Regular Season, Game 39: Hurricanes v. Vegas Golden Knights

For the second time this season, the Canes and the Golden Knights are set to square off, this time in Raleigh. The two teams met back on November 16th in Vegas with the Canes winning 4-2. They took an early 2-0 lead on goals from Tony DeAngelo and Sebastian Aho, before allowing Vegas to get back into it in the second period courtesy of Shea Theodore and Brett Howden. The Canes managed to score twice in the third period, with goals by Seth Jarvis and Vincent Trocheck, while Antti Raanta closed things down to win. Though they'd been hot, the Canes dropped a bad 7-4 decision to New Jersey on Saturday night to end a three-game winning streak. The defense looked really bad and the goaltending from Jack LaFontaine left a lot to be desired. They'll turn back to Frederik Andersen, who last played Friday against New York, to lead the charge tonight. Teuvo Teravainen will remain a game-time decision as he was on Saturday following a lower-body injury on Friday. Turbo did not play against New Jersey after taking the warm-up. Vegas is playing the second half of a back-to-back after shutting out Washington 1-0 last night in D.C. Robin Lehner made 34 stops in the win with Michael Amadio scoring the only goal. This is their second stop during a four-game road trip that will see them play both Florida teams later this week. The Golden Knights have won seven straight games on the road, last losing on December 1st in Anaheim. They were missing a lot of important players back in November and will be without some tonight as well. Max Pacioretty and Reilly Smith are among the notables missing tonight's game, while Mark Stone will return tonight from the COVID list. Since Lehner played last night, one would think Laurent Brossoit will start tonight, but it very well could still be Lehner. It's a battle of two teams towards the top of the standings for the league. This is a huge bounceback game for the Canes, they're second such game in just a couple weeks. They got the job done after the 6-0 loss to Columbus. Let's see which version of the Canes we're getting tonight. 

1st Period

Scoring

None

Thoughts

This felt like a period where neither team wanted to be the first to give up a goal. The Canes were the more assertive team in the offensive zone and had a lot more quality chances than Vegas did. Andrei Svechnikov was moving to start the game, as were his linemates. The defense also jumped into the play quite a bit. The team did get a little careless with the puck at times throughout the period and Vegas capitalized on those chances though they didn't score. Frederik Andersen didn't have to make too many stops, but he was solid when he did. Svech had easily the best chance on the period ring off the post on the power play with Brossoit out of position. The Canes need to kill ten more seconds of the Jarvis penalty to open the second period and I'd like to see the offense kick in from there. 

2nd Period

Scoring

(CAR) 4:44- Nino Niederreiter (12) (assisted by Jesper Fast (6) & Jordan Staal (9)) 

(CAR) 5:41- Vincent Trocheck (10) (assisted by Andrei Svechnikov (21) & Derek Stepan (7))

(VGK) 18:15- Nolan Patrick (2) (assisted by Keegan Kolesar (12))

Thoughts

We had some offense in the period and most of it was from the Canes again. After the kill completed their job, Nino Niederreiter buried a rebound after a great shift with Staal and Fast to break the ice. Vincent Trocheck wasted little time making it a two-goal lead after netting a pass from Andrei Svechnikov. Frederik Andersen made some good saves, as did Laurent Brossoit. Vegas scored after Brendan Smith was stripped of the puck in the defensive zone and Nolan Patrick slid one home after Andersen was bumped into. The Canes unsuccessfully challenged the goal, with the referees saying Cole caused the collision with Andersen. The kill will have 15 seconds to kill to begin the period. Outside of the goal late in the period for the third time in five periods, I thought this was another solid period for the Canes. I'm looking for the Aho line to get something going. They've had their moments in the game, but they haven't been able to capitalize on some Vegas mistakes. 

3rd Period

Scoring

(CAR) 8:32- Sebastian Aho (18) PP (assisted by Tony DeAngelo (26) & Teuvo Teravainen (21))

(VGK) 13:08- Brett Howden (5) (assisted by Shea Theodore (22) & Nolan Patrick (3))

(VGK) 17:30- Nicolas Hague (4) (assisted by William Carrier (7) & Mattias Janmark (9))

Thoughts

This is going to feel like a gut punch, especially if they don't get the second point in overtime. The Golden Knights were the better team for the second half of this period and they spent most of the final ten minutes in their offensive zone. The Canes extended the lead back to two goals on the power play with a deflection goal by Sebastian Aho, but Vegas scored two unanswered to finish the period. There were a lot of penalties, but there were a lot of no-calls as well. I haven't been a huge fan of the officiating tonight, but it doesn't mean anything when you don't capitalize on those penalties. It'll come down to who wants it more, but a point is a point, I guess. 

Overtime

Scoring

(CAR) 3:49- Sebastian Aho (19) (assisted by Andrei Svechnikov (22))

Thoughts

This was one of the most exciting overtime periods I've seen in a while. Each team had their great chances in almost four minutes of extra time. Andersen made some huge saves on some odd-man rushes and it was Aho forcing a bad pass that Svechnikov got to first to get it to the goal-scorer. Everyone went all out for overtime and they got the two points they should've gotten in regulation. 

Canes' Three Stars of the Game

Third Star- Frederik Andersen (26 Saves on 29 Shots)

Three goals allowed feels like a lot for Andersen, but two of them were excusable. He was taken out of position for the Patrick goal and there were a thousand deflections on the Howden goal. After Hague tied it up to force overtime, Andersen was lights out in overtime, making a few huge saves when Vegas had numbers. He earns win number 22 for the season as he guides the team to victory. 

Second Star- Sebastian Aho (2 Goals)

Aho now sits atop the franchise leader board with his seventh overtime game-winner on a play that he was mostly responsible for. He put the pressure on Theodore to force a bad pass and then buried home the Svechnikov feed. He added to the Canes' lead in the third period as well with the only power play goal of the game. He's quietly on a 40-goal pace for the season. 

First Star- Andrei Svechnikov (2 Assists)

I'm not sure who this man is, but this version of Andrei Svechnikov is a new man. He made some huge plays all night long and could've had a goal or two of his own with some better puck luck. This is the player the Canes drafted second overall four years ago. He's all over the ice and causing problems everywhere he goes. He was a monster all night long and was the best player on the ice tonight. 

Final Thoughts

The feeling after this game would be much different if Aho doesn't score in overtime to give the Canes the second point and the win. It's one thing to make it to overtime when coming from behind like they did against Florida, but it's another when you blow a lead in a game you should've won in regulation. The Golden Knights didn't let off the throttle after the Aho goal in the third period and they made the Canes look bad in the final ten minutes of regulation. Tony DeAngelo pushed his points streak to five games, as did Andrei Svechnikov, who now has two points in each of those games during his streak. The Canes also snapped Vegas' road winning streak at seven games. I think some changes need to be made for the game in Ottawa when it comes to the lineup. Ethan Bear needs to draw back into the lineup for Brendan Smith and they need to split up Slavin and DeAngelo. I would also expect to see Antti Raanta in the net for the first time in a while against the Senators. A huge development will be the loss of Drake Batherson for an extended period after a hit tonight by Sabres' goalie Aaron Dell. This is still a good hockey team that beat the Canes earlier in the season in Raleigh. This was a good win against a good hockey team and an important two points after the loss to New Jersey. This was the bounceback they needed.