I get what you’re saying, but…
Im pretty sure every NHL team’s plan would be to outwork, out possess and outshoot their opponents. Very few go in with the game plan of “Alright, let’s spend 70% of the game in the defensive zone, completely tire ourselves out, and hopefully get lucky that one of the snipers can spring on a breakaway.”
Not saying the “early goal into defensive shell into squeaking out a win“ never happens, but I don’t think it’s a common strategy.
Oh, C'mon.
First, It's not debatable that the Canes have been one of the hardest working teams in the NHL for the last 4 years. So saying "we want to work hard" and actually doing it are two different things. Many teams announces and coaches comment on it all the time. Many posters on here have suggested it's why they struggle in the playoffs. Other players that have come here from other teams comment on it. It's a reality. Eric Staal always use to talk about effort and working hard and we know how that went.
Secondly, "out possessing" another team is more than just wanting to do so, you have to play the game in a way that allows you to do so and have the right personnel to do so. You need mobile defensemen with good lateral movement that can aggressively pinch in the offensive zone end play tight gaps on the neutral zone. You need forwards that have been condition to cover for the aggressive pinches. etc.. etc.. Not every team has either the personnel, coaching or strategy to do that.
Canes have been the best possession team in the NHL for the last 3 seasons (Nat. Stat Trick only does 3 years). And it's not just due to "taking a bunch of shots" because the CA/60 is #1 in the NHL and the CF/60 is #2.
Lastly, as I mentioned in another post, we have, (and have had) defensemen that take a lot of shots. By definition, a defenseman's shot is going to be a lower SH% shot. It's how the team plays. We don't have elite snipers so we focus on getting the puck on net and trying to get some dirty goals.
Being near the top of the list of outshooting but lost list isn't surprising to me.