolts scoring three straight goals on three straight shots on three straight power plays.
The penalty kill was completely ineffective in the face of the NHL's scoring leader, Nikita Kucherov, who had six points on the night including points on every power play goal.
The speed, accuracy and deception that he moves the puck with is second to none and he victimized the Canes' aggressive kill.
"It's one guy [Kucherov], for sure," said Rod Brind'Amour. "They've got other guys, but clearly that guy's as elite as they come. Everybody knows it's getting there and they do a great job of getting him the puck and then he does a great job of distributing it. They were good on theirs. Clearly that was the game."
On the flipside, the Hurricanes had six power play chances and only converted on one, a rocket by Michael Bunting.
Special teams was a night and day difference between the two teams.
Goaltending
When you set an NHL record by allowing eight goals on 14 shots, i.e. the most goals allowed by a goaltender while being under a 0.500 save percentage, you know you didn't have a good night.
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But it's not like the game was only on Antti Raanta last night.
The Lightning's power play was lacing quick, cross-ice passes and the defense in front of him was doing him no favors.
"It wasn't like they were his fault," Brind'Amour said on Raanta. "The first four were just wide-open bombs and kind of a weird bounce on the one."
Regardless, it was still a bad game for Raanta, but perspective is also key.
Before that game, Raanta had set the franchise record for most consecutive home wins (14 in a row) and he was 4-0-0 at home this season with a 0.935 save percentage and 1.49 GAA.
Goaltenders have bad games, but it isn't like the Canes have a goaltending problem.
Expect him to bounce back.
Keep Up the Strength that is Even Strength
It's normally hard to find a lot of good in a 8-2 loss, but there were things the Canes did well, namely even strength play through the first two periods.
In the first period, Carolina held Tampa Bay to just one shot on goal and outchanced them 28-7. Then in the second, they allowed just two more even strength shots.
It wasn't until the third period, when the Hurricanes sort of gave up, that the Bolts even started to get a few more shots but overall, it was a great 5v5 game for Carolina.
It was just special teams that failed them.
If they go into Sunday's game against the Blue Jackets, with the same game plan, but minus the bad penalties, they'll probably blow them out in return.
