What Went Wrong: Another Elite Eight Loss for Hurricanes

The Carolina Hurricanes' 2022 Stanley Cup Playoff run was an interesting one, to say the least. After managing to finish first in the Metropolitan Division, the Hurricanes ended up in a dogfight against a Boston Bruins team that was sputtering. Seven games, but the Hurricanes won because of home-ice--the home team won all seven games. The Canes went on to face the New York Rangers in what went on to be a hotly contested series, and just like their first series against the Bruins, the home team kept winning games.

Until they didn't.

The Hurricanes picked the wrong time to take a siesta on home ice. Game Seven saw the Canes immensely dominated by the Rangers; New York beat them to the punch at every moment, and the Hurricanes couldn't do a thing against Igor Shesterkin, and the result? A 6-2 loss in Game Seven on home ice, resulting in the team's second straight 2nd round defeat. Now the easy answer to "What Went Wrong" could be this Game Seven defeat; after all, losing that badly in a do-or-die game at home is a huge detriment. However, having to play Game Seven could have been avoided if Carolina had learned to play well on the road; they went 0-6 on the road. It's understandable that winning outside your home ice is difficult, but it has to be done if one wants to go all the way.

Another problem for the Hurricanes was their power play; it was unreliable for most of the playoffs, especially in Round 2. The Hurricanes finished with a total of seven power play goals, with only two of them coming against the Rangers--who had seven power play goals against the Canes alone. Many key players underperformed, but the biggest letdown was their big money grab in this past offseason: Jesperi Kotkaniemi. Kotkaniemi was a big role player for the Montréal Canadiens' impeccable run to the Stanley Cup Final last season; racking up five goals (including an OT winner on the last Memorial Day weekend) and three assists, for a total of eight points. This year, Kotkaniemi had two points in the playoffs. You know who else has two points in this year's playoffs? Igor Shesterkin--the Rangers' goalie!

Teuvo Teravainen and Sebastian Aho led the way with 11 points each (4 G/7 A each), while Vincent Trocheck led the team with six goals. Tony DeAngelo scored one of the team's seven power play goals--it was also the only one he had in this year's playoffs. Max Domi's three goals all came in both of the Game Sevens he played in, and while Nino Niederreiter and Andrei Svechnikov each had four goals, they each finished with five points. They played the entire playoffs without Frederik Andersen in net, resulting in Antti Raanta being their main netminder. Raanta went 6-5 with a 2.26 GAA, a .922 SV%, and a shutout. Pyotr Kochetkov (who ended up finishing Game Seven after Raanta's injury) went 1-2 with a GAA of 3.89, and a SV% of .869.

You know, I'm starting to sense a trend here. For over a decade, it was the Washington Capitals who couldn't get past Round 2 until finally breaking through in 2018. The mantle ended up being passed to the Colorado Avalanche beginning in 2019, though they ended their brief curse in 2022. Is it the Hurricanes' turn to suffer the perennial fate of losing in Round 2? We don't know. We know this: it's been three years since the Hurricanes last reached the Final Four, and since then, they've lost in Round 1 (2020) and lost twice in Round 2 (2021 and 2022; both times as division champions). The Hurricanes are an established powerhouse in the Eastern Conference, but with these results, they need to figure out what they truly need to get over that proverbial hump and possibly add a second Cup to the one they won back in 2006.

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