The Carolina Hurricanes rely on complete buy-in from every player on the ice.
Their success is built on being relentless and applying constant pressure, but it can come unglued quickly if their rhythm gets thrown off.
If one part of Carolina’s game slows down, the entire operation falls apart.
That’s exactly what’s happened in the Eastern Conference finals against the Florida Panthers.
Not only are the Hurricanes down 3-0 in the best-of-seven series, it hasn’t been close. Florida has outscored Carolina 16-4, and the Cats have scored at least five goals in all three contests.
For context, the Canes allowed just 18 total goals in 10 games against the Devils and Capitals earlier in the postseason.
If this sounds familiar, it’s because we’ve seen this movie before.
Every spring, it seems like the Hurricanes look like world-beaters through the early rounds of the playoffs, but as soon as they need to step up in weight class, they fold.
It’s because the Hurricanes have a fatal flaw. More than any other team, they are matchup dependent. They are built to outlast opponents with a death-by-a-thousand-paper-cuts approach, but that just doesn’t work when you’re required to win four of seven games against a juggernaut like the Panthers.
Perhaps the most discouraging part for the Hurricanes is they look out of answers. Coaches and teams make adjustments throughout a best-of-seven series, but the Panthers seem like an unanswerable riddle for the Hurricanes.
What more can head coach Rod Brind’Amour do to get his team back into this series?
Carolina’s downfall started right out of the gates in Game 1, when it was clear Frederik Andersen came off the boil in goal.
After putting up stellar numbers in the first two rounds, Andersen was swimming in his crease in the curtain raiser. He wasn’t any better in Game 2 and was benched for Game 3.
The decision did not pay off. Pyotr Kochetkov conceded six goals in his first start of the series, failing to provide the spark that Brind’Amour was looking for from his deputy netminder.
Now, Brind’Amour will likely go back to Andersen for Game 4, showing that there’s just no simple fix to the problems that Carolina faces with the Panthers.
The Canes don’t have the skill, depth or goaltending to keep up with the Cats.
It may be tempting to back Carolina in Game 4. The Hurricanes are a hard-working bunch that won’t give up down 0-3 (remember, they came awfully close to forcing a Game 7 against the Rangers from this deficit a year ago), but that just isn’t enough against Florida.
Not only are the Panthers as relentless and physical as the Hurricanes, but they’ve got more talent and much better goaltending than the Canes.
This will be an interesting price to monitor as we approach puck drop on Monday night, but the Panthers are the play, and I like them to win by multiple goals.
Recommendation: Panthers -1.5 (+135, BetRivers)
Michael Leboff is a long-suffering Islanders fan, but a long-profiting sports bettor with 10 years of experience in the gambling industry. He loves using game theory to help punters win bracket pools, find long shots, and learn how to beat the market in mainstream and niche sports.