‘At a loss’: Hurricanes seek to regroup down 2-0
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Greg Wyshynski
RALEIGH, N.C. — The Carolina Hurricanes generate more shot attempts than any team in the NHL. So when their fans began chanting “shoot the puck!” during the second period of their 5-0 defeat in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals Thursday night, it felt both surreal and indicative of how the Florida Panthers had absolutely dominated them to earn a 2-0 series lead.
“Tonight was not great. We’re going to have to own a crappy game,” Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal said.
After getting 33 shots on goalie Sergei Bobrovsky in Game 1, the Hurricanes generated only 17 shots, tied for third fewest in the franchise’s Stanley Cup playoff history. They had 78 shot attempts in Game 1. In Game 2, they generated only 53.
Though a ferocious Florida forecheck had a role in that shot suppression, Carolina winger Taylor Hall acknowledged that the Panthers injected some hesitancy in the Hurricanes’ offensive attack.
“We had chances to shoot. And we didn’t. I think we’re all a little bit at a loss,” Hall said. “When we look up at the shot clock and see [the total], that’s just not our game. That’s just not how we play. We generate offense by shooting pucks and getting them back, and then we draw a penalty or get a rebound. We generate momentum by doing that. And we just weren’t able to do it.”
The Panthers were relentless in Game 2, taking a 3-0 lead in the first period and never looking back.
“I didn’t know what I was watching in the first period. That didn’t go well,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “We’re not going to beat this team if we’re not on the same page. The intentions were good. Everyone’s trying. But that’s not how we do it and it just backfired.”
The catalyst for that first-period deficit was Carolina winger Andrei Svechnikov, their leading goal scorer in the playoffs with eight. He was antagonized by the Panthers’ line of Sam Bennett, Carter Verhaeghe and Matthew Tkachuk.
The Panthers took a 1-0 lead just 1:17 into the game as the Bennett line created chaos in the attacking zone with a forecheck that forced a Svechnikov turnover. Defenseman Gustav Forsling slid into the slot and beat Frederik Andersen for his first of the playoffs.
Carolina is now 3-4 in the playoffs when it doesn’t score first, after going 17-23-3 in that situation in the regular season.
That same line created Florida’s second goal just over 10 minutes later. Again, the line threw the body on the forecheck. And again, it was Svechnikov coughing up the puck in his own end. Defenseman Niko Mikkola slid it behind the net to Verhaeghe, who noticed Carolina defenseman Dmitry Orlov was up the ice, creating a point-blank 2-on-1 with Tkachuk. Verhaeghe put the puck off Tkachuk’s skate for the 2-0 lead. It was Tkachuk’s first goal in 11 playoff games.
“It was an unreal start from us. The goals aside, just the way we played in the first period was as good as it gets. That’s just a hell of a road trip,” Tkachuk said.
The Bennett line then made the Hurricanes lose their cool again. Tkachuk delivered a reverse hit on Svechnikov, who then checked him along the boards. Tkachuk delivered a cross-check to his back. Svechnikov retaliated near the benches and was whistled for roughing. Just like in Game 1 when Sebastian Aho earned a roughing minor in retaliation to an Anton Lundell cross-check, the Panthers made Carolina pay with a Bennett power-play goal to make it 3-0.
Brind’Amour said before Game 2 that all it takes is one lapse in judgment caused by the Panthers’ agitation to hurt the Hurricanes. Svechnikov had that lapse in Game 2.
“He had a tough night. He’s trying, but you’ve got to be on the same page, and he was on his own page. It didn’t work,” Brind’Amour said of Svechnikov.
Bennett scored again with less than a minute to go in the second period, his ninth of the postseason. Aleksander Barkov‘s power-play goal in the third period — scored against Pyotr Kochetkov, who replaced Andersen — completed the rout.
Staal said the challenge for Carolina is to not have negative thoughts about its chances of beating Florida enter its process.
“This game is mental. It’s all about the brain and your focus and the thoughts that can creep in,” Staal said. “When you let those thoughts like that come in, it never looks good. I think we’ve got to believe in the group and what we have and what we’ve done all year and go steal one.”
Hall said it was important to remember that the Panthers aren’t invincible, despite taking the first two games in Carolina by a combined score of 10-2.
“I mean, they just went seven games against the Leafs, right? They’re not a perfect hockey team,” Hall said. “We know that there are areas to exploit, like any team. They’re exploiting our weaknesses, obviously.”
Game 3 is Saturday night in Sunrise. The Hurricanes have now lost 14 straight games in the Eastern Conference finals, the past six of them to the Panthers.
Brind’Amour said he was surprised there wasn’t more urgency in his team’s game, considering the circumstances.
“I didn’t feel like we were that intense for the moment that we needed. I felt like we were actually a little too casual,” he said.
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Max Olson
FRISCO, Texas — A dynamic new quarterback, a new offensive system and two projected first-round picks up front have Utah coach Kyle Whittingham feeling enthusiastic about the Utes’ chances of bouncing back from a disastrous debut season in the Big 12.
Utah was voted No. 1 in the Big 12 preseason poll last year after joining from the Pac-12, but a brutal run of injuries and inconsistency resulted in a seven-game conference losing streak and a 5-7 finish — the program’s first losing season since 2013.
After weeks of contemplation about his future and what was best for the program, Whittingham, the third-longest-tenured head coach in FBS, decided in December to return for his 21st season with the Utes.
“The bottom line and the final analysis was I couldn’t step away on that note,” Whittingham told ESPN at Big 12 media days Wednesday. “It was too frustrating, too disappointing. As much as college football has changed with all the other factors that might pull you away, that was the overriding reason: That’s not us, that’s not who we are. It just left a bad taste in my mouth. I did not want to miss the opportunity to try to get that taste out.”
“The bottom line and the final analysis was I couldn’t step away on that note. It was too frustrating, too disappointing. … That’s not us. That’s not who we are. It just left a bad taste in my mouth. I did not want to miss the opportunity to try to get that taste out.”
Utah coach Kyle Whittingham on going 5-7 in 2024
Whittingham and Utes defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley conducted a national search for a new offensive coordinator and quickly zeroed in on New Mexico‘s Jason Beck. Then they managed to land Devon Dampier, Beck’s first-team All-Mountain West quarterback, via the transfer portal.
After finishing 11th nationally in total offense with 3,934 yards and 31 total touchdowns and putting up the fourth-most rushing yards (1,166) among all FBS starters, Dampier followed his coach to Salt Lake City and immediately asserted himself as a difference-maker for a program that had to start four different QBs in 2024.
“He’s a terrific athlete,” Whittingham said. “He’s a guy that, if spring is any indication, he’s an exciting player, and we can’t wait to watch him this season. … He’s got that ‘it’ factor. He’s a leader. Needless to say, very excited to see what he does for us.”
They’ve surrounded Dampier with 21 more newcomers via the transfer portal and will protect him with two returning starters at tackle in Spencer Fano and Caleb Lomu, who are projected first-round NFL draft picks by ESPN’s Matt Miller.
“We feel they’re the best tandem in the country,” Whittingham said. “The offensive line in general, I feel, it’s the best since I’ve been there. And that’s quite a statement. We’ve had some really good offensive lines. We’ve got two first-rounders and three seniors inside that have played a lot of good football for us. That better be a strength of ours, and that’s what we’re counting on.”
Whittingham has previously said he did not want to coach past the age of 65. Now that he’s 65, he acknowledges that he might’ve arrived at a different decision about his future had the Utes ended up winning the Big 12 in 2024. He is reenergized about getting them back into contention, but he’s not ready to say whether this season might be his last.
“The best answer I can give you is, right now, I’m excited and passionate about going to work every single day,” Whittingham said. “As soon as that changes, I’ll know it’s time. I’m just counting on knowing when the time is right. I can’t tell you exactly what the circumstances will be other than losing the fire in the belly.”
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Jesse Rogers
The automated ball-strike system is coming to the All-Star Game next week in Atlanta.
MLB officials added the feature to the annual exhibition game knowing it could be a precursor to becoming a permanent part of the major leagues as soon as next year.
The same process used this past spring training will be used for the Midsummer Classic: Each team will be given two challenges with the ability to retain them if successful. Only a pitcher, catcher or hitter can ask for a challenge and it has to happen almost immediately after the pitch. The player will tap his hat or helmet indicating to the umpire he wants to challenge while any help from the dugout or other players on the field is not allowed.
MLB officials say 72% of fans who were polled during spring training said the impact of ABS on their experience at the game was a “positive” one. Sixty-nine percent said they’d like it part of the game moving forward. Just 10% expressed negativity toward it.
MLB’s competition committee will meet later this summer to determine if ABS will be instituted next season after the league tested the robotic system throughout the minor leagues and spring training in recent years. Like almost any rule change, there were mixed reviews from players about using ABS but nearly all parties agree on one point: They prefer a challenge system as opposed to the technology calling every pitch.
As was the case in spring training, once a review is initiated, an animated replay of the pitch will be shown on the scoreboard and the home plate umpire will either uphold the call or overturn it. ABS uses Hawk-Eye system technology which tracks the pitch trajectory and location in relation to the strike zone, providing an instant assessment which can be relayed to the home plate umpire.
The All-Star Game will be played at Truist Park in Atlanta on Tuesday.
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