Canes Focusing On 'Little Things' Ahead Of Game 2

RALEIGH, N.C. - For the first time in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Carolina Hurricanes find themselves behind in a series.

After taking Game 1 against both New Jersey and Washington, the Canes were left lamenting missed opportunities as they opened the Eastern Conference Final with a loss to the Florida Panthers.

“They played a great game, you’ve got to tip your hat," said Rod Brind'Amour. "We created a bunch of turnovers and had a couple of almosts. That’s the game. They’re doing it too. They’re trying to forecheck like us and they put more pucks in than we did tonight. They put more stress on us than we did them. That’s how they play it. That’s why they’re the best and we’re trying to beat it.”

Falling at home for the first time this postseason stings, but the page has already turned to Game 2. The Hurricanes have been solid in bounce-back efforts this postseason, going 2-0 after losses in Rounds 1 and 2 while outscoring opponents 9-2.

Most importantly, they know where they can improve ahead of their next shot at the defending champs.

“We’ve got to learn from it. Obviously, it wasn’t good enough, and there are little things that can be better," said Jordan Staal. "Special teams are always big - the kill hasn’t let a couple in in a while, and that hurt us. Power play had some good looks, but can always get one to help us get some momentum. They played a good game. We’ve got to be better. We’ll learn from our mistakes and try to find some edges so that we can have a better result.”

Firing Up The Forecheck...

When the Hurricanes are at their best, it looks like there are at least seven or eight of them on the ice, swarming the offensive zone to create turnovers and whip a lively Lenovo Center into a frenzy.

But on Tuesday, it didn't always look like that. Not for a lack of effort - the Canes comfortably out-shot and even out-hit the Panthers, who pace the postseason in that category with 616 - but simply because the Panthers were able to absorb the pressure and find holes in Carolina's attack.

Where there were stifled plays along the boards in earlier rounds, now there were chips and quick passes past the usually disruptive Canes, allowing quick transitions for the Cats in Game 1.

“I don’t think our speed was quite there. I think we were a little slow to start," said Staal, who led all skaters with 10 hits on Tuesday. "They do a good job of breaking pucks out and using each other. [They make plays with] little dinks, it’s not like long rims where our D are pinching hard on them, they kind of just dink it out so they have a little space...I thought we got into our forecheck a little bit, played a couple of shifts in their end, but we’ve got to do more of that and double down on the things we do well."

There are adjustments to be made, but even if the forecheck wasn't at its suffocating best on Tuesday, the Canes still earned their looks against Sergei Bobrovsky. Perhaps simply lacking the finishing touch, players like Seth Jarvis know that the door remains open - they just have to walk through it.

“We’re not concerned, it’s going to come," said Carolina's No. 24. "Obviously, we have to find different ways [to generate offense]. But it’s about executing, and that’s something we’ve been preaching and working on. We know, when we get the chances, that they’ll go in eventually.”

The Special Teams Battle...

The first period of Tuesday's tilt yielded a power-play opportunity for both clubs and effectively determined the direction of the game. Carolina gained momentum on the first man advantage but failed to score, while the Panthers quickly converted a look on theirs at the other end.

Just like that, the momentum favored the visitors, while the home club was left to wonder what could have been had they struck first.

“It’s tough, right off the bat, chasing the game," said William Carrier. "I think they scored two on their first four [shots], so you’re chasing the game. We had our scoring chances, right? They were there for us, they were there early in the game. I just think we have to bear down on our chances and try to find a way to get a lead.”

On the whole, Brind'Amour was pleased with his club's efforts at 5-on-4, but knows that each missed opportunity on the power play can loom large against a team like Florida.

“Power play was good, they moved it around. We’ve got to get sharper - obviously, we scored one, but if there are three power plays, we’ve got to find a way to score three," he said. "The margin for error is so little against this team. When they give you a chance, you have to find a way to put it in, just like they did to us. We didn’t give up much, but when we did, it was in the back of the net.”

On the flip side, Carolina's vaunted penalty kill was dented twice, something that has not happened during the playoffs and only occurred eight times in 82 games during the regular season.

Reflecting on the night that was, Canes players discussed the importance of discipline on Wednesday as penalties proved costly in Game 1, and highlighted some areas of improvement for the group as a whole.

“Just some missed assignments, some miscommunications out there. We haven’t had a lot of those in the playoffs or all season," said Jaccob Slavin. "We’ve got to block shots too. They’ve got an extra guy out there so there’s going to be time and space for them to make plays, but with the way we kill, we can hopefully take those away and keep them out of the dangerous areas."

Still, Slavin, who leads the team in shorthanded time-on-ice with 38:01 logged this postseason, knows the Canes' veteran killers have what it takes to stand up to a potent Panthers power play.

"We’re all over it on the penalty kill, we’ve just got to stay with it and keep doing what we’ve been doing," he said. "We’ve got better there, we know what we can do as a group and we’ll get the job done.”

Blue Line Shuffle...

After rolling out the same six defensemen for the first nine games of the playoffs, the Canes were forced into changes in Round 2 after Jalen Chatfield went down with an undisclosed injury.

Against Washington, it was Alexander Nikishin making his NHL debut in Chatfield's stead. In Game 1, the spotlight shifted to fellow rookie Scott Morrow, a right-handed shot like No. 5, for his first taste of playoff action.

Each player has an extremely bright future, but replacing Chatfield in the here and now means filling more than 20 minutes of ice time per night with a relatively inexperienced option, and that can create a few wrinkles in an otherwise smoothly operating system.

“It’s a huge loss. It’s a top-four D-man that logs a lot of minutes that we don’t have a replacement for," said Brind'Amour. "That’s going to hurt, and other guys are having to do a little more than we would normally like them to do.”

In positive news, Brind'Amour indicated on Wednesday that Chatfield was improving, labeling the defenseman "day-to-day" but noting that he still needs to be cleared to return to action.