The shortcomings of the Hurricanes’ first line this postseason have been masked by prolific depth, elite goaltending, and that 12-2 record. But the struggles of Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov, and Seth Jarvis were on display in Game 1.
Not only did they fail to score in a high-scoring game, but they looked disjointed as a whole, with tons of missed passes and broken plays that we just can’t ignore anymore.
“They had one good shift in the third there, but,” Brind’Amour said, attempting to choose his words wisely. “They gotta, I mean, everyone has to play well if you want to win this time of year. It’s as simple as that. Your best guys gotta get on the scoresheet. That’s going to have to happen if we want to get where we want to be.”
Five Hurricanes players have more overall points than the first line, and four have more goals
The Aho line had zero points Tuesday night in a 5-4 game. Aho and Svechnikov had one shot apiece, and Jarvis had three.
Their problems extend to the power play, in which the Canes went 0-for-2 tonight.
Your best players have to be your best players at some point, and the Canes can’t let a two-goal performance from a depth scorer go to waste again if they’re to win the Stanley Cup.
