Regular Season, Game 64: Hurricanes v. Dallas Stars

The Hurricanes are looking to start a new winning streak after breaking their season-long four-game losing streak against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday night. The win in Raleigh featured power play goals from Martin Necas and Tony DeAngelo, while Sebastian Aho picked up the game-winner in the third period to help secure a 3-2 win for the Canes. Tonight, they'll welcome in a Western Conference opponent that gave them fits during their first meeting of the season, the Dallas Stars. It was one of the most frustrating losses of the season and is a game I remember all too well. Roope Hintz scored a hat trick as Braden Holtby stopped 39 shots in a 4-1 win for the Stars. Jesperi Kotkaniemi scored the only goal that night for the Canes as Frederik Andersen took the loss, facing just 16 shots. The big news coming into tonight is the Hurricanes debut of Max Domi after being acquired at the trade deadline. He'll start tonight with Kotkaniemi and Derek Stepan, two former teammates of his. There are some expectations among the fanbase, so to see him make an impact tonight would be fun. Andersen will go again tonight after a solid performance against Tampa. With this being a nationally televised game on ESPN, I'm a little wary of which team is going to show up because the results have varied so far this season. I'm keeping a close eye on Seth Jarvis, who has recorded multi-point games in two of his last three, including two assists on Tuesday night. 

The Stars roll into town after back-to-back wins, last beating the Edmonton Oilers 5-3 on Tuesday night. They scored three unanswered goals in the final 5:22 of the game with five different goalscorers beating Koskinen and five players recording multi-point nights. Jake Oettinger earned the win, stopping 22 of 25 in the process. The Stars are currently in a dog fight for the second Wild Card spot in the West. They hold the final playoff bid by just one point over Vegas and three points over Winnipeg and Vancouver. I see them as a very top-heavy team when it comes to scoring. They have five primary point-scorers (Pavelski, Robertson, Hintz, Seguin, Benn), a solid defensive trio (Klingberg, Heiskanen, Lindell), and a little uncertainty in the net. Scott Wedgewood will be the starter for the Stars in his team debut after he was also acquired at the deadline, which surprises me a little bit. I think Jason Robertson is one of the most underappreciated forwards in the league, leading Dallas with 31 goals. He is a problem whenever he is on the ice. Joe Pavelski is an ageless wonder, racking up points left and right. This will not be an easy team to beat, but I think the Canes are more than up for the task. Both teams should be coming into tonight with a little bit of desperation. Pittsburgh is right on the Canes' heels and the Stars aren't guaranteed a playoff spot. I think we'll see a very back-and-forth game between two hungry teams. 

1st Period

Scoring

None

Thoughts

This is another in a long line of games where the Canes have controlled the play almost the entire time, outshoot their opponents by a lot against a backup goalie, yet they can't find the back of the net. The Aho line was buzzing in that first shift and came inches away from taking an early lead. The obvious story to start the game is Scott Wedgewood. He was a perfect 18 for 18 in the opening frame and faced shot from just about every angle. Meanwhile, Andersen only faced four shots and wasn't challenged much at all. Besides the Aho chance, Svechnikov had a partial break that he completely missed the net on. The penalty kill was great, not allowing a shot and coming up with a few blocks. The Canes have to find a way to score and break the confidence of Wedgewood because it feels like he can stop everything right now. 

2nd Period

Scoring

(DAL) 0:30- Jamie Benn (16) (assisted by Alexander Radulov (17) & John Klingberg (33))

(CAR) 6:44- Nino Nieddereiter (18) (assisted by Brady Skjei (19))

Thoughts

I'm more frustrated with how this game has been officiated than anything else. Brett Pesce ate a clear elbow from Namestnikov, then dropped the gloves and pummeled him. Pesce got 17 total minutes in penalties, while Namestnikov got just seven. I'm not sure what Pesce did to earn those additional minutes, but I digress. It felt like there were a bunch of no-calls, but then Trocheck is called for unsportsmanlike conduct for complaining about a non-call. Dallas got on the board early off a weird bounce past Andersen courtesy of Ian Cole. The Canes responded with a goal from Nino Niederreiter to finally break through Wedgewood. Both goalies played well the rest of the period, though Andersen has hardly been tested through 40 minutes. The Canes will have 1:17 of the Trocheck penalty to kill and then it becomes business as usual. Carolina is yet to have a power play tonight which I'm willing to bet changes in the final period. 

3rd Period

Scoring

(CAR) 2:43- Vincent Trocheck (18) PP (assisted by Sebastian Aho (35) & Teuvo Teravainen (33))

(DAL) 3:43- Roope Hintz (27) (assisted by Joe Pavelski (41) & Jason Robertson (28))

(CAR) 10:24- Nino Niederreiter (19) (assisted by Brady Skjei (20) & Jesperi Kotkaniemi (13))

(DAL) 11:23- Roope Hintz (28) (assisted by Jason Robertson (29) & Joe Pavelski (42))

Thoughts

The Canes held two leads in the period and they relinquished them within a minute on each occasion. The silver lining is that the Canes are going to get a point out of it despite my feeling they could've won this game in regulation. Scott Wedgewood is the only reason this is going to overtime because this could've been ugly early. The save from Andersen on the penalty shot attempt by Raffl looks huge in retrospect despite it not really looking like an infraction in the first place. Good for Trocheck to bounce back with the power play goal and Nino is on hat trick watch going into overtime. It hasn't been pretty, but it's a point nonetheless. 

Overtime

Scoring

None

Thoughts

Scott Wedgewood made two huge saves and the penalty kill is able to kill 34.3 seconds of a penalty to ensure this game goes to a shootout. Aho and Necas had two of the best chances of the session, but Wedgewood got over twice to keep it even. They were both unreal as the Canes controlled a large portion of the extra time. 

Shootout

1. (CAR) Trocheck is denied on the backhand as Wedgewood waits long enough

2. (DAL) Seguin scores five-hole on Andersen

3. (CAR) Svechnikov is stopped with the blocker

4. (DAL) Robertson lost control of the puck and doesn't get the shot he wants

5. (CAR) DeAngelo is stopped on the backhand with the pad to end it

Canes' Three Stars of the Game

Third Star- Vincent Trocheck (Goal)

He lost his cool at the end of the second period, thinking he'd drawn a penalty, but he was able to respond hugely by scoring on the power play to open the third period. It was a nice bounceback shift for him. He finished with four shots and four hits, almost ending the game in overtime, but missing the net on a one-timer. 

Second Star- Brady Skjei (2 Assists)

Both of his passes leading to goals from Nino were excellent. He read the play beautifully on the first goal, then found him gliding through the slot to allow him to tip it home. He played a solid defensive game as well. He led the team in ice time tonight, having to pick up some extra time with Pesce missing most of the second period. 

First Star- Nino Niederreiter (2 Goals)

I want this man signed to an extension as quickly as they can. Both of his goals came at big moments in the game. His first proved that Wedgewood was beatable and his second gave the Canes the lead momentarily. I don't recall him being on the ice in overtime, but I'd have loved to see him end it to get the hat trick. He finished tied with a team-high five shots. 

Final Thoughts

Back-up goalies are this team's kryptonite and you aren't going to convince me otherwise. Hats off to Scott Wedgewood for an unreal performance for a desperate team. The Pavelski-Hintz-Robertson line is able to burn the Canes again in the third period to keep them in it. I didn't think Frederik Andersen was all that sharp, but he was dormant for most of the first two periods. I thought Max Domi played fine. He was extremely noticeable, laying four hits and setting up a really good chance for Derek Stepan in the first period. The officiating tonight was a bummer because they didn't make a lot of the obvious calls, but made bad calls when they decided to blow the whistle. The Canes didn't lose because of the officials, but they certainly played an unnecessarily large part in this game. Regardless, the Canes picked up a point tonight to slightly increase their lead in the division. It doesn't leave the best taste in my mouth, yet I'll find a way to get over it. Next up is a trip to St. Louis for a meeting with the Blues on Saturday night. The Canes didn't have the best homestand, picking up just three points, so it's time for a reset on the road.