The Puck Stops Here
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Hurricanes Struggle
by PuckStopsHere on 11/01/09 at 11:32 AM ET
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After making the semi-finals in the 2009 playoffs, it appeared that the Carolina Hurricanes would have a strong 2009/10 season. So far that hasn’t been the case. The Hurricanes had a solid start winning two of their first four games, including a 7-2 victory over the Florida Panthers, but they haven’t won any games since. This gives Carolina a league leading eight game losing streak. That has dropped them into 29th place in a 30 team league with a 2-10 record (three losses count as overtime ties).
Carolina has scored fewer goals than any other team in the NHL - with 27 goals scored. No player on the team has more than eight points right now (Ray Whitney and Jussi Jokinen are tied for the team lead with eight points). Offensive stars Eric Staal and Ray Whitney should be counted upon to have significantly more points than this. Staal has only five points so far this year.
The Carolina defence has had too many breakdowns in its own zone. Only Joe Corvo and Joni Pitkanen have shown any puck moving ability from the defence and both have been prone to errors in their own zone. Pitkanen has been limited to seven games so far due to knee injury.
In goal, Cam Ward has been solid. He has been largely abandoned by the play of his teammates in front of him. His backup Michael Leighton has had two poor outings, which raises the possibility that Ward may be forced to be overplayed this year due to a lack of a legitimate backup option.
It is still early in the season, but the Carolina Hurricanes have struggled. They are playing well below the level that got them to the semi-finals in last year’s playoffs. There is still time for a recovery and a playoff berth, but it will be a tough road. They must have expected to have won more than two of their first twelve games.
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