Power Play: Canes waste chance at home, fall 2-1 to the Capitals
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Needing to make the most of a five-game homestand to continue to gain ground in the standings, the Carolina Hurricanes (8-14-3) instead lost a winnable game at home to the Washington Capitals (11-10-4), 2-1. It was a game that felt like the Hurricanes either controlled or played evenly in most of the time, but they just couldn't get that elusive bounce and continue to struggle to score.
1. Poor Anton Khudobin can't buy a break.
Much like the backup quarterback, few are more popular than the backup goalie when the starter is not playing well. Such was the case last year for Khudobin, and the Kazakhstan native's charming personality didn't hurt in making him a fan favorite either (or a favorite of his teammates). Cam Ward has emerged as the clear starter for this team, but Ward was a late scratch and Khudobin got the nod.
With the loss, he drops to 0-6-2 on the season ("I can't get rid of that monkey on my back", he lamented after the game of the lack of a win), and has a .903 save percentage with a 2.88 goals-against average. That's improved even in his last three starts (San Jose, Pittsburgh and now Washington, all at home) -- he's allowed a total of six goals in those three games and saved (2.0 per) and his save percentage goes up to .924. The problem, of course, is the Hurricanes have given him a total of three goals of support in those three games.
"To be honest, I feel bad," captain Eric Staal said of Khudobin. "He's giving us a chance, and we've got to contribute offensively. That's another reason why it's frustrating at the end of the night for a guy like him. He competes, he works and he's playing hard and you want to get the win for him and we didn't tonight."
Both of the goals Khudobin "allowed" were off turnovers, and the first one came just minutes into the game. Khudobin hasn't been perfect, but he's been much better than he started out in the last three games and still has nothing to show for it as his defense or the puck management ahead of him lets him down.
Usually quick with a smile or a joke, he could only smile wryly and shake his head, still dripping with sweat and toweling off periodically. English is not his first language, but he was having trouble expressing himself in any language. What can he say?
"Well, you know, we have to play smarter. It's five minutes into the game and you can't do something wrong with the puck on your own blue line," Khudobin said of the first allowed. "That's pretty much it. But at the same time, it's just, I don't know. It's hard to say something right now.
"Right now, I'm smiling just because I guess, I just, it's opposite way of my feeling."
2. With youth is going to come mistakes, and sometimes those mistakes will be very costly.
The aforementioned turnovers were a result of youth, as both turnovers that led to goals were committed by some of the Canes' younger players (Michal Jordan and Riley Nash).
Head coach Bill Peters was as frustrated as his players were after the game, and he too lamented the lack of puck management while simultaneously trying to defend his guys a bit, too.
When asked if he was going to make any personnel changes due to the mistakes, he was quick to say no.
"These are young guys. Michal Jordan might have been on the ice for both of them -- how many NHL games has he played? He's going to learn. That's the deal. (Riley Nash is) 25 (years old), had it on his stick in the third, maybe that could've went up the wall. Maybe Jiri Tlusty could've chipped that into the neutral zone and allowed us to get a forecheck going," Peters said.
"There's a hundred different things. Our personnel is fine. We need to coach them up, we need to do a better job and we need to dig in."
Now, just because Peters was defending his players' youth doesn't mean he was excusing the mistakes. He wasn't, and those are the types of things that can't happen if the Hurricanes are going to gain any ground here in December. Plenty of teams can make a mistake or two and get away with it, but the Hurricanes, right now, aren't most teams. There's not much of a margin for error.
"We need a little bit better puck management late in the game there. And there was a line change in the first period there and it can't happen at this level. You need to learn. You need to manage the puck better in certain situations and be aware of the time in the game," Peters said.
"You've got to be aware. You've got to be intelligent. It's the best league in the world for a reason, and you've got to play at a high level. You've got to think at a high level."
3. The Hurricanes have to figure out a way to score, no matter who's in goal.
The entire Hurricanes locker room was frustrated after the game, and Staal was no different. He got some looks seemingly throughout, but finished with two shots and four blocked attempts.
He and his teammates attempted three more shots than the Capitals but weren't playing with a lead and had to be more aggressive. They were in the first and third periods, but not as much the second which didn't please Peters very much. Either way, the fact remains the Hurricanes have a total of 10 goals in their last five games and have been held to one goal or fewer twice in that span.
"(Khudobin), tough luck here tonight. We need to score when he's in the net," Peters said. "It's tough, though. If you're going to win in this league, you've got to score some goals. I'd like to get on the board a little early. Their record, I can't recite it offhand but I know when they score first, it's pretty good and when they lead after 40, it's pretty good and they extended it again tonight."
Peters was right -- the Capitals were 9-1-1 when scoring first, and that climbed to 10-1-1 with the win.
Ultimately, though, the Hurricanes just need some scoring production from somewhere. Most of the roster is healthy at the moment, and while they finally got a goal out of Alexander Semin (his first of the year), it's not like anyone else is lighting the world on fire.
Staal always carries the burden when the offense is struggling, and this time was no different.
"You've got to stay aggressive. You've got to stay on the attack. For me, it's attacking the net, shooting pucks, using my size down low and I did that tonight. I had some looks, obviously, it's just -- I've got to finish," Staal said.
Khudobin, in spite of the utter lack of goal support he's gotten, is watching the games. He sees that at some point, these chances are going to start turning into goals for the Hurricanes. They have to.
"It's going to happen sometime. At some point, it's going to happen. Maybe we're going to score 3-4 goals or maybe even we're going to score like (the Capitals) scored today and we're going to win 2-1," Khudobin said. "It doesn't matter which score it will be. I just want to win a game. I want to help my teammates. Pretty much it."
Anton Khudobin -- Obviously. He did more than enough to win this game -- or, at least, he gave his team a chance at home. Opportunity lost for the Hurricanes.
Alexander Semin -- Carolina's $7 million man hadn't scored in the Hurricanes' first 20 games, but he notched both his first goal of the season and his 500th NHL point with the team's only goal. He was active as well, shooting a team-high five times and even adding four takeaways and a blocked shot. "I can't say for everybody, I can say for myself, I'm really happy for him," Khudobin said of Semin. "In the second period, I came to him and I said, 'Hey, don't put your head down, just keep shooting the puck and you will get something.' Sometimes, it's just going to bounce somewhere and going to get behind the net and pretty much it. He created a pretty good chance ... and he put puck in (the) right spot."
Jay Harrison -- The veteran defenseman was one of just two players in the positive on +/- (+1) and had an assist on the Hurricanes' lone goal, doling out three hits and blocking two shots as well.
