Hurricanes need to look past lack of star power to avoid sweep

The Carolina Hurricanes, down 3-0 in their third-round series against the Florida Panthers, will try to keep their 2024-25 season alive on Monday in Game 4 in Sunrise, Fla.

On Monday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton discuss the Hurricanes’ lack of a true superstar and their struggle to produce when it matters most.

Tyler Yaremchuk: As much as you want to do the “Take it one game at a time” strategy, man that would be hard to do. Especially with what we have been hearing out of that Hurricanes’ locker room. Jordan Staal pointblank said: “That was an ass-kicking.” It’s not a Carolina team that thinks they have good things to build off of.

Carter Hutton: That’s the biggest problem for me. This Hurricanes team builds off of creating and energy, and creating havoc for the other team. What I’ve really noticed in this series is that the Panthers have gotten under Carolina’s skin, whether it’s Brad Marchand or Matthew Tkachuk. We knew they would play a key role for Florida, but Carolina seems to get off base.

Usually the Hurricanes are a team that chugs ahead full steam and keeps coming at you in waves, but now that lack of offense has really thrown a wrench in Caroilna’s gameplay. That being said, there’s going to be a big challenge ahead for the Hurricanes, because I don’t think you’re just going to lay down and get swept. They’re going to push back.

But their stars need to be better. This is a league built on superstars, and we’re seeing it firsthand with this Hurricanes team: they don’t really have that star, a game-changing player in their lineup. They usually win by committee.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…