The Carolina Hurricanes have lost three straight games in regulation despite outshooting their opponents 126-75. I’ve long been a believer that shot volume, be it attempts or on net, is overvalued by many and it seems Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour agrees, saying Thursday in an interview with TSN 1050, “Whether we get 40 shots or 20 is kind of irrelevant, it’s how many Grade A’s are we creating versus giving up and we obviously want to make sure we’re getting way more on the positive side of that.” Well, not only are the ‘Canes outshooting their opponents during their 3-game skid, they’re getting a vast, vast majority of the “Grade A’s”, outshooting the opposition 42-16 from the inner slot!

If you’re not sure what the inner slot is or why it’s the most high-danger area in hockey, click here. 

And that brings us to today’s edition of ‘That’s What He Said.’ Not Brind’Amour’s quote above but the quote you’ll see in a second, below. What Brind’Amour said after the Hurricanes 3-1 loss to the Avalanche on Saturday perfectly encapsulates what his team is and why, while producing so many positive, process related results, they will continue to struggle to establish themselves as anything more than a team that’s close but not quite there. 

The post-game quote is at the 0:57 second mark of the attached clip and is transcribed below.

“I’ve heard people talking, oh you’re getting lots of shots but they’re not quality, you’re not watching the game then, we’re getting lots of quality chances. Here’s the difference for me, is you give their Grade A players an inch and it goes in the back of the net and that’s where we’re not quite there yet. We seem to need a few more chances to get those to go.” – Rod Brind’Amour.

The first part of his comment is spot on – as mentioned not only are the Hurricanes outshooting their opponents, they’ve had 72 percent of the “Grade A’s” in their last 3 games. However, they only have 4 goals and 0 points to show for it and that’s where the second part of his comment comes into play. The Hurricanes lack high-end shooting talent and for lack of a better phrase, offensive game-breakers. Carolina has one 30-goal scorer on its roster, Justin Williams and his last 30-goal season was over a decade ago. Andrei Svechnikov looks to have the skill set of a guy who can score 30 before long and Sebastian Aho is coming off a 29-goal season but there’s a pretty steep drop off from there in terms of high-end shooting talent. This is an issue that plagued the Hurricanes last season as well.

Last season, the Hurricanes ranked first in even-strength shot attempts, top 5 in shots on goal, top 10 in slot shots and top 15 in inner slot shots. However, they only scored on 3.7% of their shot attempts, 28th in the league and as a result ranked 19th in even-strength goals. 

Brind’Amour has his team playing well in terms of winning the quality shot battle, which matters but he also seems to understand “Grade A chances” for his team aren’t equal to those created by teams with more established and gifted shooters. Unfortunately for the ‘Canes, until they add more difference makers up front, there will be more games to come where they outplay and outshoot their opponents, in quantity and quality, and still come up short. 

You can out-attempt your opponent all you want but without above average shooting talent and goaltending, beating top teams will continue to be a struggle for the Hurricanes and ultimately, making the playoffs will be as well.