The 2025-26 season for the Carolina Hurricanes has been one of intrigue. They currently sit atop the Metropolitan Division with 51 points, and sixth in the NHL for overall points (at one point up to third). They’ve been dealing with a multitude of injuries since Oct. 11, missing Jaccob Slavin for 30-plus games, Shayne Gostisbehere out multiple times, and now Pyotr Kochetkov for the rest of the season due to hip surgery. Despite all of that, the Hurricanes continued to win. Brandon Bussi has been a lifeline in the crease, tying a franchise record with nine wins in a row.
However, since Dec. 19, against the Florida Panthers, the Hurricanes have been in a run of games that’s unfamiliar with Rod Brind’Amour as the head coach.
Hurricanes Struggling to Close Out Games
Ever since their 4-3 shootout loss to the Panthers, the Hurricanes have blown five multi-goal leads in their last eight games. In those five games, they’ve been outscored 26-17. During the 2024-25 season, they blew multi-goal leads a total of four times, in 82 games. Over 16 days, it has been five, with three occurring between Dec. 19 and Dec. 23. Two of those games were against the Panthers, the other against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Related: Hurricanes’ Jaccob Slavin Named to USA Hockey 2026 Olympic Roster
The other two were on Jan. 1 in their 7-5 loss to the Montreal Canadiens and Saturday night (Jan. 3) against the Colorado Avalanche. Against the Canadiens, they held a 4-2 lead before going down 6-4, before they scored again to draw back to within one. In the loss to the Avalanche, the Hurricanes held a 3-1 lead going into the third period, before getting scored on four times in the final 20 minutes to lose 5-3.
Following their loss to the Avalanche, captain Jordan Staal stated, “We had two good periods. In the third, they started taking it to us a bit and kind of stressed us out. [We] took penalties, and they’ve got a good power play. You give that power play too many opportunities, and they’re going to make you pay…”
Here’s the thing, though, the Avalanche are now ranked 25th in the NHL on the power play (16.8%) after scoring two against the Hurricanes. They were around 28th heading into the game on Saturday. It’s not that the Avalanche’s power play is good; the Hurricanes took too many penalties and did not lock them down. The Hurricanes’ penalty kill is currently ranked 19th in the NHL (78.8%), and they were doing okay until the third period.
It’s the turnovers over the last eight games, and the lack of depth scoring behind the top line, that’s been an issue since Dec. 19. Over the last two games, the line of Sebastian Aho, Nikolaj Ehlers, and Andrei Svehchnikov combined for 15 points. The rest of the forwards have a total of three combined. When asked about the lack of depth scoring, Brind’Amour stated, “Other guys have to chip in. Jarvy’s out, and that’s a big part of it, but now, we obviously need contributions from everyone. That’s the only way this team wins. Right now, we’re not getting it done.”
This harkens back to what Brind’Amour stated after the loss to the Canadiens, in that help is not coming with Seth Jarvis and Slavin out of the lineup. This current group needs to step up and win without them. Right now, that is not the case. The Hurricanes being outscored 26-17 in the five multi-goal lead losses does not count the 5-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Dec. 30 to close out 2025.
Staal, after the Avalanche loss, also stated, “We’re finding ways to lose to games… We’ve got to pull a 60-minute game in and just do it all the way through. You can give them credit, obviously they’re the best team, but we’re a good team too. We’ve got to get some confidence back in our game, how we do things and trust in our game. We’ve got to trust. There’s no continuing what we’re doing. The third [periods] just seem to be sitting back or not doing what we were doing in the first two periods. It’s frustrating. It’s on me and the leadership here. We’ve got to get better. We said our piece after the game. Tomorrow better be more like our game, and for 60 minutes.”
Related: Carolina Hurricanes’ 3 Stars of December
This was after he stated, following the Canadiens’ loss, that “…I don’t know how many more times Roddy can say it, [or] myself can scream it through the room. It’s just a matter of going out, executing it, and taking pride in it. We’ve got to be better.” The issue right now is that they are not playing Hurricanes hockey, and it’s been going on for over two weeks. There has been a game here and there where it seems like they turn it around. But mainly, it’s been five times in eight games that they’ve squandered multi-goal leads, something rarely done in the Brind’Amour era.
This is not Brind’Amour losing the locker room; this is leadership not keeping guys accountable to get everyone to pull on the same rope. The thing is, the Hurricanes cannot healthy scratch anyone because they don’t have the NHL depth to do so. Unless they call up guys from the Chicago Wolves, it’s tough to put players in the press box for the sake of sending a message.
This is not to say the season is over; the Hurricanes will make the playoffs. But something needs to change, and soon. They are still first in the division, third in the Eastern Conference, and sixth in the NHL in points. However, this trend of blowing leads needs to be righted soon. This is not a coaching issue, because this staff has led teams to multiple deep playoff runs. This is a team that, for whatever reason, cannot get out of its own way.
Despite the recent weeks of play, the belief that the Hurricanes will have a deep playoff run is still there. There are still 41 games left in the season, including their game tonight (Jan. 4) against the New Jersey Devils. The trade deadline is still two months away, and there is little doubt that general manager Eric Tulsky will not make a move. He needs to make moves. Plus, once Jarvis and Slavin are back, along with Frederik Andersen hopefully getting back in a groove, this team will right the ship and be the team predicted ahead of the 2025-26 season. As of now, the Hurricanes need to get back to their identity, and hopefully, it’s sooner rather than later.
