from Luke DeCock of the News & Observer,
Under different circumstances, Rod Brind’Amour probably should have benched Andrei Svechnikov in Saturday’s third period. Svechnikov’s two selfish penalties — he also took one earlier to deny a potential goal — helped open the floodgates as the Carolina Hurricanes saw a two-goal lead disappear in a blink.
But it’s a measure of Svechnikov’s irreplaceable value to the team as a goal-scorer that Brind’Amour felt he had no choice but to keep throwing the young winger out there, waiting for him to conjure the inevitable moment of brilliance.
Still waiting.
There’s no time left to wait. It’s time for Svechnikov to grow up — now — with the Hurricanes facing elimination on Tuesday against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Svechnikov’s first two years in the league were full of wide-eyed precocity, smiling charm and dazzling skill, but school is out and it’s time for him to get out of a season-long funk and graduate being the kind of player who can rise above the postseason fray and turn the tide of a series, or even a season.
It’s easy, on paper, to look at his six assists and his team-best analytics and say, what more do you want from him?
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