Hurricanes still feel like they haven’t got to their game yet
Tuesday’s thrilling 5-4 victory for the Vegas Golden Knights over the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final was great spectacle for hockey fans, but chances are the coaches for each team weren’t as pleased with what they saw. The game’s nine total goals did not reflect the strong, tight-checking style both teams are known for.
The Hurricanes in particular looked like a different team from the one we’ve seen so far in these playoffs. Game 1 represented just their second loss and second time they’ve allowed more than two goals this postseason. If head coach Rod Brind’Amour and company want to finally hoist the Stanley Cup, they’ll have to look more like the team that rolled through the Eastern Conference beginning with Thursday’s Game 2.
On Thursday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, hosts Tyler Yaremchuk and Carter Hutton were joined by The Fourth Period‘s David Pagnotta to discuss how the Hurricanes can rediscover their game against the Golden Knights.
Tyler Yaremchuk: Dave, we talked off the jump here about how tonight kind of feels like a must-win for the Carolina Hurricanes. You’re there, you’re boots on the ground, you’ve been in the room and in all the press conferences, what’s the vibe around this Carolina team after Game 1?
David Pagnotta: They feel they didn’t get to their game, or their game kind of got away from them, which hasn’t happened at all in these playoffs. Game 1 against Montreal they were kind of just too eager it seemed to play, and they kind of got back to their game in the second period. In this one, they got off to a good start, obviously, 25 seconds in, the third-fastest goal to start the Stanley Cup Final in history. They kept maintaining that pace until the last few minutes of that first period, and then Vegas started to kind of get back, and understand what they were dealing with. They dominated that second period, and then Carolina couldn’t really find an answer.
They felt that if they had lost playing their system the full 60 minutes, they’d have their backs up against the wall. They don’t feel that right now. That being said, if Vegas continues to do what they’re doing, and John Tortorella said this morning that are no changes taking place to his lineup, and they continue to perform the way they did in the final 40 minutes of that game, this is going to be another tall task. Even taller for Carolina, because they don’t want to go down to Vegas 2-0.
You can catch the full discussion and the rest of Thursday’s episode here…