Storm Tracking: Recharged

Carolina returned to action from the All-Star break having to face the top seed in the Eastern Conference, the Tampa Bay Lightning.  In the Hurricanes last 10 home games against Tampa Bay, they have only been victorious in 1 game.  Tampa was also the top scoring team in the league and had 3 of the top 20 point producers in the NHL.  But this night was destined to be different.  The Canes scored 22 seconds into the game and dominated play for the first 10 minutes.  Tampa called a timeout after getting down 2 and ratcheted up their play, but Carolina would go on to score 2 more times and take the 4-2 win.  The Hurricanes are now 7-2-1 this month and putting space between them and the last place teams.  We are now as close to 23rd in the NHL to 30th, so lottery chances are dwindling.  Now on to the stats for the week of 1/21/15 through 1/27/15.

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

Eric Staal – Eric continued his strong play with a 2 point night against the Lightning.  He scored his 9^th goal in his past 12 games and made the outlet pass to Faulk on the Tlusty goal.  It was only 1 game this week, but Eric tied for the team lead in goals, points and +/-.  He also led the team in 5-on-5 Corsi Close at 72.7% and 5-on-5 Fenwick Close at 70.0%.  He finished 3^rd in both categories in All Situations.  You can’t complain about his game lately, unless you’re hoping for the team to fail to get a better draft pick.

Jordan Staal – Jordan also continued his solid play, adding 2 assists for the second straight game.  He now has 8 points in 11 games and has really changed the way this team has played.  Jordan and his brother have created a real dynamic line that has led the Canes to a 7-3-1 record when Jordan plays.  But probably the most impressive thing by Jordan has been his ability to drive possession.  He led the team in All Situations Corsi at 80.8%!  He finished 2^nd in 2 other categories and 3^rd in the other, all while mainly going up against the most dangerous offensive line for the top scoring team in the league.

Justin Faulk – The Canes All-Star looked strong in his return to regular hockey.  Faulk had a goal and assist, giving him 4 points in his last 3 games.  His PP goal was a beauty with screens by the Staals and ended up being the game winner, his 4^th game winner goal this season, tying for the team lead this season.  Faulk has now registered 9 goals this year, setting a new career high.  His 28 points are only 4 off his career best last season.  The only thing he really needs to work on is his play in his own zone and as a defenseman, that’s sort of important.  But this kid is coming up big and has a bright future in Raleigh.

Weekly Duds

Chris Terry – Terry has supposedly earned playing time over Semin and Nestrasil.  Given how poorly he’s looked in the past month, you have to wonder if Seven & Nesty ran over Coach Peters dog or something.  Terry hasn’t recorded a point since 12/20 and his highest possession number was 6.3% (he was at 0% in the 3 other categories).  I hate saying this, but Terry is the new Zach Boychuk.  He’s really good in the AHL, can put together a few quality games in the NHL, but doesn’t have nearly the consistency to be a regular NHLer.  This was one of the reasons I was not happy about the contract he signed this summer with the very high AHL salary.  It basically committed him to the NHL and for whatever reason management didn’t see he wasn’t a full-time NHL player.

Jeff Skinner – Skinner continues to run hot & cold and he is on another cold streak.  He hasn’t collected a point since 1/10 and hasn’t registered more than 3 SOG in a game since 12/29.  Skinner averaged 3.85 SOG/G last season and 3.31 SOG/G in his career.  His game is just not working right now and he needs to simplify by just shooting the puck when available, make good passes rather than over think things and work hard in his own zone.  I do need to give him credit for trying to improve his defensive game, he still has plenty of work to do, but you can tell he’s trying.  Maybe if Semin would take notice, he wouldn’t be sitting in upstairs.

The 4^th line – The Canes 4^th line has been playing really well lately, adding multiple goals this January.  But this game against Tampa was not one of their better ones.  They were completely dominated in the possession categories.  Every member of that line was at 0% in 5-on-5 Close Corsi & Fenwick.  They didn’t even get a SOG in the game.  I can’t complain too much because they have produce more than expected this month, but I would definitely like to see a little more.  They have it in them, so let’s hope they rebound against the Blues.

Weekly Team Stats

Former Canes Weekly Stats