Positives and Negatives from the Carolina Hurricanes' November Performance

After a promising start to November, the Carolina Hurricanes' epidemic of one-goal losses took hold and careened the team's monthly record back below .500 by Thanksgiving.

Nonetheless, Carolina's second month of the 2014-15 season was undoubtedly a marked improvement of their first month. Following a winless 0-6-2 October, a 7-7-1 November helped the Hurricanes jump the Columbus Blue Jackets for seventh place in the Metropolitan Division and pull within two points of the sixth-place Philadelphia Flyers.

Outside of the mediocre record, moreover, the 'Canes actually performed fairly well. The team outscored its opponents (10 of 15 of which made last season's playoffs) by a 39-35 margin and outshot them 480-434.

Entering a critical, potentially season-direction-deciding December, what positives and negatives can the club take away from now-concluded November? A breakdown lies in the coming slides. 

For the first time in years, the Cam Ward of old finally reappeared in November and showed signs of long-term viability.

No. 30 entered the month at arguably the lowest point of his career. He and Anton Khudobin had teamed up to provide the Hurricanes with the worst goaltending in the NHL in October, and Ward himself had posted a save percentage below .895 in a whopping 17 of his last 23 appearances (dating back to Nov. 27, 2013).

Then a 25-save shutout of Arizona on the very first day of the month seemed to start a snowball effect in Ward's restoration of confidence.

The 30-year-old netminder finished November with a 7-4-1 record and .927 save percentage in the month, recording a save percentage of .895 or better in 10 of 12 appearances and .920 or better in eight of 12. Outside of a three-game stretch at Dallas, Los Angeles and Colorado, Ward allowed two or fewer goals against in every start.

At home, Ward went 4-1-0 with a stunning .952 save percentage.

If the 'Canes are to rally back into postseason contention as the campaign continues on, a continuation of Ward's dominance could prove to be one of the biggest reasons for the team's resurgence.

Alexander Semin played just 10 games in red and white in November, sitting out the other five as a healthy scratch.

In his 10 appearances, No. 28 recorded zero goals, just three assists, 10 shots on goal and four minor penalties. He enters December on a six-game pointless streak.

What's wrong with Semin?

Is it his oft-referenced laziness, which seemed like a myth after Semin's admirable first two seasons in Raleigh but is now looking more and more plausible? Is it the lingering effects of a wrist injury that plagued much of his 2013-14 campaign and led to offseason surgery? Is it a significant reduction of playing time, as his ice time per game has fallen from 19:54 last season to 16:26 this year?

Most likely, it is a combination of all three factors and probably several more—a hodgepodge of pressures resting heavily on Semin and making every goal-less performance even more frustrating than the last.

There's still time for him to rediscover his groove, and if he does, he could become a very dangerous player down the stretch for the Hurricanes offense. Until then, however, Semin will continue to skate around the ice as merely a waste of money and ice time.

After playing all of three games in October due to an upper-body injury, Eric Staal returned in November without any visible lingering effects and quietly surged back to the top of the team's scoring leaderboard.

Staal's 15 points are now tied with Riley Nash and Justin Faulk for the team lead, despite having played five fewer games.

No. 12 has registered at least a point in six of Carolina's last eight games, and the team was shut out in the two in which he didn't.

His 12 points in 15 games in the month aren't spectacular by his standards, but they aren't below expectations either—and that's a step in the right direction. Given that he's producing 3.3 shots on goal per game as well, a goal-scoring increase in the near future wouldn't be too surprising either.

Meanwhile, brother Jordan Staal is reportedly progressing ahead of schedule in his recovery from a broken right fibula. Said coach Bill Peters to team reporter Michael Smith on Sunday:

He’s going to start training with our people off the ice. From there, if everything goes well...he’ll progress to skating on his own with Pete Friesen, and then he’ll join us from that point. There are a couple of different timelines, but...I think he’s slightly ahead of schedule.

The 'Canes desperately need Jordan Staal's unique combination of size and skill back in the lineup as soon as possible.

The Carolina Hurricanes' power play is certainly not the prettiest or most consistent power play around, but it has somehow carved out a spot as one of the better such units in the NHL.

After a 12-goal November—a 23.5 percent conversion rate, contributing over 30 percent of the team's total goals in the month—Carolina's power play now ranks eighth in the league. At home, it ranks sixth.

Led by the always opportunistic Jiri Tlusty (whose five power-play goals rank ninth in the league), the man-advantage unit has prospered under the new schemes and focus of Bill Peters and assistant coach Rod Brind'Amour. The former came into Raleigh last spring promising power-play improvement and has, so far, delivered fully.

In this weekend's home-and-home against Pittsburgh, the power play scored on 44.4 percent of its opportunities against the Penguins' seventh-ranked penalty kill and outscored the Penguins' top-ranked power play 4-0.

Plenty of highs and lows are inevitable in an aspect of hockey where converting just one of every four chances is considered successful, but the 'Canes power play has been one of the better such groups in the NHL this autumn.

The Hurricanes have long struggled with production from their lower forward lines.

Bottom-six stragglers Manny Malhotra, Drayson Bowman, Radek Dvorak and Brett Sutter were let go during the offseason and replaced with a variety of new players. Unfortunately, the replacements haven't done much better.

Brad Malone may pass through Raleigh without ever registering a point for the red and white. He played in only eight of 15 November matches and added nothing other than an untimely penalty in each of his last three appearances. He hasn't played since Nov. 22 at Colorado. 

Jay McClement has done well at the faceoff dot, registering a 55.6 winning percentage to date, but also has yet to pick up his first goal as a member of the 'Canes.

The addition of Andrej Nestrasil off of waivers a week ago initially looked like a brilliant one, as Nestrasil scored in his first period with the team. However, 23-year-old Nestrasil hasn't recorded a point since, and despite his ice time increasing each game, his Corsi rating was a woeful 31.4 percent in the Pittsburgh back-to-back, per war-on-ice.com.

So far, 2014-15 hasn't yielded much better results for the Hurricanes' maligned offensive depth.

An incredible 13 of Carolina's 15 November games entered the final four minutes of regulation time with a difference on the scoreboard of one goal or less.

Excluding empty-net goals, 12 of those games finished with a difference of one.

For fans who watch hockey purely for excitement, the 'Canes deliver with regularity.

Even more impressively, a number of the aforementioned tight games came against highly prestigious opponents: twice against the 2012 and 2014 Stanley Cup winners (Los Angeles), twice against the 2009 Stanley Cup winners (Pittsburgh), once against the 2011 Stanley Cup winners (Boston).

Add in other contests against other perennially successful teams like San Jose and Washington, and the 'Canes played competitively with a variety of top-tier franchises.

The bad side of the Hurricanes' competitive play: Carolina lost in eight of the final nine November games decided by the aforementioned one goal.

Indeed, in other terms, all eight of the team's losses this month were by a difference of one.

The Hurricanes clearly struggle in close contests, and, as I explored in a detailed column last week, this isn't a new issue, either.

What makes the pattern doubly frustrating is that the 'Canes, according to advanced stats, actually play fairly well when fighting to tie the score. Per war-on-ice.com, Carolina's 54.25 Corsi-for percentage (shot attempts) is the sixth best in the NHL.

Yet amazingly, the team hasn't scored a game-tying goal with the goalie pulled since Nov. 5, 2013 and has won just 13 of its last 48 overtime/shootout games (dating back to Mar. 30, 2011).

For the 'Canes to make up the nine-point deficit that separates them from the East's final postseason spot, they'll need to be immensely better in pressure situations.