Red Hot Canes: Luck or Skill?
Just before 2022 ended, the Carolina Hurricanes made franchise history by winning their 10th game in a row. The 2006 Hurricanes team set the nine-game winning streak record, and since then, it has been tied many times and is now finally broken. Their streak started on December 10th, and the Rangers ended it in a 5-2 win on January 3rd. In this article, we will analyze exactly how they managed to have this 11-game streak and who has contributed the most.
The Canes netminders have been a crucial component in this winning streak, with both of them having back-to-back shutouts. Antti Raanta started six of the 11 games and faced a total of 159 shots stopping 143 of them, while Pyotr Kochetkov started the other five games, stopping 118 of the 123 shots he was presented with. On January 1st, 2023, Kochetkov was named Rookie Of The Month for his .959 save percentage over the Canes’ win streak during December. Carolina's main starting goalie Frederik Andersen has been out with an injury for two months now, but it doesn't seem like it has been a burden on the team as the Raanta and Kochetkov duo has stepped up to the occasion.
The Hurricane’s offensive players have a total of 76 points during this 11-game streak, with the bottom line scoring a bit more than the top line showing that every player is supplying the team with goals and assists. Derek Stepan is leading the team these past games with 9 points split into five goals and four assists. While analyzing the forwards, we will use GF/60, which shows how effective a player is at causing goals to be scored. Stepan has a -0.064 GF/60, and Svechnikov has a 0.067. To really understand what these numbers are saying, we can take a player from a team who is lower on the league standings and compare their stats.
For example, Brock Boeser has a 0.142 GF/60, and Johnny Gaudreau has a 0.061 GF/60. As you can see, two of the Canes’ players that have contributed the most in scoring over this streak have similar (or even worse) stats to players from teams that aren't doing so well. When looking at the league stats, these players should have GF/60 stats closer to Auston Matthews’ 0.288 GF/60 or Jamie Benn’s 0.176. Now that this has been stated, a question that pops up is, do the Carolina Hurricanes have the level of skill to be 2nd in the league, or did they just get lucky?
Lastly, let's look at the defenseman’s numbers. Brent Burns, who the Canes acquired just before this season, has set up eight goals during the winning streak, which means he was credited with eight assists and lead defenceman in points over these 11 games. The other six defensemen in the lineup have a total of 20 points altogether, split into four goals and 16 assists. All three defensive pairings have been consistent in helping this team make franchise history averaging 18:87 TOI and preventing opponents from shooting, with there only being an average of 25.4 shots toward the Canes’ net.
In the future, when you look back to the 22-23 Carolina Hurricanes team, you can always associate them with this franchise’s record-breaking winning streak. Unfortunately, the New York Rangers have diminished the Canes’ hopes of continuing this streak. Now that 11 games are the new record, when will it be broken?