Regular Season, Game 8: Hurricanes v. Arizona Coyotes

The day has finally come for 2020 first-round pick Seth Jarvis to make his NHL debut this afternoon in Raleigh. He's projected to play with Jordan Staal and Jesper Fast in the absence of Nino Niederreiter, who'll be out for a little bit of time after leaving Friday's game early. The Canes are playing an afternoon game on Halloween against a winless Coyotes team which feels like a very weird sentence to say out loud, but I guess it makes sense. Frederik Andersen will likely be getting the start this afternoon to close out what has been a great month for the team. They are looking to close out the month of October with a perfect record before hitting the road for a three-game road trip. Andrei Svechnikov and Sebastian Aho are both looking to extend their season-opening point streaks to eight games. Outside of the change in the net and Jarvis in for Nino, the lines are going to be the same as their win on Friday over Chicago. With this being an afternoon game, this feels like it could be very weird. Hopefully, it'll be weird in the Canes' favor.

1st Period

Scoring

(ARI) 5:44- Christian Fischer (2) (assisted by Lawson Crouse (2) & Shayne Gostisbehere (5))

Thoughts

The Canes did everything but score this period. They controlled the puck for most of the period since they had the three power play opportunities, but this period was the Karel Vejmelka show. Vejmelka was spectacular for the Coyotes, especially while they were a man down. Andrei Svechnikov had two great chances on the power play on what looked like a designed play where they try to sneak Svech in through the back, but they couldn't convert. Seth Jarvis didn't do a whole lot in the period, though I like him on the second power play unit. Martin Necas looked good too, which is great since he's clearly fighting something. The Coyotes' goal was a hard-working play from Christian Fischer to get to the front of the net and put it through Andersen. Not a whole lot he could do, though I'd bet he'd want that one back. The puck movement was great, but the puck needs to make it to the back of the net.

2nd Period

Scoring

(CAR) 16:57- Martin Necas (1) (assisted by Tony DeAngelo (7) & Jordan Martinook (2))

Thoughts

We should be up by two or three goals in this game. I swear Vejmelka has a lucky rabbit's foot somewhere because he's had three or four pucks come within inches of being in the net. Jarvis come so close to setting up Lorentz for his first NHL point, but it trickled just wide. Teuvo Teravainen had a shot go through Vejmelka, but it trickled just wide. Jarvis had a golden opportunity on a rebound with Vejmelka down, but the defenseman got in front of it and kept it out of the net. The Canes finally broke through on a goal from Martin Necas, who was finally rewarded with a goal after it deflected off a Coyotes' defenseman. Frederik Andersen hasn't been super busy, but he's been good since allowing the goal. The Canes have clearly been the better team in both periods. They're going to need some more puck luck in the third period to finish the homestand and the month perfect.

3rd Period

(CAR) 17:33- Brett Pesce (1) PP (assisted by Martin Necas (3) & Seth Jarvis (1))

Thoughts

The final score may have been 2-1 Canes, but I thought the Canes were the better team for all three periods. Arizona mounted some offensive zone time, but so did the Canes. The difference in the game was a drawn penalty from Andrei Svechnikov late and the power play final coming through with a blast from Brett Pesce from the point. The goal gave Martin Necas his second point of the night and Seth Jarvis his first career point with a secondary assist. Andersen remained perfect when he needed to be. This was a gritty effort from the team. I thought this game could be weird and it sort of was. It was one of those games you had to grind to score and that's what they did.

Canes' Three Stars of the Game

Third Star- Brett Pesce (Game-Winning Power Play Goal)

The defense has only scored twice this season, both by DeAngelo, so to see a defender score such a pivotal goal late in the game on the power play was huge for this team. Pesce blasted his shot from the point and helped the team finally breakthrough on the power play after it looked good all afternoon. It was a major tally from a guy I've questioned a little about whether he should be quarterbacking the second power play.

Second Star- Seth Jarvis (Assist- First NHL Point in His Debut)

I thought his first couple of shifts in the first period were a little rocky, but he slowly got into the groove of things and looked really good in his debut. He could've had at least two or three assists in this game, setting up Steven Lorentz on a few occasions that missed just wide. It was cool to see him take Nino's spot on the second power play and to get a point on the game-winner to complete a solid debut.

First Star- Martin Necas (Goal, Primary Assist on GWG)

I mentioned it after the first period that it was clear that Necas was fighting something, but looked good. He followed up that first period with the game-tying goal in the second period and the primary assist on the game-winner in the third period to finish easily his best game of the season. Hopefully this helps his confidence and this is the start of a hot streak for Necas. 

Final Thoughts

Major props need to be given to Arizona's goalie Karel Vejmelka. He kept the Coyotes in the game all afternoon as he faced a barrage of shots from the Canes' offense. He managed to keep both Andrei Svechnikov and Sebastian Aho off the scoresheet, ending their season-opening points streaks at seven games. Frederik Andersen allowed just one goal again, making it four goals allowed in his last five starts, and he improved to 7-0-0 as the team completed a perfect month of October. They're just the eighth team in NHL history to start a season 8-0-0. Arizona put up an excellent fight all afternoon, but their search for their first win will continue on. The Canes get a few days off before they begin a three-game road trip beginning on Wednesday with Chicago before they play both Florida teams. This was a tough win for the team, but this is easily one of the best months in team history.