Storm Tracking: Hurricane Downgraded to Tropical Storm

The week started off very strong for the Hurricanes with wind speeds/scoring high enough to lay waste to a solid Predators team and a very good Sharks team. But as the team moved across the country and into Western Canada, things slowed and the hot Hurricanes cooled off. They played a pretty even game in Vancouver, but were not able to solve Eddie Lack and ended up with their second shutout loss of the season. They then traveled further north to frigid Edmonton and started the game cold as ice. For the most part, they were outplayed by the Oilers, but the Canes never gave up, tied it late and were able to gain a point they probably didn't deserve. The road trip continues before a nice little break for the team. I really think the Canes need 3 points in these next 2 games to keep up in the Eastern Conference standing. Here are the stats for the week of 12/4/13 through 12/10/13.

Canes Weekly Stats

Weekly Advanced Stats

Here is a little key to some of my abbreviations. F - For, A - Against, CF% - Corsi For Percentage, FF% - Fenwick For Percentage, SF% - Shots For Percentage, OZst% - Offensive Zone Start Percentage, NZst% - Neutral Zone Start Percentage and DZst% - Defensive Zone Start Percentage. If you would like more advanced statistics, this information was collected from www.extraskater.com.

Who's Hot

• Andrej Sekera - Sekera had yet again another fantastic week for the Hurricanes. He was the top scoring defenseman with 4 points, led all Canes with 4 assists and was a team high +4. He was second on the team in time on ice per game and tied Justin Faulk for the team lead in shots by defensemen. But the thing that stood out to me the most was the goals for and against. He was on the ice for 10 Canes goals and only 5 against. Sekera was also a possession best for the week. He led all defensemen in All Situations & 5 on 5 Close Fenwick and 5 on 5 Close Corsi. All of these numbers were over 59%. Sekera continues to make a believer out of me and show how much more he can offer than he did in Buffalo.
• Jordan Staal - Jordan also continues putting together solid weeks. He tied for 2nd on the team in goals for the week with 2 and was tied for 4th in points. If his recent pace keeps up, Jordan should be able to crack 20 goals, 50 points and be a plus player. He was also 2nd on the team in hits with 10 and 3rd in shots with 12. He and his linemates really took over the San Jose game and got the Canes the victory. You could even argue that Jordan sort of kick-started the comeback in the Edmonton game. But as with Sekera, the most impressive thing about Jordan's week was his puck possession. He was in the top 5 in every category and his lowest number was 62.2%. It seems as if Jordan Staal is now playing like the player the Canes traded for.
• Elias Lindholm - I gave Lindholm this spot over Jeff Skinner because I thought he did some little things very well and was a little more consistent in his overall play for the week. Lindholm finished the week tied for 2nd in points and assists. He also had a team high 6 takeaways without a single giveaway. He really didn't shot the puck a whole lot, registering only 2 shots on goal, but he made 1 of those count with the game winner against the Sharks. He was generally lined up with Jordan & Nathan Gerbe and that lines possession numbers were very good. Lindholm's numbers were all above 52% and he actually led the Canes in All Situation Corsi and Fenwick. It might have taken this rookie a little while to get comfortable and I'm sure he will have some more rough patches as the season wears on, but I think we're starting to see why management thought so highly of him.

Who's Not

• Cam Ward - I'll start off by saying that the Oilers game was not completely Cam's fault, but at the same time, he didn't real do himself many favors either. I don't know if Cam isn't 100% healthy yet or if he is feeling the pressure of the 3rd string backup playing so well, but the Hurricanes have themselves a goaltending controversy. Ward did help the team collect points in both games he played this week, but his save percentage numbers and goals against average were down right bad. Justin Peters save percentage was almost 10% higher than Cam's and his goals against average was less than half of Cam's. Maybe the team is playing differently in front of Ward, maybe Ward just isn't as sharp as normal right now? But whatever the reason is, this skaters on the ice look to play better and have more confidence when Peters is in the net for the Hurricanes.
• Skinner/Staal/Ruutu - While the Canes top line for the week was productive on the scoresheet, they also were inconsistent and had some negatives. These 3 players accounted for 7 of 14 goals, but 2 came on the PP, 2 were when individual players were on the ice with different teammates and 1 came shorthanded. For 1 game, this line looked really good, but the other 3 games were not really that impressive. While these 3 players did combine for 10 points, they also combined for a collective -8 rating. Their possession numbers all ranked in the bottom half of the team in every category. These are the guys that opponents are suppose to game plan against, they should be better and should be more consistent. Individually, they all had decent to good weeks, but as a group they have work to do.
• Manny Malhotra - I imagine that I would have a lot of people angry I put Manny on this list, but there is a reason. While Manny is a great team guy and an unbelievable faceoff man, I have watched his possession numbers gradually erode as weeks have gone by. I understand that he generally starts each shift in the defensive zone and doesn't have the most skilled linemates. But for a player with his faceoff ability, the Canes should be getting the puck and taking it to the other end of the ice. His possession numbers were never really that good, but this past week saw him enter the mid to low 20s in every category and he was last on the team in 3 of those categories. I know this is being nitpicky, but I would really like to see Malhotra's numbers a little higher than what they are this week.

Notable Weekly Team Stats

• Even despite being shutout in 1 games. The Canes still averaged 3.50 goals per game for the week. That was good for 7th in the NHL. Their 3.00 goals against per game was the same as last week and was tied with Montreal for 20th in the league.
• The Faceoff percentage was back down below 50%, coming in at 48.8%, 19th for the week. Manny again led the way at 66.0%, Eric was at 50.0%, Jordan clocked in at 46.3% and Riley finished at 36.8%.
• The PP had it's best week in a while, converting 2 of 11 chances. Stop the presses! The Canes actually finished with more teams below them than above them. The 18.2% PP was tied for 14th in the league.
• The PK also was very good for the week. Heading into overtime against Edmonton, the Canes were perfect on the kill. But a 4 on 3 did them in and regulated them to a loser point. For the week, they were at 92.3%, good for 6th in the NHL.
• Carolina led the league in takeaways this week with 40 and finished in the top 10 in blocks with 59. The were middle of the pack in hits with 77 and finished bottom 10 in giveaways with 38.
• The Hurricanes even outshot their opponents for the week. They averaged 29.3 shots per game (tied for 13th) and gave up 25.5 shots against per game (tied for 5th).
• Team Stat of the Week - Corsi For % & Fenwick For % - 55.9% & 55.4% - For the first time this season, the Canes actually finished a week on the positive side for 5 on 5 possession numbers. That is over a 10% improvement from last week and about 8% higher than this season's average. These are even better numbers than last season and would put the Canes in the top 5 if they could do it all year.

Former Canes Weekly Stats