Can the Carolina Hurricanes Comeback From a 2-0 Deficit?

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The Carolina Hurricanes have been swept in their last three Eastern Conference Final matchups, with the last coming against the Florida Panthers in 2023. This year, the Panthers look to extend that streak to four. After two games in Carolina, the Panthers have come up 2-0. Hence, to survive, Carolina must beat Florida at home.

Florida found itself in a power play early in Game 1. They took advantage of through a Carter Verhaeghe goal. A few minutes later, Aaron Ekblad extended the lead to 2-0. Trying to mount a comeback, Sebastian Aho found the net. Ending the first period 2-1. However, Florida increased their lead to 3-1 in the second. Despite Florida having twice the penalties, they each scored one power-play goal in the third. Florida batted in another to clinch a 5-2 win.

Goaltender Frederick Andersen for the Carolina Hurricanes

Florida continued to flex their power-play strength, scoring 2/2 in game two. Frederick Andersen struggled in the first period, going 2/,5 allotting Florida a 3-0 lead. After letting in a fourth goal in the second, Andersen was benched for Pyotr Kochetkov. Kochetkov let up a fifth goal in the third period. And Florida went up 2-0 with a dominant 5-0 win.

How can the Hurricanes bounce back? After two games, three issues are apparent. The first issue is their power play. Carolina must work to improve their abysmal 10% powerplay percentage. The second is to strengthen their defense. While Carolina has led in takeaways 14-7, they have struggled in hits. Florida leads hits 29-6. In fact, Carolina had zero hits in their 5-0 loss. The third issue is their net-play. Andersen has had a 0.750% save percentage in this series. Overall, he has allowed 5 goals a game and has seen 14 fewer shots than Florida.

As for Florida, they have an impressive 66.7% power play percentage. Likewise, Sergei Bobrovsky has a strong 0.960% save percentage in this series. Not all is well in Florida and their quest for the cup. As Sam Reinhart went down with a lower-body injury in Game 2. His status for game three is pending. As Reinhart goes into examination on Friday.

Game 3 takes place in Florida on Saturday, May 24th. Game 4 follows on Monday, May 26th.

Sources-

Panthers’ Sam Reinhart exits Eastern final Game 2 against Hurricanes with injury after Aho hit

About Post Author

Zachary Worstell

A Marietta College Student with three years of journalism experience writing for Marietta's Marcolian Online Newspaper. He was promoted to Editor in Chief of the Marcolian in 2023. A Pittsburgh native, he covers sports from the Pittsburgh region as well as Ohio and West Virginia.

zach102803@gmail.com

https://ngscsports.com/