More Inconsistency Plagues Canes In Loss To Flyers

"It just doesn't look like we've completely bought into how we want to do things. [When that's the case] it's going to look like that. It's going to be a .500 club that wins some games, loses some, and is just ho-humming. It's starting to get frustrating."

By Walt Ruff

@WaltRuff Hurricanes.com

November 16, 2023

RALEIGH, NC. - A lack of sharpness on the defensive side of things hurt the Carolina Hurricanes Wednesday, digging a hole en route to their 3-1 defeat at the hands of the Philadelphia Flyers.

Mista Svechnikov and the boys 👊 pic.twitter.com/iVNnPw3wf1
— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) November 16, 2023

Gotta Get Your Guy...

Things got started on the wrong foot for Carolina inside the opening two minutes.

Philadelphia defenseman Louie Belpedio grabbed a puck with his glove in the neutral zone and started a zone entry for his club. Two quick passes later, Owen Tippett placed a shot behind the trafficking Belpedio, who continued driving toward Pyotr Kochetkov's net and it was 1-0.

The key breather in that segment was that Carolina's forwards did not track back with the Flyers blueliner who had jumped up in the play.

Although the Canes' pushback was strong for the next 15 minutes, Philadelphia was able to double their lead before the first horn.

Amid a scramble in the home team's end, a breakdown on defense allowed Flyers forward Travis Konecny to slip free atop the crease. Philadelphia defenseman Nick Seeler put it right on his tape for a redirection.

Done with 20 minutes. 2-0, Flyers.

The #Canes never want to be playing from behind, but they had two should-have-been slam dunks that could have this game looking vastly different.

Their ability to create offense in return has been fine. Their sharpness on defense... has not.
— Walt Ruff (@WaltRuff) November 16, 2023

Unforced Error...

Carolina created plenty of scoring chances in the first 20 minutes, providing reason to be optimistic heading into the middle 20.

Unfortunately, the level of faith was lessened just 29 seconds into the middle frame.

Philadelphia chipped the puck in behind Kochetkov's crease and after their first forward in blew a tire, it looked like it could have been a routine zone breakout for the Canes. Instead, the lone forward that was upright for the Flyers got in the way of the first attempted pass, and the puck kicked right to an opposing player in the slot.

Then facilitated to Ryan Poehling in front, it was 3-0, Flyers.

Bigger than hockey 💜 #HockeyFightsCancer pic.twitter.com/IJH1EKgJY4
— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) November 16, 2023

100 For Stef...

Like the first period, Carolina's response was solid.

Kochetkov, despite allowing the three, with at minimum two being of no fault to him, was keeping his team in the game. Philadelphia had many high-danger chances that could have opened the game up by more than a trio much earlier.

During the middle stages of the frame, the Canes found what wound up being their only goal of the night though, coming via Stefan Noesen.

His 100th NHL point, Carolina went end-to-end with a near-flawless transition play.

PHI@CAR: Noesen scores goal against Flyers

This or That...

A scoreless third period took the contest to the finish line with the same 3-1 score, sending Carolina back to the drawing board with what could only be described as a frustrating loss.

After bouncing back from an underwhelming performance on Friday in Florida against the Panthers with a shutout victory of the Lightning, tonight looked a lot more like the execution that was there in Sunrise.

Unfortunately, a theme of inconsistency has shown throughout the group's first 16 games, now bringing the group to a 9-7 start.

One night the team has looked like a club that's won three consecutive division championships, but the next they look like a group still trying to find its footing.

The frustration surround that was very evident post-game.

"Inconsistency" was the theme of the post-game, used by players and Rod Brind'Amour.

"It's frustrating, but it's got to stop. That's going to be on me pretty soon to start shaking things up if we continue to do that. We're too good to be inconsistent." pic.twitter.com/0lsriPUXIh
— Walt Ruff (@WaltRuff) November 16, 2023

They Said It...

Rod Brind'Amour offering his thoughts, post-game...

"[Our game] is not consistent enough. It's hard enough to win and we're making it harder on ourselves. We're trying to be too cute here or there. They blocked a ton of shots, give them credit. They played exactly how we said they would... We need to stick to our game plan more."

Jordan Staal on if the lack of consistency is surprising given that so much of the team is returning from the group's previous success in recent years...

"The effort of the way we want to play is what's holding us back. The edge that you have in the NHL is that you kind of know where the puck is going because that's the way that we do things. It seems right now we're just not sure what's going to happen. It starts to look like that sloppy stuff in the neutral zone when pucks are bouncing around and guys are just twirling around. It's a less direct game than the Hurricanes know and love. I'm sure the fans love to watch it and tonight they didn't really look like they loved that game. And I don't blame them."

Andrei Svechnikov sharing what he thinks is one of the things that need to change...

"We've got to make smarter plays in the offensive zone. We've got to put the puck on net. We've got to get rid of some of those little passes and try and score goals."