Regular Season, Game 42: Hurricanes v. San Jose Sharks

Less than 24 hours after a big divisional win over the New Jersey Devils, the Hurricanes will take the ice one more time before a week-long break for the All-Star Game when they host the San Jose Sharks. The two teams are meeting for the second time this season after the Sharks took a 2-1 win in overtime back on November 22 in San Jose. Alexander Barabanov scored the game-winner in extra time shortly after the Canes had finished killing a penalty that had carried over from regulation. Tony DeAngelo scored the lone goal for the Canes, Kevin LeBanc tied it early in the third period, and James Reimer (22 saves) got the win against his former team, besting Antti Raanta (25 saves). Raanta was the star of the game last night against New Jersey, stopping 24 of 25 shots, and guiding the Canes to a 2-1 win over New Jersey. All the scoring was done in the first period, with Jordan Martinook and Andrei Svechnikov scoring for the Canes. The Devils were largely the better team for two periods of the game last night, but Raanta stole the show to help secure two points. With this being a back-to-back, I'd expect the Canes will send out Frederik Andersen before he and Sebastian Aho make the trip to Vegas alongside Rod Brind'Amour. 

The Sharks are also playing the second game in a back-to-back, but this game involved some travel for them. They make the trip to Raleigh after playing in Sunrise last night against the Panthers. The Sharks held a 3-1 lead through two periods and a 4-2 lead with just over 15 minutes left in their game last night before allowing three unanswered goals, including the game-winner in overtime to Sam Bennett, to drop a 5-4 decision while picking up a point with James Reimer facing 50 shots in a losing effort. Jonathan Dahlen scored twice and Nick Bonino added three assists to lead the way for San Jose. Despite a win over Washington earlier this week, the Sharks have lost three of their last four games. A contributing factor might be that the injury bug has hit San Jose at an inopportune time this week. Erik Karlsson is out several weeks after surgery. Adin Hill missed a game this week with a lower-body injury and didn't serve as the backup goalie last night. Mario Ferrero left last night's game with an injury and has been ruled out for today's game as well. Reimer is getting the start again tonight and this is a bit of a head-scratcher for me because he faced a lot of shots last night. This just makes me feel they have no faith in their backup to get the job done. Even after playing last night, I expect both teams to come out firing tonight. This isn't the Sharks' last game before the break, but they're facing one of the best teams in the league and they know they can beat them since they've done it already. The Canes can empty their tanks going into the break, not having to worry about playing until next Monday. I'd like to see more scoring than I did last night from the Canes, as long as it's Carolina that's doing the scoring. 

1st Period

Scoring

(CAR) 4:36- Vincent Trocheck (11) (assisted by Ian Cole (9) & Ethan Bear (6))

Thoughts

The Sharks may have looked faster for most of the period, but the Canes got the only goal and got the better of the chances. Sebastian Aho had a couple good chances, as did Andrei Svechnikov, but the goal came from Vincent Trocheck as he walked down the aisle and snapped one past James Reimer to get the Canes on the board. There was a good deal of chippiness in this period. Trocheck threw a tough hit on Radim Simek, there was a disturbance in front of the Sharks' bench that led to a couple penalties, and Svech threw a rough hit on Couture to get called for interference. I don't think this is likely to keep up all night, but it was weird to see this happening in a game between cross-conference opponents. The Sharks seem to be looking to get in close on Andersen, which they did several times in the period. The Canes need to minimize those chances and get some high danger chances in traffic to take Reimer's eyes away. 

2nd Period

Scoring

None

Thoughts

Neither team wanted to make a mistake in the second period, which is why we didn't have any goals for the second stanza. The Canes were the better team for the majority of the period and just missed on a couple stretch passes that would've gotten the Canes in all alone. Reimer was up to the task all period and made some great saves from point-blank range to keep the Canes' lead at one goal. Andersen was just as good on the other end of the all, albeit less tested than his counterpart. The Canes' only power play was shortened due to a penalty by Trocheck, but the kill was able to stop the abbreviated chance on the other end. It's going to take another goal or two for the Canes to feel like this game is out of reach. I wouldn't be surprised to see a sense of urgency for the team coming out for the third period. 

3rd Period

Scoring

(SJ) 3:36- Rudolfs Balcers (5) (assisted by Jonathan Dahlen (9) & Nicolas Meloche (2))

(CAR) 16:16- Andrei Svechnikov (16) (assisted by Brett Pesce (12) & Sebastian Aho (26))

Thoughts

After Balcers scored the goal to tie the game early in the period, I had some deja vu from the game back in November when San Jose won in overtime. It's a shame too because the Canes were by far the better team for the entire period. San Jose had some good chances, but the Canes controlled most of the play and had a lot more chances. It just felt like Reimer had the Canes' number for the second time this season. Fortunately for everyone in attendance and everyone watching at home, Andrei Svechnikov won a battle in front of the net and knocked in a rebound to give the Canes the lead. The defense withstood a late onslaught with the Sharks' net empty and though they bent, they refused to break to go into the break with their fourth-straight win. 

Canes' Three Stars of the Game

Third Star- Sebastian Aho (Assist)

While he'll only get the secondary assist on the game-winner, Aho had a really good night. He had two great chances on Reimer early in the game and was towards the top of the list amongst the forwards in ice time (17:52). He was also great in the face-off dot, winning 69% of his draws. He was critical in winning the face-off that led to the winning goal and finished the first half with another point. 

Second Star- Andrei Svechnikov (Goal)

He took two penalties in the first period, but this was another of those physical games we've grown accustomed to from the power forward. He laid five hits in the game to go along with his four shots on the net, but it was his rebound goal late in the period that decided the game. He won a battle out front and finally solved Reimer to get the Canes two more points. 

First Star- Frederik Andersen (27 Saves on 28 Shots)

Another representative in Vegas for the Canes, Andersen was phenomenal once again. He was perfect through two periods and even after the goal from Balcers to tie the game, he withstood the usual mad dash from the Sharks to end the game while they were down. He got some help from his defense during the last few minutes, but this was a perfect way to end his first half of the season in his first season with the team. 

Final Thoughts

It wasn't the prettiest of wins and things seemed to settle down a lot after the raucous first period, but this was the best they've looked in the last three games. It was another one-goal win for the team to push their win streak to four games as they head into the All-Star Break. This has to be one of the best first halves in franchise history. They'll head into the break in first place in the division and will still be in single-digits in regulation losses (9). The team will be able to relax a little bit while Aho, Andersen, and Brind'Amour head to Vegas for the festivities. The rest of the guys will get a break from the action until next Monday when the team returns from the break to face Toronto and Ottawa on back-to-back nights as they open on a four-game road trip as they start to make up the games they missed for COVID. It'll be a tough month for the team, but this is some well-earned time off for the team.