Failure to Seize Opportunity

The Newfoundland Berserkers failed to come out and put up much of a fight against a floundering Carolina Kraken team. Amassing only 24 shots over the course of three periods is no way to show dominance, and potting only one of those (courtesy of Guy LeGrande) feels limp. Carolina came out a stronger team, put more pressure on Newfoundland both physically and offensively and kept themselves out of the penalty box. Even for a team floundering, these are the inner-workings and highlights you hope to see from any team in pursuit of a win. Doing the little things right and keeping their foot on the gas pedal gave the Kraken every opportunity to win this game, and they didn't fail to do so.

Hits Hurt

The Kraken absolutely lit the Berserkers up this game in terms of physical play, laying a whopping 25 hits. The Berserkers had no pep in their step and seemed to shy away from physical play as a measly 4 hits made their way to the official score-sheet. While physicality isn't the only determining factor in playing the game, it does have its place, and shying away from it is detrimental to overall team performance. Not being able to separate an offensive player from the puck with your body in the defensive zone is a recipe for disaster. A large part of Carolina's win tonight came from that aggressive board play, and moving forward could continue to be a deciding factor in games where the team appears outclassed.

Power Play? What Power Play?

A total of 4 penalties and 8 penalty minutes tonight feels low, but it also provided each team with an opportunity to showcase good passing and scoring prowess. Instead, we got missed opportunities and an inability to string together anything substantial to challenge either goaltender. One power play chance for Newfoundland and an inability to score is an excusable thing, something you might consider a fluke, but should be taken seriously in what appears to be a very close game. Even though Carolina won, they might consider that striking out on 3 power play opportunities should be something to take a closer look at. Even tallying on one of those three opportunities would have pushed this from a close game to a clear cut and convincing victory for the team, something to boost confidence in what may be a rough period for the team as a whole.