Regular Season, Game 9: Hurricanes at Chicago Blackhawks

After a perfect October, the Hurricanes are set to begin a road-heavy November against the Chicago Blackhawks. The Canes and Blackhawks met just last week, with the Hurricanes beating the then-winless Blackhawks without Patrick Kane, 6-3, in Antti Raanta's Carolina debut. Chicago has since won their first game, beating the Ottawa Senators 5-1 on the back of Patrick Kane's hat trick. The Hurricanes have been off since their 2-1 win over the Arizona Coyotes on Halloween afternoon. Seth Jarvis will draw into the lineup again with the same group of forwards projected to play. There is some movement among the forward lines, with Jordan Martinook expected to play on the top line with Aho and Teravainen. This is the first of three straight games on the road for the team and Frederik Andersen is expected to get the start. Andersen was the Third Star of the Month in the entire NHL. The Hawks should be riding a wave of momentum after their win on Monday night and sporting their entire full lineup. This might not be as exciting as the meeting last week, but it's sure to have its moments.

1st Period

Scoring

(CHI) 1:35- Alex DeBrincat (5) (assisted by Patrick Kane (6) & Seth Jones (9))

(CAR) 6:25- Derek Stepan (2) (assisted by Tony DeAngelo (8) & Andrei Svechnikov (5))

Thoughts

Andrei Svechnikov had a very bad first four minutes of the period. He dropped a pop-up that allowed Alex DeBrincat to walk into the zone and score early to give the Blackhawks the lead. He then took a penalty, giving Chicago the first power play of the game. The Canes would kill that off and then score shortly after. With the fourth line and Svechnikov on the ice, Seth Jarvis wins the draw to start the play and it ends with Derek Stepan scoring his second of the season, with Svechnikov picking up the secondary assist and DeAngelo earning his team-leading eighth assist. Svech also lost an edge at one point and ended up flying right into Marc-Andre Fleury. Both smiled it off and were fine afterward. The fourth line of Lorentz, Stepan, and Jarvis really looked good. They had plenty of chances and Stepan scored the goal. First-line Martinook was interesting, but I thought he played well too. It was a rough period, maybe the worst of the season so far, so the fact that it's tied might be a positive. 

2nd Period

Scoring

(CHI) 2:49- Patrick Kane (5) (assisted by Riley Stillman (1) & MacKenzie Entwistle (1))

(CHI) 8:24- Alex DeBrincat (6) (assisted by Phillip Kurashev (3) & Mike Hardman (1))

(CAR) 12:50- Seth Jarvis (1) (assisted by Derek Stepan (1))

Thoughts

There was a lot more action in the period, but it mostly went in Chicago's favor. The Hawks scored twice before the midway point of the period with Kane deflecting a shot home and DeBrincat scoring after Skjei misplays the puck and falls over trying to defend it. This is the first time the Canes have been down two goals thus far. The period ended with the Hawks leading by just one goal and it was yet again the fourth line that came through. Stepan tipped a puck around the boards and Seth Jarvis outskated the defender to beat Fleury five-hole for his first NHL goal. The Canes can't seem to connect on any of their odd-man rush opportunities in the period. Trocheck had his pass defended, Svechnikov whiffed on a shot, and they can't corral the puck in close. There was also the scary-looking play with Pesce going into the board back-first on an icing. It looked really bad when it happened, but it looks like he's fine. The lines are being moved around and defensive pairings are being shifted. Hopefully, that can provide a spark. 

3rd Period

Scoring

(CAR) :17- Jesper Fast (4) (assisted by Andrei Svechnikov (6) & Jaccob Slavin (7))

(CAR) 3:26- Martin Necas (2) (assisted by Sebastian Aho (6) & Ethan Bear (4))

Thoughts

Someone needs to check and see who kidnapped the Blackhawks in the third period because that was not the same team that played the first 40 minutes of that game. The fact that Jesper Fast scored so quickly into the third period eliminated any feeling of having to play from behind and then Necas snuck one through Fleury to give the team a lead to defend for just over 16:30 left. Fleury reverted to his pre-Ottawa form and allowed two relatively soft goals, but the Canes were able to get them through and take the lead. It had completely skipped my mind the Canes had only taken one penalty going into the period, but then they went back to playing a little undisciplined and had to defend eight minutes short-handed, including a a four-minute high-sticking double-minor from Ethan Bear with just under 5:30 left. Frederik Andersen stood on his head while the Canes were a man-down. The Canes killed the clock and were able to escape with a victory. 

Canes' Three Stars of the Game

Third Star- Frederik Andersen (27 Saves on 30 Shots)

Three goals allowed never looks great, but I can honestly say that he didn't really stand a chance on any of them. What lands him as a star for this game is his performance in the third period. The Canes jumped on Chicago with the two early goals in the period and he went a perfect 12 for 12 from there, while also be crucial in the late-period kill.  

Second Star- Seth Jarvis (First Career NHL Goal)

His first career goal is a huge deal, but it was also the biggest moment of the game. Without his goal, the Canes go into the third period down two goals. He switched the momentum to the Canes' side from that point on. He was also super effective the rest of the night as well. He made all the right plays defensively and looked like he truly belongs on this team right now. 

First Star- Derek Stepan (Goal, Assist)

Stepan was the best forward on the ice for the Canes tonight. The fourth line was buzzing all night long, responsible for half the scoring for the team and he contributed on both of the line's goals. This is his best game as a Hurricane. All three of his points this season have been against Chicago. Hopefully this leads to him getting going against everyone else. 

Final Thoughts

The Canes sweep the season series with the Blackhawks and this was a mess. They scored three unanswered after trailing by two goals for the first time this season. It's both unbelievable and completely believable that the Blackhawks came out in the third period the way they did. Chicago was killer for two periods then laid an absolute egg out of the break. This felt like an absolute luck win after being the lesser team for most of the game. Svechnikov had a quiet two assists, Aho added an assist, Necas kept his momentum going by scoring, DeAngelo added another point, Fast scored again. It's all the guys that have been contributing that are continuing to provide a spark for the team. Frederik Andersen stopped the last 16 shots from the Blackhawks after they took a 3-1 lead and earned his eighth win. It was a gutsy effort to pull this one out, but the road only gets tougher. The next team on the horizon is the Florida Panthers. These two played quite a few times last season, so there's some familiarity. They are two of the hottest teams in the league. This is going to be a fun one on Sautrday night.