The Carolina Hurricanes once again saw their defensive blunders pile up in a 7-4 loss to the Seattle Kraken Thursday night.
The Hurricanes yet again conceded the first three goals of the game and while they did rally back to make it a one-goal game in the third period, the defensive problems reared right back up.
"We sucked the first period and a half," said Seth Jarvis." You can't spot a team 3-0 and expect to come back in this league. We have a lot of stuff to figure out and it starts now."
The Canes have a problem.
It's one that they're not used to having, but after five games, it's clear where the issues lie: The Defense.
Carolina has been a defensive mess all season and it's costing them games because the offense is delivering.
In five contests, the Canes have conceded 24 goals, the highest rate in the entire league and yet they're scoring at the highest rate in the league too.
For a team that is vaunted for their defensive depth and ability, it's embarrassing.
Turnovers, soft coverage, lost assignments, you name it, the defense is doing it.
A lot of focus has been placed upon Dmitry Orlov and Tony DeAngelo, and while their struggles have been great (Orlov has been on the ice for seven goals against, DeAngelo five), they're not alone.
Brent Burns has been one of the most turbulent blueliners with a litany of bad turnovers, one that put the dagger in the team after bringing it back within one goal, already this season and the Brett Pesce and Brady Skjei pairing haven't been as consistent as they normally are, although they have been the best pairing by far to be fair.
"We're just not sharp defensively right now," said Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour. "Just taking little breathers and it's killing us. It's strange because we've been doing this for a long time and doing it really well and now in this five-game segment, we just don't have it figured out. We have to get better at it. We're definitely giving up way too much."
There's also concerns with the ability of the Hurricanes' penalty kill. There were another two conceded tonight, the Canes have allowed the most power play goals against in the league, and both came very early into the kills.
The Canes can't have that, especially with their penalty frequency.
"Just not good enough," said captain Jordan Staal. "The PK gave up two and we just can't do that. Our PK has kind of been the heart and soul of our team for a while and I think it's gotta be better."
Goaltending hasn't been helping the team either.
Antti Raanta has yet to have a good game this season, with a 0.818 save percentage, 3.33 goals against average, and a -3.72 goal saved above expected, but has been thrust into the starting role for now with Frederik Andersen sidelined.
The offense is working though. Even without Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov, the team is piling on goals and they're getting them throughout the lineup.
Jesper Fast had a goal tonight crashing the net, Jesperi Kotkaniemi scored in close with some deft handwork and Seth Jarvis put home two for the second game in a row.
The problem doesn't lie at their feet.
"It's becoming a 50/50 game the way we're playing," Staal said. "We're just kind of hoping that we'll outscore a team and hoping that we'll get a few more chances and beat them with our skill but it's just not working and it's pretty evident."
The season is still early, but the team can't let this problem fester. They need to figure it out and fast.
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