Gold: Hurricanes face a 'must-win' in Game 4 tonight

By Adam Gold radio host 99.9 the Fan

“Unfit to play”

That’s the official way to describe why Andrei Svechnikov won’t play in Game 4. Yes sir, Svechnikov, who’s leg was trapped beneath him as he tangled with Boston defenseman Zdeno Chara midway through the 3rd period of the Carolina Hurricanes’ 3-1 loss to the Boston Bruins, is definitely unfit to play. Can’t argue with that.

As part of the return to play agreement, the NHL can not disclose why players do not practice or play. The Bruins have had their own issues with health as scoring machine David Pastrnak has been “unfit” the last two games. Tuukka Rask, Boston’s goaltender in Games 1 and 2 before opting out of the bubble hockey tournament, was unfit the practice day prior to the start of the series. The reasoning for the secrecy? The players didn’t want the world to know of a positive Covid-19 test.

Incidentally, there haven’t been any since the league showed up in Toronto and Edmonton. Zero positive tests out of almost 7,500 administered is as good as you can do.

But, here’s the thing. WE KNOW SVECHNIKOV INJURED HIS LEG. We saw the play. We saw him crumple to the ice and grab his knee. We saw him being helped to the locker room with his arm wrapped around his BFF, Dougie Hamilton. It’s absolutely ludicrous that the league won’t allow the Hurricanes to announce the nature of the injury.

But, he’s definitely “unfit”. That much we do know.

So….

How do the Hurricanes go about making up for Svechnikov’s absence? The goals, the physical play, the attitude (my favorite part of Svech’s game), really can’t be replaced, at least not by one person. The Hurricanes don’t have another like him. Just like Boston doesn’t have another Pastrnak. They’ve made do and so must the Canes.

What Carolina needs more than anything is for the team to play the way they did in Game 2, when virtually everyone was impactful. Like the Bruins rallied around goaltender Jaro Halak in the wake of Rask’s opt-out, the Canes will have to pull together without Svechnikov. I recall Carolina figuring out a way to win 6 of 7 playoff games last spring without Andrei in the line up, so I have to assume that it’s possible to accomplish.

It just means that more will be expected of Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen. It means that Carolina will need Justin Williams to find the scoresheet, something that hasn’t happened in Toronto. Jordan Staal is also without a scoring point. But, the Hurricanes have NHL depth that they didn’t have a year ago. Last year, the Hurricanes dipped into the minor leagues for the likes of Aleksi Saarela and Patrick Brown when injuries cropped up in the post season.

This go-round, Ryan Dzingel will come off the bench and draw back into the line up. He’s a multiple 20-goal scorer including 26 the last two seasons, and was a very effective player in the 1st two games of this series. This is simply a better team than Carolina iced last year. From Vincent Trocheck to Martin Necas to better versions of Aho and Teravainen, the Hurricanes are capable of surviving the loss of Svechnikov and winning a hockey game.

And, if they can do it once, they can do it again…and again.

Justin Williams said it best, “We’ve got a lot more to give, and we plan on being here a long time.”

Has to start tonight. Opening face off for Game 4 between the Hurricanes and Bruins is just after 8:00. Coverage on 99.9 the Fan begins at 7:30 with Alec Campbell and Storm Watch. Then Mike Maniscalco and Tripp Tracy are along with the play-by-play which can also be seen on Fox Sports Carolinas.

The look…(no Svechnikov)

Niederreiter-Aho-Teravainen

Foegele-Trocheck-Necas

McGinn-Staal-Williams

Dzingel-Geekie-Martinook

Slavin-Hamilton

Skjei-Vatanen

Fleury-van Riemsdyk

Mrazek

Reimer

Thoughts: Without trying to outthink the room, here’s the most logical way for the Hurricanes to line up. However, I keep coming back to how the Aho-Teravainen combination looked with Martinook throwing his body around with them the final two periods of Game 2. I don’t think it would be the worst thing in the world to have a banger on every line, so if you put Marty with the Fins, dropped Nino to play with Staal and Willy moving Brock McGinn to the fourth line, that would give every line a physical element to counter the Bruins’ physicality.

It would also help the Hurricanes if Joel Edmundson wasn’t “unfit”. The Canes need his physical presence on the back end and could use him on the penalty kill, which has struggled in the two games he’s missed. If he’s in I’d expect Trevor van Riemsdyk to slide out.

It does not matter who’s in net. This will always be about the way the 18 guys play in front of the goalie. I have a feeling the Canes will stay with Petr Mrazek who has been outstanding in both of his starts in this series, though both were losses.

The stakes

It isn’t do or die, but it’s close. This is kind of a pride game for the Hurricanes. it isn’t so much that they lost to Boston in Game 3. It’s that they looked terrible in doing so. When they needed a push, they came up with zilch.  I really think this is the biggest game of the series for the Hurricanes.  It’s pride game and a leadership game.

Time for those singers and dancers to do their singing and dancing.