Breaking down how Hurricanes can rebound against Panthers in East Final

The Coaches Room is a regular feature throughout the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs with former NHL coaches and assistants who turn their critical gaze to the game and explain it through the lens of a teacher. Phil Housley and Mark Recchi will take turns providing insight.

In this edition, Recchi, a three-time Stanley Cup champion and Hall of Fame player who has been an assistant with the Pittsburgh Penguins and New Jersey Devils, breaks down how the Carolina Hurricanes should handle being down 3-0 in the Eastern Conference Final.

For the Carolina Hurricanes, for coach Rod Brind'Amour, this isn't about coaching Xs and Os and systems anymore. Those are working. There isn't much tinkering that needs to be done there.

Down 3-0 in the Eastern Conference Final to the Florida Panthers, now it's about coaching the mindset, the mental part, the frustration and the hope.

This series could easily be 2-1 Carolina, or even 3-0 going into Game 4 at FLA Live Arena on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET; TNT, CBC, SN, TVAS). There has been a lot of domination throughout the games in Carolina's favor. I thought Game 1 was even and four overtimes would suggest that. But the last two, the Hurricanes have been the better team.

For example, Carolina had 32 shots on goal and 66 total shot attempts to Florida's 17 shots and 52 shot attempts in Game 3 on Monday. The Hurricanes won 58.1 percent of the face-offs (32 of 55). It tells you they had the puck a lot, which they did.

They still couldn't score, but that doesn't take away from the fact that they're doing the right things to try to score. They're getting pucks on net. They're going to the net. They're retrieving pucks.

Look, obviously they haven't been a real high scoring team all year and we know about the injuries to forwards Andrei Svechnikov and Max Pacioretty. Maybe it's different if they have both of those players. They're the type of players that can be slump busters.

They had other players chipping in in the first two rounds and that's what they need now. It must be by committee because that's how they've played all year. They're well balanced and they need to play that way still.

Problem is they are, and the puck is just not going into the net, and when it doesn't that leads to frustration, like we saw when Jesperi Kotkaniemi smashed his stick around on the way into the dressing room after the game Monday.

RELATED: [Complete Hurricanes vs. Panthers series coverage]

Brind'Amour understands that frustration. You heard his quote after Game 3.

"How are you not frustrated," he said. "There's times when you lose and you're frustrated because you got beat, but it feels like we're losing but we're not really getting beat, and that's where it gets frustrating."

I agree with that 100 percent, but as a coach, and Brind'Amour knows this well and handles it well, you understand the moment and let the players have their moments of frustration, but then you grab them back in and say, "Stay with it. If you don't stay with it, you're playing right into their hands."

The Hurricanes are the team that usually frustrates its opponents and now it's the other way, but they need to find some positive energy wherever they can. It can turn quickly. I know it's a daunting task down 3-0, but they can still turn this around by the way they're playing.

It's the old cliches, shift at a time, win one at a time. But that's it. If they win one game the pressure comes back onto Florida. If they win two, then the Panthers really start to feel it.

That's how the Hurricanes have to take it. Build momentum and then you give yourself a chance.

Brind'Amour will do a great job coaching that way. Their leadership with Jordan Staal will do a great job with that. Again, it's mental, bringing the team back up, because they're structurally sound, they have the puck, they're playing their team game and they're playing it well.

If you look at the other side, they're playing a team that right now feels like it's unbeatable, and it's not all just because of goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, even though it seems like that at times.

The Panthers play hard. Obviously, they got outshot badly in Game 3, but they do not stop playing a hard, physical game. They're skating well. They're well balanced up front and I think their forwards are the key to their team. They're big, fast and relentless.

If we're being honest, though, it all stems from the goalie and how he's playing. When you have a goalie playing like Bobrovsky is right now the confidence extends through the team and the coaching staff. Everybody feels taller, bigger, better.

It's the best feeling in the world when you know your goalie is there. You know he's going to make the saves. You make a mistake, he's there. That's so key. You're not worried about making mistakes because you know if you do make one, he's going to be there for you.