Hurricanes must bounce back to continue playoff push
Chasing first berth since 2009, stumble against Devils
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What they do in their final 24 games will determine if they're for real.
"It's within our grasp, within our power," forward Justin Williams said. "We've got to relish that."
They didn't seem to relish their position in the Stanley Cup Playoff race Thursday, when turnovers, a lack of attack through the neutral zone, a tame forecheck and questionable goaltending led to a
5-2 loss against the New Jersey Devils
at Prudential Center.
"We didn't manage certain situations very well," coach Bill Peters said.
It was a change for the Hurricanes from their previous three games, all wins by a combined 14-5 against the Vancouver Canucks, Colorado Avalanche and Los Angeles Kings, six points that enabled them to hold the second wild card into the playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
But for Carolina, which hasn't made the playoffs since 2009 and was last in the Metropolitan Division, 11 points out of playoff position, through 58 games last season, the same number it has played this season, the loss Thursday was a reminder of how hard it's going to be from here on out.
The Hurricanes are trying to reverse course from traditional spoilers to legitimate contenders. They can't have stinkers like they did against the Devils and expect to make the playoffs.
"You need to push forward," said Williams, a three-time Stanley Cup champion, including with the Hurricanes in 2006. "That's something we talked about before the game and in intermission. It's not [being] satisfied with anything. It's pushing. It's seeing how good this team can be. Setback tonight, but we've got one Friday and one Sunday again."
The Hurricanes play at home against the New York Islanders on Friday (7:30 p.m. ET; FS-CR, MSG+, NHL.TV). It's already a bigger game than the one they played against the Devils. The Islanders defeated the New York Rangers 3-0 at home on Thursday to move within one point of Carolina for the second wild card.
Carolina plays the Devils again at home Sunday in what becomes the biggest game of the season, regardless of what happens against the Islanders.
"That's what you want," said forward Jeff Skinner, who has four goals in the past three games, matching his total from his previous 23. "You don't want to be on the outside looking in, hoping someone loses or hoping someone goes on a losing streak, and trying to do the math on what you need. Everyone knows where we are in the season, who we're battling with and how many games we've got left. I think that's good. You want to have that challenge."
Trying to meet it has been at times been a slog, with a perfect example being how the Hurricanes played against the Devils.
They took a 1-0 lead with 2:40 remaining in the first period, but gave it up 19 seconds before the intermission.
A turnover in defensive zone and a failed attempt at freezing the puck by goalie Scott Darling led to New Jersey taking a 2-1 lead at 6:48 of the second period. Carolina tied it 55 seconds later, but the Devils cashed in late in the second, with Kyle Palmieri giving them a 3-2 lead at 17:28.
The Hurricanes didn't push back in the third. Nico Hischier and Stefan Noesen scored 32 seconds apart give the Devils a 5-2 lead 8:38 into the period.
"There were some things we did to make the game harder than it needed to be and that's the stuff we've got to clean up," Peters said.
That Peters felt the Hurricanes can clean it up is a step in the right direction considering how he felt following their previous loss in regulation, 3-1 against the San Jose Sharks on Feb. 4.
That was Carolina's second straight regulation loss in which it scored one goal. It was its eighth regulation loss, sixth when scoring one goal, in 13 games since Jan. 6. And Peters had seen enough.
He ripped into the Hurricanes, calling their effort unacceptable, saying they let each other down, questioning their character and suggesting it was the type of performance that was maybe good enough for a September preseason game at a neutral site.
"We weren't playing hard on a consistent basis," Peters said. "As a coach, that's the most disappointing thing is when you don't know what you're going to get out of your group.
"We had to do something."
The Hurricanes made some roster moves, waiving forwards Marcus Kruger and Josh Jooris, and Peters created a four-line rotation, with Derek Ryan centering the fourth line, that he feels makes them more equipped to get scoring from any line.
They got seven of eight possible points in their next four games (3-0-1) before playing the Devils.
"There certainly comes a time in a season where you're where we are that you need to either step up or filter back at the end of the pack," Williams said. "We showed a lot of emotion."
They didn't Thursday. It'll go down as a mulligan if they pick it back up against the Islanders on Friday, bring it again against the Devils on Sunday, again against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday, and on and on.
There are a lot of relevant teams in the playoff race right now. Not all of them will stay that way.
"We control what we do now," Skinner said. "It's up to us to rise to that challenge."
