Storm Tracking: Streaking

The week and month began with the Hurricanes in dead last in the NHL, the only team in the league without a win.  They returned home from a western road trip to face another Western Conference team.  Carolina came out quick, scoring 2 in the 1st period and watched as the Cam of old returned to the PNC.  The followed their first win of the season with the second half of a back-to-back against the defending Stanley Cup champs.  They again came started quick and held on for their second victory.  They finished the week traveling to Columbus to face the Blue Jackets.  Coach Peters rode the hot hand and the Canes continued with their early dominance.  The Jackets fought back, but Cam and Carolina held on for their first road win of the season.  The team really put forth a solid effort in every game and appeared to play the game the way Coach Peters wants them to play.  Now on to the weekly stats for the week of 10/29/14 through 11/4/14.

Canes Weekly Stats

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.

Weekly Studs

Justin Faulk – Faulk didn’t just get off to a slow start, he downright looked poor during the first month of the season.  But as the calendar flipped, so did Justin’s game.  For as poor as he was in October, he’s been equally impressive to start November.  For the week, he tied for 2^nd in points, was 3^rd in shots and had a team high 7 takeaways.  He also added a short-handed goal, his first goal of the season.  Faulk, as well as the entire team, had a real good possession week.  He was over 54% in All Situtations, even more impressive given that he was 2^nd on the team in shorthanded time per game.  And in 5 on 5 Close, his lowest number was a 70.0% Corsi.  Maybe Faulk is getting back to the way he started last season, maybe it’s just a blip, but either way Faulk found his confidence and game this week.

Elias Lindholm – Lindholm started the season playing a solid game, but the offense just wasn’t there.  But Elias found his groove and the offense rocketed off his stick to the tune of a team leading 5 points and 3 goals.  Lindholm also led all Canes forwards with 9 hits and was tied for 2^nd with 4 takeaways.  And that still doesn’t take into account some unbelievable possession numbers from the 2^nd year player.  His line of Gerbe/Nash/Lindholm has really been dominant during this 3 game winning streak.  Now the question is can he keep this level of play up or even progress?

The former Checkers – I really couldn’t narrow it down to just one, so I’m giving this last one to the former Checkers.  Nash, Rask, Bellemore, Terry and Boychuk were vital to the Canes winning these games.  This group combined for 4 goals, 6 assists, a +11 rating and 35 shots.  Nash has arguable been the best Canes player this season.  Rask is playing a game beyond his rookie status.  Terry is showing he is a sniper.  Boychuk is displaying a ton of energy and mixing in some skill.  And Bellemore just played about as solid a 3 games as could be asked from him.  All of these guys had amazing possession numbers with multiple values over 80%.  The Carolina franchise just might have a little more depth than what was originally thought, it just need the opportunity and some time.

Cam Ward – The Canes had such a good week, I had to give them 4 Studs and only 2 Duds.  And the much maligned (by me) Cam Ward deserves a heap of praise for his work this week.  Cam recorded 3 solid victories and his first shutout since before I was a married man.  His 0.947 save percentage was awesome and a 1.34 goals against average is great.  Cam Ward returned to the ice this week and it was great to see.  Whether or not this is sustainable, only time will tell?  But for 7 days in early November, the Canes and their fans had the Ward we came to know back on the ice, doing what he does best.

Weekly Duds

Alexander Semin – Some might not find it fair to put Semin at the top of the Dud list again, as he only played in 1 game this week.  But he was taken out of the lineup and the team responded positively and when he did get reinserted, he did virtually nothing.  Alex did have 1 takeaway and if not for that, you might not even notice that he played.  Unlike most of the team, his possession numbers are horrible, all being between 25% to 40%.  I’m just really not sure what his deal is?  He has talent, he was the first player on the ice before the Columbus game and he seems like a pretty good guy.  Things just aren’t clicking for him and it’s frustrating to the fans and I’m sure to him as well.  Semin just needs to get back to basics, shoot when he gets open, work hard in your own zone and hopefully things start to turn around.

The offensive defensemen (Ryan Murphy & John-Michael Liles) – There are many factors that went into the Canes 3 game winning streak, all except the need for 2 small offensive defensemen.  I’m obviously picking on these guys, but I do find this interesting.  The Canes basically put forth their best "defensive" unit and the team responded with 3 wins over 3 teams that are in the top 10 in hits.  Instead of trying to force a square peg into a round hole, Peters decided to match up his most physical defensive grouping with 3 physical teams.  Does this mean the team doesn’t need these guys, no, but maybe a more traditional defense works for Carolina?

Weekly Team Stats

Former Canes Weekly Stats