In a conversation with Chris Lea and Pat Welter, Shane Willis broke down what the Hurricanes have to do during Game 3 in Raleigh to retake the series lead against Washington.
Show Transcript
Shane, how can the Canes regroup in Game 3 when they come back to Raleigh? Well, one, you have to take the positivity from Game 1 and what they did and how many shots they created there. Washington was better tonight. They played more desperate. They played very hard against the Carolina Hurricanes in this game, but this series continues to gain flavor, continues to have storylines and. The biggest thing when you look at the emotions of a playoff series, you can’t get too high, you can’t get too low, so the focus for me is going to be on all the positives, not only from game one, but the good things they did in game two as well. And no one inside that locker room thought this was going to be easy. I think as a fan, it is very easy to win game one on the road and then think, here we go, here comes the sweep sweep, but let’s refocus. The Carolina Hurricanes went in and did their job. They stole home ice advantage from the Washington Capitals, now coming home to Lenovo Center. Their focus is Saturday night. How do they go up 2 to 1 and play more of a complete game, because there were moments here in Game 2 that they were very good, Pat. It just wasn’t as complete as game one was. My takeaway from this one, guys, is completely positive, right? Like you went into Washington, the team that led the Eastern Conference of points, won your division, you steal game one and you dominate game one. You come out game two and you set the tone again. That’s what really struck me. Now, obviously. You knew Washington was going to find their game and if it wasn’t for Tom Wilson, I don’t know if Washington even wins this game, but there’s one area that I think Carolina really needs to improve upon or find a way to work around. It’s those blocked shots, Shane. 33 to 10 blocked shot advantage for Washington in this one goes back to that quantity versus quality conversation we’re having after game one. They’re getting a lot of shots. They’re just not getting them through. So I don’t know if that’s just kind of getting more rotations, but at the same time you’re getting shots on it, you’re hoping for rebounds, you’re hoping for a. And so far Washington is the team that’s gotten all the bounces so far. And when you look at that, when you look at the defensemen shooting the puck, the big thing I look at is their lateral movement, their feet moving, and the guy that I watch all the time is Shane Gosser. It’s almost like he’s dancing across the blue line to get those shots through. I think the defense has been very stagnant. Getting the puck. They take one step and then they’re shooting. I think they have to give a little bit of a punk. They keep their feet moving across, continue to move until those lanes open up and try and break down the defensive structure and those blocks that they’re getting.