Canes Head South Down, But Not Out

RALEIGH, N.C. - Jordan Staal called it "an ass-whooping." Eric Robinson called it "so bad." Rod Brind'Amour said, "There was nothing to take from it."

Pick your ugly description of Thursday's Carolina Hurricanes 5-0 blowout loss to the Florida Panthers, and it applies.

It was a jarring scene for a team that had started the week a perfect five-for-five on home ice in the postseason. But it wasn't just the lopsided result that raised concern, it was that, coupled with the fact that instead of responding to a Game 1 defeat with a turnaround performance, they were whalloped up and down the ice for almost all 60 minutes.

It wasn't a step in the right direction. It was the exact opposite.

How could this happen? And at such a critical time of year?

The defending Stanley Cup Champions deserve credit for the way they came out and took it to the Canes, however, the truth is somewhere in the middle. Carolina's locker room, coaching staff, and fans know that it's not as bad as Thursday's performance led them to believe.

With not much positive to extract from the video left behind, the messaging from the Canes today was that they left the shock and embarrassment at the door on their way out on Thursday, and turned the page anew on Friday.

"You just have to wipe it clean and put it out of your memory. You can't feel sorry for yourselves," Robinson said as he spoke to reporters at Invisalign Arena. "We know it wasn't nearly good enough."

No Giving Up Now...

Flying south from RDU this afternoon following a team meeting, the mindset was that the team isn't going to let themselves be swallowed by the 2-0 series hole. What's done is done, and they're focusing on putting one foot in front of the other when the action resumes on Saturday evening at Amerant Bank Arena.

"Tomorrow's a new opportunity," Sebastian Aho said. "We've been through a lot as a group. I like the fact that we responded throughout the year... You just try and win your shift, one at a time, and not worry about the future, and not worry about what's happened in the past."

Naturally, the next question is, how exactly do the Canes turn this thing around? What needs to be changed? What is Florida doing so well through two games that has resulted in Carolina looking like a shell of a team that went 47-30-5 during the regular season and appeared to be cruising during an 8-2 start in these playoffs?

Aho, Brind'Amour, and Robinson all pointed to the forecheck. The Canes' bread and butter all season long is getting pucks in behind the opposition's defense, hunting it down, and generating their offense from there. The issue is that the Canes can't get to step three of that process if they aren't able to accomplish step one.

"They're good at breaking pucks out. We've got to be a little smarter as far as our puck placement and surround that area quicker," Robinson said. "I think it will lead to more O-zone time, which we desperately need."

Brind'Amour wants to see more heaviness when getting in on the Cats.

"We understand how they break pucks out. We've got to do a better job forechecking it," the head coach said. "When we do that, you've got to be heavy in their zone, and we haven't done that enough."

While there's more to it than just the forecheck, with a plan in place, Aho remains optimistic that if Florida can come to Raleigh and take two games, the Canes are capable of returning the favor.

"Everyone knows that if you want to make a deep run and win this thing, you're gonna have some adversity," the hungry center offered. "This is clearly ours, and this is the time that we all step up, take that next step as a group, go through this, and feel good about ourselves."

Injury Updates...

There was hope that defenseman Jalen Chatfield was going to return to the lineup on Thursday, instilling some belief that the Canes could get back on track after rookie blueliner Scott Morrow had a tough time in his place in Game 1. No better description applied to the situation than when Brind'Amour said late last series, "It looks different when (Chatfield's) not out there." It showed again last night.

Going as far as taking pre-game warmup, it looked as if #5 was set to be back alongside Dmitry Orlov, where he spent the majority of his 79 regular-season games. However, when the official lineup sheet came in, Chatfield was a no-go.

Morrow's game was improved from his Stanley Cup Playoffs debut, although there was little to show from it. The 22-year-old was tasked with even more responsibility when fellow right-handed defender Sean Walker was injured in the second period and did not return.

Brind'Amour did not have any further update on Chatfield today and gave mixed signals on Walker. "Right now [he's] a little iffy, but better than I thought he'd be," the head coach said when asked about the defenseman's Game 3 status.

If there's one positive from the slew of banged-up players, it's that forward Seth Jarvis appears to be okay after also briefly exiting the Game 2 loss. Caught with a heavy hit from Niko Mikkola in the neutral zone before going down the tunnel, Brind'Amour said that he expects the young forward to be fine.

The Canes are set to hold a morning skate on Saturday in Sunrise, potentially offering more insight before the 8 p.m. puck drop (TNT, truTV, Max, SN, CBC, TVAS).