Carolina Hurricanes Month in Review: January 2022

After a good, albeit weird, December, the Canes entered the month just two points behind the Washington Capitals for the top spot in the Metropolitan Division and two points back of the Caps and the Lightning in the President's Trophy race. COVID issues derailed the month for the team, but they had a lot to look forward to. There were a lot more division opponents on the schedule and some quality Western Conference opponents. The teams' stars were getting hot at the perfect time and the depth scoring was helping to get some big wins. The month would come down to the continuation of its stellar goaltending from a duo that was a huge question for the team. Here's a look at the Canes' month of January.

The Month in Review

The month got off to exactly the start we all expected. The Canes opened the new year in Columbus on New Year's Day and were immediately down 3-0 after the first period with Antti Raanta in the net. After allowing the fourth goal, the team rattled off seven unanswered goals, highlighted by two goals from Steven Lorentz and Brady Skjei. Skjei (G, 2A) and Lorentz (2A)continued their hot starts to 2022 and Andrei Svechnikov scored twice in a 6-3 win over Calgary six days later. This set up an exciting rematch with the Florida Panthers the next night. The Canes fell down early 3-1 but battled back to tie it in the third period before ultimately dropping the game in overtime, 4-3. 

The Canes were supposed to play in Philadelphia on January 11 and they even made the trip for the game before it was ultimately canceled. To make matters worse, Jaccob Slavin entered COVID protocol on the 11th. This meant the team had another long layoff before they played their first game on ESPN since 2004 without their best defenseman with the Columbus Blue Jackets coming to town. It ultimately led to the most embarrassing loss of the season with the defense letting Frederik Andersen down to the point where he was pulled down 4-0 to make way for Jack LaFontaine making his NHL after signing just days before. Things weren't any easier for LaFontaine, who allowed two goals on breakaways in an eventual 6-0 loss for the team. A special emphasis was put on how the team would respond to a loss like that, but they bounced back impressively, beating Vancouver 4-1 on January 15 in Jordan Martinook's first game back from injury. The Canes would then head to Boston for what I have initially thought would be a tight matchup, but they would do it without Martin Necas after he entered COVID protocol the day before. The Canes scored five times in the first period, led by two goals from Jesperi Kotkaniemi, and would go on to win 7-1. After the Boston game, Jordan Martinook would be added to the COVID list as well. January 21 would be a showdown between the top two teams in the division, but the Canes once against asserted their dominance, winning 6-3 on three-point nights from Sebastian Aho (G, 2A) and former Ranger Tony DeAngelo (G, 2A). The Canes would give Jack LaFontaine another chance in the net, this time giving him the start when they ventured up to New Jersey on January 22. It didn't go very well, allowing seven goals on 38 shots and getting no help from his defense as the Canes snapped their three-game winning streak, 7-4.

The Canes would close the month with four games in six days, including a back-to-back before the All-Star Break. The set opened with the Vegas Golden Knights in town on January 25. The Canes held a 3-1 lead midway through the third period before Vegas scored twice to tie it and force overtime. In extra time, Sebastian Aho forced a bad pass from Alex Pietrangelo that was scooped up by Andrei Svechnikov before he found Aho for the game-winner. The team then traveled to Ottawa two days later to play a very tough Senators team. Ottawa controlled play for most of the second and third periods and led 2-1 until Nino Niederreiter stuffed home a rebound to tie the game and force overtime again. Nothing would be settled in overtime, so the Canes would take part in their first shootout of the season. Frederik Andersen stopped all three shots he faced and Andrei Svechnikov scored the lone goal of the session to help the Canes escape with another win. New Jersey would be welcomed into town for a rematch from the weekend prior, but this time it was the Canes on the good end of the decision. All the scoring took place in the first period and Antti Raanta, playing for the first time since the Columbus game on New Year's Day, stopped 24 of 25 shots to earn the 2-1 victory, the team's 30th of the season. The month would be finished the next night against San Jose in another tightly contested game. Frederik Andersen and James Reimer both played very well, but Andrei Svechnikov batted a puck in on a rebound to give the Canes a late lead and eventually the win, extending their winning streak to four games with another 2-1 victory. 

The team would finish with a 9-2-1 record for the month, with the two regulation losses being by three or more goals, and they are guaranteed to go into the All-Star Break at the top of the division with 64 points (31-9-2). Andrei Svechnikov led the charge for the team this month, pacing the team with seven goals and 16 points in the team's 12 games in January. Tony DeAngelo continued his spectacular season, finishing second on the team in points (12) and leading the way in assists (10). 21 different skaters collected at least one point for the team. Frederik Andersen won seven of his eight starts for the month and helped complete the comeback against Columbus in a relief appearance to finish with eight wins for the month. He was named the NHL's second star of the week for the period ending January 30 after winning three starts in six days and allowing six total goals on 96 shots. The penalty kill carried their kill streak into the month and made it to 35 consecutive kills before allowing a power play goal against Boston to end the streak. The kill still went 31 for 35 (88.6%) and is currently the best in the league (89.04%). The power play was successful eight times in 30 attempts (26.7%) and is tied for seventh for the season (25%). DeAngelo led the team with seven points on the power play (1-6-7). 

Moment of the Month- Tony DeAngelo Seals the Win Against New York (1/21)

It's well-documented that the Canes have a lot of former Rangers on their team. Fast, Smith, DeAngelo, Stepan, Skjei, Raanta, and probably more have all worn the blue and white in their careers. It was going to be an intense game when the Rangers came to town, but the focus was on Tony DeAngelo after the way things ended. He picked up two early assists, including the primary assist on Jesper Fast's goal in the second period. With the Canes up 5-3 in the third period, having just given up two quick goals, and on the power play, Tony DeAngelo snuck a quiet wrist shot through traffic into the back of the net and PNC Arena erupted. DeAngelo was visibly stoked about the goal and it helped to put the nail in the coffin for the Canes as they won the game 6-3. You could tell the goal meant a lot to him by his reaction.  

Honorable Mention- Sebastian Aho's Overtime Winner v. Vegas (1/25)

Game of the Month- 7-1 W at Boston (1/18)

When the Canes and Bruins faced off in October in Raleigh, they played a perfect game. They shut out the Bruins 3-0 in midst of their perfect start to the season. When the Canes traveled to Boston for this meeting in January, they were two games removed from being embarrassed by the Blue Jackets, they were playing without Martin Necas after his phenomenal birthday performance against Vancouver, Tuukka Rask was back in the net for the Bruins, and Willie O'Rees number was being retired pre-game. It just felt like it had the makings of a dogfight when the puck was dropped. What happened next was totally unexpected in the best ways possible. Teuvo Teravainen and Jesperi Kotkaniemi both scored early but were answered by a Patrice Bergeron power-play goal. The Canes would then score three goals in 5:30, including Kotkaniemi scoring his second of the night just 13 seconds after Bergeron's goal, along with Seth Jarvis and Derek Stepan, to take a 5-1 lead into the intermission. Add two more goals on the power play in the third period and it left the Boston faithful stunned. It was easily one of the most emphatic wins of the season to this point. 

Three Stars of the Month

Third Star- Brady Skjei (5 Goals, 5 Assists, 10 Points in 12 Games)

DeAngelo may have led the way in points for the defensemen, but Brady Skjei started the new year on fire. He scored twice in the comeback win over Columbus, added three points against the Flames, and then scored again against Florida in the first three games of the month. His five goals were second to Svechnikov and his ten points were fifth-most for the month while we averaged 21:28 a game. 

Second Star- Frederik Andersen (8-1-0, 2.22 GAA, .927 SV% in 9 Games (8 Starts))

Even before his performance in the final week of the month that earned him second star honors from the league, Andersen had another really good month. His eight wins were tied for second this month in the league, while his save percentage and goals against average were top ten in the league among goalies with at least four games played. He has kept this team at the top of the division with his consistency. 

First Star- Andrei Svechnikov (7 Goals, 9 Assists, 16 Points in 12 Games)

When stacked up to other superstars in the league, these numbers look pedestrian. When looked at on a game-to-game basis, Svechnikov was the best player on the ice for the Canes most nights. He had a five-game multi-point streak from 1/15-1/25 (2-8-10 in 5 games), recorded two or more points in seven of the teams' 12 games, and had at least one point in nine of 12 games. This month was his best of the season thus far and continued to show why the team gave him that large contract in the offseason. 

Preview for February

While they were originally going to get a while off for the Olympics, the Canes have a bunch of games rescheduled due to COVID they need to make up. They have ten games on the schedule for the month, four at home and six on the road. Once the All-Star Break concludes, they'll start back with a four-game road trip, then will have three two-game sets alternating home and away (two home, then two away, then two home). Only three division opponents are on the schedule, as they'll face more Atlantic teams than Metro teams (4 Atlantic, 3 Metro, 2 Central, 1 Pacific). They also have three afternoon games in February. 

Games to Watch in February

2/7 at Toronto, 2/10 at Boston

I've highlighted both of these games during the road trip to open the month because they are against two of the Atlantic's best. They've played both already, beating Toronto 3-1 on October 25 and beating Boston twice (3-0 10/28, 7-1 1/18). Both teams feature a ton of star power and some of the best scorers in the league. They haven't played Toronto on the road since the David Ayres games and they've proven they can win in Boston already this season. With these games, I'm more interested in how the team will play coming off a week-long break and whether we'll see any rust in the first few games. 

2/16 v. Florida, 2/18 v. Nashville

This is another set of games I'm focusing on, but this time it's primarily because of the goaltending. Sergei Bobrovsky has been having a rebound season with Florida and they've beaten the Canes twice already this season as one of the best teams in the first half. The Canes faced Juuse Saros the second game of the season and managed to get the job done, but he's been spectacular this season as well. They and Andersen are towards the top of the leaderboards in most major goaltending statistics, so this could be a set of goaltending battles. I'm also planning on going to the Nashville game, so I'm excited about that.

2/20 at Pittsburgh

I'm not sure why the schedule is the way it is, but this will be the first time they face each other this season. Pittsburgh, who had their struggled early in the season, has found their way to the top of the division. They still have the usual suspects in Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, Jake Guentzel, and many more, so they are going to be a tough opponent. Tristan Jarry has to be among the favorites for the Vezina this season with his strong performance. Mike Sullivan has done a masterful job with his group and overcoming injuries and COVID issues. This game is important both because it's the first meeting, but also because it's the first half of a back-to-back in the afternoon. Pittsburgh has always been a tough opponent for the Canes.