The Carolina Hurricanes kept losing close games to come within 60 minutes of exiting the NHL playoffs in an embarrassing sweep.
Yet coach Rod Brind’Amour kept insisting his team was playing well in key areas and they had to stick with things.
Somehow, what sounded like little more than a hopeful assessment at the time has brought the Hurricanes back to life in their second-round series with the Presidents’ Trophy-winning New York Rangers.
Carolina Hurricanes center Martin Necas (88) celebrates with teammates after scoring an empty-net goal in the third period during Game 5 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup second-round playoff series against the New York Rangers
The Hurricanes have gone from down 3-0 in the series to winning two straight, including a dominating third period to win Game 5 in Madison Square Garden. And it’s come with Carolina largely sticking with what brought it to the playoffs in the sixth time in as many seasons, opting for tweaks over major changes even in a desperate situation.
“There’s certain parts of our game now, we’ve got to get better,” Brind’Amour said Tuesday in a Zoom call with reporters. “How much do you juggle it all around? And does that really make you better in the short term?
“You got to this point doing something right, to be playing against the best team in the league in the playoffs. So you had to have done something right to get there. You’ve got to rely on that.”
So far, the bet has paid off, with Carolina playing for a chance to even the series in Thursday’s Game 6 at home.
“We trusted our game and it ended up paying off,” captain Jordan Staal said after Monday’s win.
There have been tweaks, such as for the power play ahead of Game 4 in what has been a nightmarish series for the unit. Carolina put defenceman Brady Skjei and forward Tuevo Teravainen onto the top unit, and they connected on Skjei’s late winner in that series-extending win — the lone success in a 1-for-20 performance this series.
Otherwise, Brind’Amour has largely left the lines as is in the series, other than making Evgeny Kuznetsov a healthy scratch in Game 2 for Max Comtois.
And yet, the plans that were in place as they fell in that massive series hole are largely the same as now with them threatening to climb out of it. Carolina is now outscoring New York for the series overall 16-15 and 12-9 at even strength.
