How the Hurricanes plan to ‘right the ship’ and end their scoring funk

The Carolina Hurricanes often post short Twitter videos of coach Rod Brind’Amour in the locker room after wins, pacing about, often passionate and congratulating his team.

It’s the usual stuff: great win, worked hard, earned it, etc. There’s usually a goal horn or two spliced into the video if a couple of Brind’Amour’s words are too salty.

What is not shown is what Brind’Amour has said to his team after losses, goal horns or not. Or what he might be saying now with the Canes having lost the past two games and four of five in slipping to 15-5-1 after their 9-0 start.

It might be close to what veteran defenseman Ian Cole said to the media Tuesday after the 4-1 loss to the Dallas Stars.

“Ideally, we never lose two games in a row,” Cole said. “Maybe that’s a bit of a pipe dream, but that’s the goal. I think the foundational mindset behind that is, ‘Hey, let’s right the ship right away. Let’s not let this linger. Let’s not continue to play well but, hey, we lost.’ That’s not good enough.

“The name of the game as a professional athlete is to win. That’s it. That should be our only focus.”

Cole has played 21 games with the Canes, having been signed in free agency after last season. But he has been on Stanley Cup championship teams with the Pittsburgh Penguins and understands the mindset and focus of a champion and how the ups and downs of a season must be handled.

So does Brind’Amour. He captained the Canes’ 2006 Stanley Cup champs and has learned from some of the NHL’s best coaches. He has built a lot of that into his coaching style but also must be himself.

Few players were more intense that Brind’Amour. That has proven to be true as a head coach, as someone who was named the 2021 Jack Adams Award winner as the NHL’s best coach.

Brind’Amour understands he crossed a line Sunday in berating the referees late in a 4-2 loss to the Washington Capitals at PNC Arena. There was too much fire, his words to the refs too salty, too stinging, and it cost him a $25,000 fine from the league, which deemed his conduct inappropriate.

Said Canes captain Jordan Staal: “It’s an emotional game and, obviously, Roddy is one of those guys who wants it more than anything.”

While Brind’Amour will pay the fine and move on, as he put it, he must find some answers for his team as it moves on. The Canes went into Tuesday’s game with defensemen Ethan Bear, Brett Pesce and Tony DeAngelo in COVID-19 protocol, taking three right-shot D-men out of the lineup.

But there are other problems. The Canes aren’t lacking for shots — they had 40 to the Stars’ 17 on Tuesday and have averaged 36 shots in the past four games. A bigger problem in Dallas was that Stars forward Roope Hintz was the best skater on the ice, notching his first career hat trick and scoring on three of four shots, while Joe Pavelski had a goal and two assists.

The Canes’ goal, scored late in regulation, came on pure grit and determination from center Jesperi Kotkaniemi. Some would call it “greasy,” but Kotkaniemi first fought for the rebound of a Cole shot, was knocked down, got up and circled the net as Jaccob Slavin was getting off a shot and poked away at the puck until he got it past goalie Braden Holtby.

Greasy, yes, but also the kind of goal the Canes need as they try, as Staal put it, to get out of a funk and get their “mojo going.”

The Canes have scored five goals in their four recent losses. Staal has not scored in the past 14 games. Teuvo Teravainen is without a goal the past 10 games — he has been stuck on 99 for his career — while Andrei Svechnikov has one goal in the past 14 games and Vincent Trocheck one goal in the past 11.

“I’ve got to do a better job of that, obviously,” Staal said. “My stick is turning into a twig pretty soon, the more I’m squeezing it. It’s been pretty frustrating for a lot of guys, including myself.”

Staal called the Canes’ power play “sloppy” Tuesday, and Brind’Amour must continue to tinker with the units until DeAngelo and Pesce, the power-play quarterbacks, are out of quarantine and back in the lineup. He used five forwards on one unit Tuesday, with Teravainen at the point, but got nothing out of it.

Bear was due to be released from quarantine Wednesday and could return this week as the Canes have home games against the Ottawa Senators and Buffalo Sabres before a five-game road trip.

”We need to figure out ways to win, and we need to figure them out quick,” Cole said. “We can’t let this continue to slide.”

Carolina Hurricanes vs. Ottawa Senators

When: Thursday, 7 p.m.

Where: PNC Arena, Raleigh.

TV/Radio: Bally Sports South, WCMC-99.9 FM