Mistakes sink Canes, Svechnikov’s hat trick not enough

Well it had to come sooner or later, as the Carolina Hurricanes dropped their first L of the season, a 6-4 loss to the Edmonton Oilers Thursday night at Rogers Place.

It was the same script as the first two games. A sleepy start, the first goal goes against, the team ramps it up in the second period and on, however, the act started to go against the prior scripts.

So even despite an Andrei Svechnikov hat trick — his first in the regular season — the effort just wasn’t enough to thwart a high-octane Oiler offense.

The biggest key in the loss for the Hurricanes was the compounding mistakes. Simple mistakes that led to disastrous results.

Goal one against, Sebastian Aho had time and space to clear the puck on the penalty killed and failed to get it out. Oilers keep it in and score immediately on a deflection in front.

Goal two against, Canes power play gets caught napping and a two-on-one breaks out the other way which Ryan McLeod finished backhand, five-hole.

Goal three against, Connor McDavid springs Evander Kane for a breakaway, he goes backhand, five-hole.

Goal four against, Frederik Andersen leaves the crease to play a puck, but when it gets stuck outside the trapezoid he is stranded behind the net and the Oilers have an easy put away.

Goal five against, Canes are on the penalty kill and go for an overload on the puck along the boards leaving Leon Draisaitl open in front where he gets an outlet pass and hammers it home.

Goal six against, Jesperi Kotkaniemi telegraphs a pass all the way and McDavid picks it off to put it into the empty net for the seal.

The team didn’t play poor necessarily as a whole, with the power play cashing in twice and the Canes carrying the majority of play at even-strength, but overall it wasn’t a clean game.

However, despite the loss, there were still some positives to take away from the game.

For one, the Hurricanes second line continues to look like a difference maker.

Svechnikov is quickly evolving into the star he was pegged to be, with a world class shot and physical strength. He is showcasing his ability to be a complete player and he is quickly approaching that next level.

Along with him, Martin Necas is continuing to flash his confidence, with his hands managing to keep up with his dazzling skating and it was all on display with his back-and-forth, power play goal with Aho.

But the Canes need better from everyone else and especially their top line, which was steadily outchanced all game long and didn’t really set itself aside at even-strength.

A big piece of that begins with Teuvo Teravainen who has just a lone assist on the season. He has been a steady difference maker for the Canes and they need him to start producing.

Outside of them, it also seems like the new guys are still trying to get fully comfortable as well.

So even though the Canes had steady offensive production overall, as a group that prides themselves on their defensive, it’s a game they’ll want to flush.

They’ll get that chance to put this game behind themselves fairly soon though as they continue the road trip to Calgary to take on the Flames Saturday night.