The first six games of the Carolina Hurricanes' 2013-14 season have followed a similar pattern to that of their past several campaigns.
The 'Canes, well-stocked with talent yet inexperienced and largely unfamiliar with success, remain remarkably shaky and inefficient in close games.
After kicking off the season by allowing a goal in the final 17 seconds of regulation and another in overtime en route to a heartbreaking loss to the Detroit Red Wings, the Hurricanes effectively held on to identical one-goal, third-period leads in two of their next three games and seemed to be on track to buck the trend.
But a Western Conference homestand has since quickly dissipated any such optimism.
The Los Angeles Kings entered Raleigh on Friday night and exited with a 2-1 shootout win, dropping the 'Canes' record in the breakaway competition to a miserable 2-8 since the start of the 2011-12 season.
The Phoenix Coyotes then raced out of a 3-3 second-intermission tie on Sunday afternoon to score twice in the third frame's opening eight minutes and defeat Carolina 5-3.
And so, entering Tu ...
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Article written by Mark Jones
Carolina Hurricanes Continue to Struggle in Close Games
October 14th, 2013 by Mark Jones Leave a reply »
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