Canes Corner

Pyotr Kotchetkov made 29 saves, the Hurricanes got goals from Jordan Staal, Mark Jankowski and Taylor Hall, and opened up a 4-game Northern Exposure road swing with a 3-1 win over the Bruins. Carolina has a 6-1-1 record in their last 8 games and pulled even with the Devils atop the Metropolitan Division on 27 points. The Canes haven't gotten great goaltending lately, but Kotchetkov was steady tonight and it helped keep the Bruins off the scoreboard until there were less than 10 seconds left in the game. Strong games on the back end from Shayne Gostisbehere, K'Andre Miller and rookie Joel Nystrom stood out as well as Hall, who turned in one of the best performances of the season. 

Leon Draisaitl needed 19 seconds of overtime to give the Oilers a 4-3 win and cap off a 3 point night.  Connor McDavid had two goals and the Canes continued a run of untimely mistakes.  Frederik Andersen misplayed a puck early in the first period that gave Jack Roslovic his 6th goal of the year and staked Edmonton to a 1-0 lead.  Then McDavid's first of the night came while Andrei Svechnikov was in the penalty box for a foolish crosscheck on the Oilers' star.  After that, the Canes were great.  Goals from Eric Robinson, Nik Ehlers and Jordan Staal helped get a point, but they couldn't get two.  We also talk Canes goaltending and why it's okay to see Svech play a little dirty.

Carolina made a few mistakes, but in the end they dominated Vancouver and deserved to win the game. The top line looked the part and K'Andre Miller had a big bounce back game. Sebastian Aho had a goal and an assist, Andrei Svechnikov scored two goals in less than a minute of the first period. Taylor Hall got the game even in the third. Carolina is now 3-0 in overtime and won the only shootout they've been in. 

It wasn't a good night for some of the Hurricanes' best players and it cost them in a 4-1 loss to the Capitals.  Nikolaj Ehlers scored Carolina's only goal.  The power play went 0 for 5 and a pair of give aways directly led to Washington goals as Carolina sees a 3-game win streak end.  

The Canes rallied to beat the Maple Leafs in Toronto, 5-4, claiming a game they were the better team by every measure.  Five different goal scorers led the way as Aho, Jarvis, Walker, Hall and Stankoven each found the net and K'Andre Miller and Stankoven each had two points.  Along the way, Carolina hit several posts and wasted too many break aways but they just kept coming and pounded the Leafs into submission, outshooting them 21-2 in the 3rd period.  In all it looked a return to Carolina Hurricanes hockey as the sport celebrated the Hall of Fame ceremonies that will take place tomorrow in Toronto.

In the first 21 minutes of Thursday night's game between the Canes and the Wild there were 45 minutes in penalties, 7 goals, 2 injuries and an ejection.  In the end the Canes hung on for 4-3 win over Minnesota.  Jackson Blake and Sean Walker each had a goal and an assist.  Andrei Svechnikov and Nikolaj Ehlers each scored and the Hurricanes celebrated their Captain's record breaking game as he becomes the all-time leader in games played for the Canes.  K'Andre Miller's return to the lineup was spectacular.  Sean Walker continues his strong season.  The only downer was the injury to Jalen Chatfield who took a high hit from Tyler Pitlick in the first period and didn't return.  

Pyotr Kochetkov shut out the Rangers on 25 saves, Nikolaj Ehlers scored his first goal with the Hurricanes and they turned the lights out on the home team at Madison Square Garden.  Carolina scored once on the power play in three tries and shut out the Rangers on all three of their tries.  New York had just 1 shot on goal in the 3rd period as the Canes outshot them 31-25.  Alexander Nikishin and Sean Walker led a full team effort on the blue line.

The Canes could not get their offense going in a 2-1 loss to the Bruins.  Alexander Nikishin scored Carolina's only goal and two early third period goals by Boston pushed the Hurricanes to their 4th loss in their last 6 games.  The bright side was continued strong play from Nikishin and Andrei Svechnikov as well as the fact that Seth Jarvis was able to play.  Among the topics within is a discussion about how to handle three healthy goaltenders now that Pyotr Kochetkov has been activated and sent out on a conditioning stint.

Brandon Bussi's 1st start on home ice was a good one as he made 26 saves in a Canes 6-2 win over the Islanders.  He did most of his best work in a 14-save first period as the Hurricanes took a 3-1 lead on goals from Bradly Nadeau, Mike Reilly and Jordan Martinook.  For Nadeau, it was his first NHL goal and showed off his super fast release.  Jackson Blake, Andrei Svechnikov and Logan Stankoven finished out the scoring in the 3rd period with Blake's goal coming early and pushing the Carolina lead to 4-1.  Svechnikov now has goals in consecutive games after going the first 8 without a point.  The only downside to the game was a potential injury to Seth Jarvis who went down to block a shot pretty late in the 3rd period and took a puck off the left heel.  The Hurricanes are already down 5 regular players including Jaccob Slavin.  They don't want to be without Jarvis.  

Carolina's first game at home after a 6-game road trip was a 6-3 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights.  The Hurricanes scored first, as Andrei Svechnikov scored for the first time this season.  But Vegas took the game over from there, scoring twice to claim a 2-1 lead after the first period.  Still, on goals by Jordan Martinook and Logan Stankoven the Canes somehow held a 3-2 lead early in the 3rd.  However, mistakes with the puck and on the blue line were Carolina's downfall as the Golden Knights scored the last four goals of the game to sweep the season series from the Hurricanes.  Shayne Gostisbehere left the game with an injury -- for the second time in as many games -- though head coach Rod Brind'Amour did say that it was unrelated to the last time, when he left the game in Los Angeles against the Kings.  Rookie Defenseman Joel Nystrom took a puck to the face in the 2nd period, left the game but returned in a full face cage and played the 3rd period.