Regular Season, Game 51: Hurricanes v. Columbus Blue Jackets

For the fourth and final time this season, the Blue Jackets and Hurricanes will square off in Raleigh tonight. This season series has been a weird one. The Canes dominated Columbus 5-1 at Nationwide Arena back on October 23, then scored seven unanswered goals in the second and third periods to beat them 7-4 in Columbus on New Year's Day. 12 days later, in their most recent encounter, they played on ESPN+, the team's first game with ESPN in attendance since before the lockout in 2004, and the Jackets demolished them 6-0 for their first and only shutout loss of the season. That game also saw the NHL debut of Jack LaFontaine in relief of Frederik Andersen and it didn't go well. Someone has scored twice in each of the first three meetings (Trocheck on 10/23, Lorentz and Skjei on 1/1, and Chinakov on 1/13). The Canes are coming off a short break after completing four games in six days. They earned seven of a possible eight points, including wins in three straight. After beating Pittsburgh on Sunday, the Canes followed it up by beating the Flyers in overtime with Brett Pesce getting the winner. Health has been a major concern in the last week. Brendan Smith left the Pittsburgh game early on Sunday and Tony DeAngelo exited in Philadelphia with an injury to his midsection. It's being reported he'll be out for at least four weeks. This allowed Jalen Chatfield to return to the big club and he's projected to be paired with Brady Skjei as Slavin and Pesce are reunited on the top pairing. Andersen is getting the start tonight hoping to atone for his bad start the last time Columbus came to town. 

One of the hottest teams in the league at the moment, the Blue Jackets are starting to put something together. They've won nine of their last 11, seven of eight since the All-Star Break, and four in a row. They've scored 24 goals in those four wins, including six or more three times. They've played two of the top ten teams in the league based on points percentage this week and won both. They took down the Maple Leafs in overtime on Tuesday night before throttling the Panthers 6-3 last night. Patrik Laine is one of the hottest players in the league, recording points in 11 straight games, while Boone Jenner is on a nice streak of his own. J.F. Berube has stepped up and won his last three starts after not appearing in an NHL game since 2018. He's started the last three games after both Merzlikins and Korpisalo were put on IR last week. Berube will start again tonight. Another notable name out for Columbus is Zach Werenski would is expected to miss tonight after not playing last night with a lower-body injury. This is going to be an interesting game because I'm sure the sting of that 6-0 loss is still present. The way the Canes were outplayed that night was embarrassing. I'm sure they'll be rested and fired up for tonight's fight. 

1st Period

Scoring

None

Thoughts

This was a surgical start for the Canes, doing everything but score on the Jackets in the period. The power play looked really good, especially on their second attempt, but the story for Columbus has continued to be J.F. Berube in the net. He withstood the barrage of shots from the Canes to keep things scoreless. Andersen's best save was early in the period on Roslovic in close as he only faced three shots the entire period. Chatfield looked good in his return to the lineup, breaking up a sure breakaway before it could materialize and helping to get some shots on Berube. The fourth line had a bunch of good chances, acting as the team's best line in the period. They will have a little bit of the Chatfield penalty to kill at the beginning of the period and then they need to find a way to get out ahead of Columbus quick. This isn't a team to allow to stay in the game long. 

2nd Period

Scoring

(CAR) 9:22- Jordan Staal (5) (assisted by Nino Niederreiter (12) & Brett Pesce (13))

(CAR) 18:09- Teuvo Teravainen (14) PP (assisted by Sebastian Aho (32))

Thoughts

While there was more of a push from the Blue Jackets at times in the period, the Canes continued to dominate this game by peppering Berube with shots. The biggest difference is that the Canes finally solved him. Jordan Staal was relentless on his shift, getting stopped on a breakaway, but never quitting on the play. His second or third attempt was stopped, but it batted the puck out of mid-air to finally break the ice about midway through the period. The power play got to work two more times in the period and they looked great again. It took just three seconds on their fourth attempt to finally join the fun as Teravainen scored right off the faceoff. Andersen has only faced nine shots to this point in the game since most of the game has been played in Columbus' end. The Canes can't step off the gas pedal. The Jackets still have some fight in them and it's going to take a third complete period to get the job done. 

3rd Period

Scoring

(CAR) 1:14- Nino Niederreiter (16) (assisted by Jesper Fast (10) & Brady Skjei (15))

(CAR) 1:50- Vincent Trocheck (15) (assisted Martin Necas (20))

Thoughts

The Canes scored quickly twice at the beginning of the period then put the vice grips on Columbus to squeeze whatever life they had left out of them. Nino bounced a puck in from behind the net off Berube to make it 3-0, then Trocheck went top shelf just 36 seconds late to double it. The defense then dug in to ensure Andersen gets his third shutout of the season. Columbus mounted more offense in the period than they had in the previous two combined, but Andersen stood tall to prevent a breakthrough. The Canes dominated in all facets of the game to halt the hot streak of Columbus. 

Canes' Three Stars of the Game

Third Star- Frederik Andersen (19 Saves on 19 Shots, 3rd Shutout of the Season)

It wasn't the flashiest of games for Andersen, especially when he only faced nine shots in the first 40 minutes tonight. The Jackets had some quality chances sprinkled throughout the game, but Andersen stood tall to keep them scoreless. His best work was done in the third period as he put together the quietest of his shutouts this season. 

Second Star- Teuvo Teravainen (Goal)

I've said it several times this season. I love when Turbo shoots the puck. He's been a huge part of the power play and his goal late in the second period was the most important of the goals the Canes scored tonight. Columbus had been pushing after Staal's opening goal, but he deflated their tires with this one. He could've had another goal or two tonight, but the one was more than enough. 

First Star- Nino Niederreiter (Goal, Assist)

Though he was the only player with two points, that's not the reason I put him in this top spot. He was one of the most dangerous players on the ice tonight. He only recorded two shots, but he got the puck to Staal for the opening goal and then found a way to sneak one in from behind the goal. He's been hot as of late and he adds to it tonight. 

Final Thoughts

Both wins over Boston on the road are up there, but this might have been the most dominant performance of the season from the Canes. It can be argued that the Blue Jackets were exhausted, having played last night, and missing their top defenseman doesn't help, but I don't think that makes a difference tonight. They didn't break double-digit shots until the third period and didn't provide too much resistance defensively. I thought Chatfield and Bear both played excellent games with DeAngelo out of the lineup. The fourth line of Kotkaniemi, Martinook, and Lorentz was on fire all night. Svechnikov didn't record a point, but he played well tonight. Major props to J.F. Berube for his performance tonight. He faced 50 shots tonight and didn't get a lot of help from the team in front of him after a tough game last night in Sunrise. This atoned for the loss in mid-January and then some. This win pushes the streak to four games with Edmonton coming to town on Sunday afternoon for yet another afternoon start. They'll be playing tomorrow night against the Panthers before heading to Raleigh, so they'll be in a similar boat with the Canes off tomorrow. This was an easy one to watch and even more fun to enjoy as the Canes controlled the game from the very beginning. The lead in the Metro grows as they nip at the heels of the Avalanche.