Thoughts From My Couch

Eastern Conference M1. Carolina Hurricanes vs. WC2.  Ottawa Senators Season Series- The Hurricanes won two out of three against the Senators. They split the games in Ottawa, with the Canes winning, 4-1, in January, while Ottawa won the most recent battle, 6-3, a few weeks ago. The only game in Raleigh was a 4-1 Carolina win in February. Postseason History- This will be the 1st postseason meeting between these two teams. The Canes are in their eighth straight postseason, trying to reach at least the conference finals for the fourth time during that span. Ottawa is in for the second straight season, losing to Toronto in six games last April. Prediction- There is a part of me that just wants to say "Carolina in 5" because of my die-hard fandom for the Hurricanes. However, the rational hockey brain in me won't allow that to happen. This is the toughest opening-round opponent the Hurricanes have faced since the 2019 Capitals, when the Canes were the up-and-coming team. Now, th...

Six months of work reach their end tonight for the Carolina Hurricanes. They have already done what they needed to do, so tonight doesn't mean a ton for the Canes, while the Islanders' season is done once the final horn sounds. While we wouldn't see Pyotr Kochetkov, as we had initially expected, because of a technicality, we did get the NHL debuts of Felix Unger Sorum and Ronan Seeley, as well as the return of Joel Nystrom. Honestly, as long as everyone stays healthy, I'm not very invested in how this one plays out. Scoring Summary 1st Period CAR (3:05)- Nikolaj Ehlers (26) (Felix Unger Sorum (1) & Logan Stankoven (23)) 2nd Period NYI (13:14)- Bo Horvat (31) (Mathew Barzal (53) & Victor Eklund (1)) 3rd Period CAR (14:38)- Mark Jankowski (11) (Joel Nystrom (9) & Alexander Nikishin (22)) My Thoughts I think I can honestly say that this was one of the weirdest pre-game roller coaster rides that I can remember. All day, we'd anticipated seeing a pair of NHL ...

Last Game : The Carolina Hurricanes saw their winning streak come to an end on Monday night against the Flyers, but they got a point to check the final box. They got off to a very good start in Philadelphia. After a few good stops by Brandon Bussi early, Nikolaj Ehlers made a great pass to Bradly Nadeau from behind the net to get the Canes off and running. Late in the opening frame, Ehlers added a goal on the power play, reaching 70 points and extending the lead. However, the Flyers, needing a win to clinch a playoff spot, worked back into it. Matvei Michkov snapped a shot past Bussi to finally get the Flyers on the board. Less than three minutes later, Trevor Zegras tied it on the power play. He outwaited Bussi and slid it home to get the building rocking. Neither team got the go-ahead goal in the third, allowing the Canes to get a point and secure the top spot in the East. However, the storybook ending for the Flyers materialized in the shootout, with Tyson Foerster scoring in the fo...

The resting of players continued for the Carolina Hurricanes as they tried to lock up the top spot in the Eastern Conference. All they needed was one point, or for the Blackhawks to beat the Sabres in some fashion. Meanwhile, this game meant a ton for the Philadelphia Flyers, needing a win to finish third in the division and secure the final playoff spot in the conference. This meant another game with half of the Canes' roster against a fully available opponent. It worked during the first two stops on their road trip in Chicago and Utah. They hoped it would work again in Philly. Scoring Summary 1st Period CAR (8:41)- Bradly Nadeau (3) (Nikolaj Ehlers (45) & Sean Walker (22)) CAR (15:30-PP)- Nikolaj Ehlers (25) (Logan Stankoven (22) & Jackson Blake (31)) 2nd Period PHI (7:57)- Matvei Michkov (19) (Denver Barkey (12) & Noah Cates (29)) PHI (10:30-PP)- Trevor Zegras (26) (Porter Martone (5) & Tyson Foerster (4)) 3rd Period None Overtime None Shootout PHI- Tyson Foerste...

Last Game : The Carolina Hurricanes swapped mass rest groups on Saturday in Salt Lake City, but they came away with another victory over a very solid Utah squad. The Canes got going early, with the power play doing the job. Andrei Svechnikov put a rebound past a sprawling Karel Vejmelka to get the Canes on the board first and earn Svechnikov new career highs in goals and points. They added to it late in the frame. Jordan Staal scored his 20th of the season on a great feed from Nikolaj Ehlers, his second assist already, to double the advantage. Clayton Keller had a goal wiped off for being offside, ensuring a 2-0 lead for the Canes after 20. The lead persisted into the third period before Dylan Guenther wired a one-timer past Frederik Andersen on the power play to cut the deficit in half. The dagger came when Sebastian Aho kept his stick just below the crossbar to redirect Shayne Gostisbehere's shot, restoring the two-goal lead on Aho's 80th point. Sean Walker put it to bed for ...

As one group returned from its rest, another group took a seat in the press box. To their credit, those getting today off did a wonderful job in Chicago, so it was a well-earned game off for them. With the stars and the captains back on the ice against a very solid Utah team, the goal was very simple: win and stay healthy. If they could do both things, or just stay healthy, it would be a trip well spent for the team. Frederik Andersen getting back-to-back starts threw me for a bit of a loop, but I can't complain after what he did against the Blackhawks. Hopefully, Rod Brind'Amour knows what he is doing there. Scoring Summary 1st Period CAR (4:25-PP)- Andrei Svechnikov (31) (Nikolaj Ehlers (43) & Shayne Gostisbehere (36) CAR (13:23)- Jordan Staal (20) (Nikolaj Ehlers (44) & Jordan Martinook (16)) 2nd Period None 3rd Period UTH (2:42-PP)- Dylan Guenther (40) (Clayton Keller (58) & Mikhail Sergachev (48)) CAR (15:31)- Sebastian Aho (27) (Shayne Gostisbehere (37) & ...