Storm Tracking: Taking a Punch & Getting Back Up

The Canes continued their hot November going 2-0-1 this week.  They now sit 5-6-3 on the season, 4 points out of the last playoff spot and 5 points from the bottom of the league.  The team didn't look as good as the previous week, getting off to slow opening periods against the Jackets, Caps and Flames.  But the boys took the first punch and continued to fight, collect 5 out of a possible 6 points.  They were down two in the 3rd period in Washington, but turned it up late and really should have gone to the shootout, if not for a juicy rebound.  But the Flames game was probably the most impressive to me, taking it to a team that embarrassed them a couple weeks ago.  Carolina has a chance to get back to & possibly surpass NHL 500 this upcoming week, but staying there will be tough.  6 of their next 8 are on the road and 6 of their next 8 are against playoff teams from last season.  Now on to the weekly stats for the week of 11/5/14 through 11/11/14.

Canes Weekly Stats

Player	GP	TO/G	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	S	Hits	BkS	GvA	Tka	FO%
Justin Faulk	3	26:10	1	4	5	1	2	12	3	10	3	0
Jeff Skinner	3	18:07	2	2	4	3	0	12	1	0	2	2	33.3
Riley Nash	3	19:16	1	2	3	1	0	4	6	5	1	0	50.0
Victor Rask	3	15:34	1	2	3	1	0	9	1	0	1	2	63.2
Alexander Semin	3	17:30	0	3	3	2	4	4	2	1	1	5	50.0
Elias Lindholm	3	17:11	2	0	2	2	0	5	4	1	3	2	0
Eric Staal	3	20:34	1	1	2	-1	2	13	0	0	1	3	50.0
Zach Boychuk	3	11:40	1	0	1	E	0	1	6	1	0	1
Nathan Gerbe	3	17:58	0	1	1	1	0	9	2	0	2	1	100
Tim Gleason	1	17:10	1	0	1	1	0	2	0	1	1	0
Andrej Sekera	3	23:25	0	1	1	1	2	5	0	6	0	4
Brett Bellemore	2	12:33	0	0	0	-1	4	2	3	1	1	1
Patrick Dwyer	3	10:41	0	0	0	E	2	2	7	3	1	2	28.6
Ron Hainsey	3	21:52	0	0	0	1	0	0	6	9	2	0
Jay Harrison	3	17:07	0	0	0	1	0	3	4	6	2	1
John-Michael Liles	3	18:34	0	0	0	E	0	2	1	6	5	1
Brad Malone	1	7:20	0	0	0	E	0	0	3	0	0	0
Jay McClement	3	13:29	0	0	0	1	0	3	5	3	2	0	66.7
Chris Terry	2	9:12	0	0	0	-1	2	1	1	0	0	0
Jiri Tlusty	3	15:46	0	0	0	-2	0	4	2	2	2	0	0

Goalie	GP	GS	W	L	OTL	Shots	GA	Sv	Sv %	GAA	Ev Sv %	PP Sv %
Anton Khudobin	1	1	0	0	1	39	4	35	.897	3.71	.912	.750
Cam Ward	2	2	2	0	0	54	3	51	.944	1.45	.955	.889

Weekly Advanced Stats

The chart is arranged by the highest 5 on 5 Close Corsi For Percentage.

Here is a little key to some of my abbreviations. AS – All Situations, 5C – 5 on 5 Close, 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.war-on-ice.com.

Player	GP	ASCF%	ASFF%	ASSF%	5CCF%	5CFF%	5CSF%	OZst%	NZst%	DZst%
Gleason	1	54.5	52.0	57.1	61.9	56.3	44.4	21.1	31.6	47.4
Harrison	3	54.1	51.3	47.2	59.5	56.5	41.9	34.1	26.8	39.0
Gerbe	3	57.0	59.4	60.8	58.7	64.3	61.1	46.4	28.6	25.0
Semin	3	65.8	63.2	60.0	58.1	53.2	58.8	50.0	27.6	22.4
Lindholm	3	56.2	57.6	60.5	57.1	62.1	61.9	46.7	28.3	25.0
Skinner	3	67.3	68.8	62.0	56.9	58.3	50.0	56.6	24.5	18.9
Nash	3	46.6	47.9	48.0	55.8	61.3	57.1	38.8	23.9	37.3
Liles	3	62.6	55.6	50.9	52.9	43.2	31.0	45.3	24.5	30.2
Sekera	3	50.0	55.7	57.1	52.4	57.1	60.4	39.4	26.6	34.0
Terry	2	60.0	50.0	46.2	52.4	43.8	30.0	41.2	23.5	35.3
Staal	3	60.1	55.1	54.5	50.7	46.4	46.2	46.7	26.7	26.7
Rask	3	60.6	60.3	66.7	50.0	45.7	43.5	39.6	26.4	34.0
Boychuk	3	50.0	48.1	48.6	48.0	43.2	40.7	25.0	32.5	42.5
Faulk	3	46.6	50.0	52.5	43.8	48.1	50.0	39.2	24.5	36.3
Tlusty	3	45.9	41.2	32.7	40.7	35.6	27.3	33.9	30.4	35.7
McClement	3	37.9	42.6	41.9	40.5	42.3	36.4	22.2	17.8	60.0
Hainsey	3	39.1	39.1	38.5	37.3	33.3	29.6	26.2	27.9	45.9
Malone	1	41.2	40.0	44.4	36.4	33.3	33.3	50.0	25.0	25.0
Bellemore	2	27.5	25.0	17.4	33.3	29.4	23.1	34.5	27.6	37.9
Dwyer	3	26.2	23.7	29.6	33.3	31.6	31.3	26.3	18.4	55.3

Weekly Studs

Justin Faulk – Faulk continued his impressive play this week and is showing signs of being the top 2 defenseman the Canes need him to be.  The led the team in ice time, assists, points, blocks and tied for 2^nd with 12 shots.  His Corsi & Fenwick numbers ranked in the bottom half of the team, but he was generally on the ice in many tough situations.  He was in the upper half in both Shot categories.  The new coaching staff has seemed to get Faulk to turn the corner, now the key is to figure out how to keep him playing at this level.

Jeff Skinner – I think Skinner had his ups & downs this week, but I was really impressed by the way he played when him & Semin were centered by McClement.  Skinner’s offensive game jumped and quickly resulted in 2 goals for the Canes.  For the week, he tied for the team lead in goals with 2, was 2^nd in points and tied for 2^nd in shots.  His possession numbers were also good, all ranking in the 50s to 60s.  I’m not sure if this Skinner/McClement/Semin line is meant to last, but I’m interested in seeing where it might go over the next couple of games.

Cam Ward – I certainly have given Cam a lot of grief over the past couple of seasons and I honestly thought he was done.  But like a phoenix, he has risen from the ashes and is playing comparable to other top goalies in the league right now.  His 0.944 save percentage and 1.45 goals against average for the week would rank in the NHL top 5 for the year.  He has rediscovered his confidence and you can tell the team has rediscovered their confidence in him.  The schedule now gets a little tougher; let’s hope that Cam can keep up his stellar play.

Weekly Duds

John-Michael Liles – I’m not saying that Liles was horrible, but he has definitely not been very good.  The Canes offensive defenseman has virtually provided no offense and looks like the guy that Toronto wouldn’t even play.  Liles unfortunately had a team high 5 giveaways and only registered 2 shots on goal.  He was also 1 of only 2 defensemen that did not have a positive rating.  The Canes are paying Liles quite a bit of money for his services and he hasn’t really provided much of anything this year.  It’s time for him to kick it up a notch and prove he is still a capable NHL defender.

Jiri Tlusty – I want to give Tlusty a little pass, because he seems to be fighting through some injury or something.  But the bottom line is that he had a very poor week.  He was a team worst -2, had no points and only 4 shots.  His possession numbers were also quite bad, ranging between 46 and 27.  While he got some time on the top line with Staal & Semin, he spent most of the week in the bottom 6.  Whatever is going on with him, he needs to get it fixed.  The Canes need their leading goal scorer so far to provide goals or at least scoring chances.

Chris Terry – Terry has had a fantastic start to the season and really his NHL career, but this week showed why he has had trouble getting called up and staying.  While he has sniper abilities and can work on the PP, he really doesn’t possess a strong overall game.  While he started in the NHL, call-up Zach Boychuk has started to pass him, providing more to the team.  I still think Terry can be a useful player for the Hurricanes this season, but I don’t believe he is an everyday player.  Again, I think against non-physical teams, where he can play on a PP unit, I think he can work.  Against physical teams, it might be better to healthy scratching him.  I guess we’ll see how this works itself out.

Weekly Team Stats

Goals Per Game				Goals Against Per Game
Ranking	Team	G/PG		Ranking	Team	GA/PG
1.	Boston	4.50		1.	Montreal	0.67
2.	Toronto	4.33		2.	NY Islanders	0.75
3.	Tampa Bay	4.25		3.	Los Angeles	1.00
4.	Philadelphia	4.00		4.	Nashville	1.67
T5.	St. Louis	3.67		T5.	Anaheim	2.00
T5.	Washington	3.67		T5.	Boston	2.00
7.	NY Rangers	3.50		T5.	Philadelphia	2.00
T8.	Carolina	3.33		T5.	St. Louis	2.00
T8.	Detroit	3.33		T9.	Arizona	2.33
T10.	Calgary	3.00		T9.	Carolina	2.33

Shots Per Game				Shots Against Per Game
Ranking	Team	S/PG		Ranking	Team	SA/PG
1.	Chicago	38.7		1.	Los Angeles	22.5
T2.	Dallas	35.7		2.	Minnesota	23.7
T2.	Pittsburgh	35.7		3.	NY Islanders	25.5
4.	NY Islanders	35.3		T4.	Detroit	25.7
T5.	Nashville	34.3		T4.	Florida	25.7
T5.	Winnipeg	34.3		6.	New Jersey	26.8
7.	Anaheim	34.0		7.	Boston	27.0
8.	Edmonton	33.5		8.	Chicago	28.3
9.	Toronto	33.0		9.	Nashville	29.0
T14.	Carolina	31.0		T14.	Carolina	31.0

PowerPlay Percentage				Penalty Kill Percentage
Ranking	Team	PP %		Ranking	Team	PK %
1.	Boston	60.0%		1.	Nashville	100%
2.	Detroit	46.2%		2.	NY Islanders	92.9%
3.	Anaheim	42.9%		3.	Pittsburgh	90.9%
4.	St. Louis	41.7%		T4.	Ottawa	90.0%
T5.	Calgary	37.5%		T4.	Winnipeg	90.0%
T5.	Philadelphia	37.5%		T6.	Los Angeles	88.9%
7.	NY Rangers	30.0%		T6.	Montreal	88.9%
T8.	Nashville	28.6%		T6.	Toronto	88.9%
T8.	Toronto	28.6%		T9.	Philadelphia	87.5%
T11.	Carolina	25.0%		T21.	Carolina	75.0%

Hits				Blocked Shots
Ranking	Team	Hits		Ranking	Team	BkS
1.	NY Islanders	143		1.	Tampa Bay	79
2.	Ottawa	137		2.	Dallas	69
3.	Buffalo	123		3.	NY Rangers	66
4.	Columbus	111		4.	NY Islanders	65
5.	San Jose	108		5.	Vancouver	64
T6.	Toronto	107		6.	Washington	60
T6.	Winnipeg	107		T7.	Carolina	55
8.	Anaheim	102		T7.	Toronto	55
9.	Colorado	98		9.	Montreal	54
22.	Carolina	57		10.	Buffalo	52

Giveaways				Takeaways
Ranking	Team	GvA		Ranking	Team	TkA
1.	St. Louis	7		1.	Toronto	44
2.	Boston	10		2.	NY Rangers	38
3.	Florida	11		3.	San Jose	36
4.	Columbus	12		T4.	NY Islanders	34
5.	Philadelphia	13		T4.	Ottawa	34
6.	Tampa Bay	14		6.	Washington	31
T7.	Calgary	17		7.	Carolina	26
T7.	New Jersey	17		8.	St. Louis	25
9.	Colorado	18		9.	Anaheim	24
T21.	Carolina	32		T10.	Colorado	23

Team Faceoff Percentage				Team Save Percentage
Ranking	Team	FO %		Ranking	Team	Sv %
1.	Montreal	57.0%		1.	Montreal	0.978
2.	Boston	56.1%		2.	NY Islanders	0.971
3.	Dallas	55.5%		3.	Los Angeles	0.956
4.	Los Angeles	55.4%		4.	Philadelphia	0.946
5.	Florida	54.7%		5.	Nashville	0.943
T6.	Detroit	54.3%		6.	Anaheim	0.938
T6.	Edmonton	54.3%		7.	St. Louis	0.934
8.	St. Louis	54.1%		8.	Arizona	0.933
9.	Chicago	53.4%		9.	Winnipeg	0.930
11.	Carolina	52.6%		T12.	Carolina	0.925

Former Canes Weekly Stats

Player	Team	GP	TOI/G	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	S	Hits	BkS	GvA	Tka	ASCF%
Sutter	PIT	3	16:40	1	2	3	2	0	8	4	2	2	0	47.3
Eaves	DAL	3	14:08	1	1	2	2	2	7	4	6	0	1	53.4
Cole	DAL	3	11:50	1	1	2	E	0	9	10	2	1	2	53.7
Ruutu	NJD	4	11:44	1	1	2	2	0	7	9	2	0	0	58.1
Cullen	NSH	3	13:41	2	0	2	E	2	4	0	0	0	1	53.8
Seidenberg	BOS	2	23:26	0	1	1	2	0	1	7	3	1	0	54.8
Jokinen	FLA	3	15:39	0	1	1	-2	2	5	0	2	0	0	52.0
Carter	MIN	3	9:45	1	0	1	E	0	4	2	0	0	0	52.8
Vrbata	VAN	2	13:05	1	0	1	E	0	5	2	0	0	0	35.0
Ladd	WPG	3	20:30	1	0	1	E	0	11	15	2	1	0	62.3
Allen	ANA	2	20:31	0	0	0	1	2	2	8	3	1	0	60.9
Williams	LAK	1	17:29	0	0	0	1	2	2	0	0	0	0	59.3
Bowman	MTL	1	6:06	0	0	0	E	0	0	1	0	0	0	10.0
Malhotra	MTL	3	12:30	0	0	0	E	0	2	5	4	0	1	17.3
Adams	PIT	3	9:44	0	0	0	-1	5	2	5	1	2	1	41.8