Regular Season, Game 65: Hurricanes at St. Louis Blues

The road through March continues on as the Hurricanes hit the road after a disappointing homestand. While they did finish with four of a possible eight points in the four games (1-1-2), it felt like they should've won each game. They blew a late lead and lost in a shootout to Washington. They then got shut out despite putting up 44 shots on the Rangers. They snapped out of it by beating Tampa Bay on Tuesday night, but couldn't hold a lead when they got it against Dallas on Thursday night and lost again in a shootout. Nino Niederreiter scored twice against Dallas and Vincent Trocheck added a power play goal, but Scott Wedgewood stole the show to get the second point for Dallas. The Canes will not hit the road for three games in four days, starting in St. Louis. The Blues visited Raleigh on November 13 for the first meeting of the season. The Canes jumped out to an early lead in the first thanks to Brady Skjei, then Sebastian Aho scored on the power play early in the second. The Blues responded with a power play goal of their own from Pavel Buchnevich and Vladimir Tarasenko scored less than a minute into the third period to tie it. The game would remain tied for most of the period before Brendan Smith scored his first as a Hurricane to give the team the lead and, eventually, the win. Aho had a goal and an assist, while Tony DeAngelo and Andrei Svechnikov both had two assists. This game was also Alex Lyon's first game with the team and his first win. Antti Raanta will get the start tonight for the Canes, his first since the Washington game last Friday. The lineup doesn't appear like it will change either with the same group from Thursday night playing tonight. 

St. Louis is trying to get something going as the playoff picture starts to tighten up. They sit in third in the Central, one point behind Minnesota for second, but only one point ahead of Nashville for the first wild card spot. They've lost four of their last five (1-2-2), including a 5-2 loss at home to the Flyers on Thursday night. The Blue fell down 2-0 early but managed to fight back to within one heading into the third period before Jordan Binnington allowed a goal to Hayden Hodgson, his first in the NHL, and an empty-net goal cemented the loss. St. Louis features a bunch of young players having career seasons. Jordan Kyrou has become a fantastic player to watch, far surpassing career-highs in most major offensive categories, leading the Blues in points (61), assists (39), and tied for the team lead in goals (22) with David Perron. His chemistry with Robert Thomas, also eclipsing his career-highs in goals (12) and points (36), has been well-documented. Pavel Buchnevich has tied his career-high in points (48) and is two goals shy of setting a new career high. Ville Husso, tonight's starter, has stepped in with Binnington not playing at nearly the same level since their Stanley Cup win in 2019. There's little doubt in my mind that this is a playoff team, but things are getting close. This is very similar to the game against Dallas. The Canes, firmly in a playoff spot, are playing against a team that is hungry for points to stay in a good playoff position. I'm looking for more of an impact from Max Domi in his second game with the team. I don't care how they do it, but two points tonight would be much needed. 

1st Period

Scoring

(CAR) 2:37- Martin Necas (11) SH (assisted by Jaccob Slavin (30))

Thoughts

If not for how desensitized to the Canes taking penalties that I am, I'd have been very upset by two very early kills for the Canes. Add to that the short-handed goal from Martin Necas and I'm almost ready to accept the Canes are just going to take a lot of penalties. It was a seemingly nothing shot that found its way past Husso. This game feels weird because the shots on goal after the period are tied, which isn't something I'm used to basing on recent history. Both of the kills were really good and Antti Raanta was very strong for the first 20 minutes. The Staal line had some good shifts, the Aho line had some good chances, and even the fourth line had some moments of relative danger. I liked this period for the Canes and I'm looking for this momentum to carry over. 

2nd Period

Scoring

(CAR) 1:07- Seth Jarvis (11) (assisted by Teuvo Teravainen (34) & Ian Cole (13))

(CAR) 3:16- Brett Pesce (6) (assisted by Jesperi Kotkaniemi (14))

(STL) 13:12- Pavel Buchnevich (20) (assisted by Nick Leddy (16) & Robert Thomas (37))

(CAR) 14:38- Andrei Svechnikov (24) PP (assisted by Sebastian Aho (36) & Teuvo Teravainen (35))

Thoughts

That was a beautiful period for the Canes from top to bottom. Seth Jarvis scores early on a very innocent shot that Husso probably wants back. Brett Pesce then adds to the lead just over two minutes later after Max Domi wins a board battle, earning his first point in the process. Things devolve a little with Jesperi Kotkaniemi dropping the gloves after a clean hit on Stepan that probably looked way worse than it was. The Canes killed off the instigator penalty, but Aho took another penalty. Teravainen drew a penalty to get 4-on-4 hockey, but Buchnevich scored to get the momentum back a little. That didn't last long as the power play scores a beautiful goal with one of the birthday boys, Andrei Svechnikov, making it a three-goal lead again. I'm not even mad about the one goal allowed because the response was great. Special teams have been the big story so far, perfect on the kill and man advantage through 40 minutes. I like this game through two periods, but I won't be happy until the final buzzer sounds. 

3rd Period

Scoring

(STL) 6:30- Pavel Buchnevich (21) PP (assisted by Jordan Kyrou (40) & Robert Thomas (38))

(CAR) 15:05- Andrei Svechnikov (25) EN (assisted by Vincent Trocheck (26) & Martin Necas (21)) 

(CAR) 15:57- Nino Niederreiter (20) EN (assisted by Brett Pesce (16) & Jesper Fast (14))

(CAR) 17:55- Seth Jarvis (12) (assisted by Ian Cole (14) & Tony DeAngelo (32))

Thoughts

The Canes bent early in the period, allowing a power play goal early, but they certainly didn't break thanks to Antti Raanta. Tonight's starter made some huge saves to keep the Canes ahead by multiple goals. The final tally will be a bit inflated with the two empty-net goals, but Ian Cole added the extra point for good measure to make it seven goals for the Canes tonight. Buchnevich was inches away from a hat trick on several occasions tonight. They scored three goals in less than three minutes to really put this one out of reach and earn two points. There isn't too much bad to come out of the game. Just a solid win for the good guys. 

Canes' Three Stars of the Game

Third Star- Ian Cole (2 Assists)

I think this could honestly be any member of the defense, but I'm giving it to Cole because it's not often you'll get a multi-point night from him. He originally was credited with the seventh goal, but it was tipped by Jarvis. Still, I thought he played a solid two-way game tonight and it's always nice to see him rip a clapper from the point. 

Second Star- Andrei Svechnikov (2 Goals)

First, Happy 22nd Birthday to Mr. Svechnikov! He became the third Hurricane to score on his birthday this season and he did so in emphatic fashion. He was the benefactor of a beautiful passing play on his first goal on the power play, then iced the game with an empty-netter, and allowed me to breathe a little bit easier. He needed a game like this to get him out of his little rut and tonight was a good night to do it.

First Star- Martin Necas (Goal, Assist)

Tripp Tracy said on the broadcast tonight that this was his best defensive game of the season. I'd have to agree with him. Necas turned a short-handed chance into a goal on the Canes' first shot of the game, then intercepted a pass to lead to the first empty-net goal. He's been under a microscope lately because he hasn't been scoring, but now he has two goals in his last three games. 

Final Thoughts

This was a team that had been held down so much lately by not being able to score on goalies despite putting puck after puck on the net finally getting what they deserved. Seven different players recorded multi-point games, with Svechnikov and Jarvis both scoring twice, and 13 players found the scoresheet. Max Domi, who had initially been given an assist on the Pesce goal that has since been taken away, was much more noticeable. He won the board battle that led to the aforementioned goal by Pesce. He stood up for Jarvis during a skirmish. He was flying around and making great passes. This is what the Canes were hoping for when they acquired him at the deadline. Antti Raanta played very well tonight, withstanding an early push from Blues in the third period. It was a huge two points with the battle in the Metropolitan Division getting tighter. It was also a great way to start a road trip that will now see a back-to-back against Washington and Tampa Bay, two dangerous teams that are both potential first-round matchups for the Canes. They're starting to return to form a little bit after a tough stretch this month. I like this team a lot more than the one I'd been seeing the last two weeks. They left no doubt tonight and that's what I like to see.