2022-23 Regular Season, Game 7: Hurricanes v. New York Islanders

After almost two weeks on the road, the Canes are finally back in front of the fans at PNC Arena. The trip out west was largely a success as they went 3-1-1, picking up seven of a possible ten points. Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov were both huge parts of the effort. Aho led the team with nine points and Svechnikov scored six of the team's 16 goals on the trip. Both scored in the win against Vancouver on Monday night with Jesper Fast scoring his first goal of the season also, the eventual game-winner. Frederik Andersen wasn't all that busy, facing only 16 shots to win his third win of the season. Despite the good point percentage on the trip, the power play and penalty kill were both under a microscope. The kill hasn't been as lethal this season as it was last year and the power play has been very hit-or-miss. There is still plenty of time to fix both, but they will be things to keep an eye on tonight. The Canes haven't played since Monday, so they've had plenty of time to practice and recuperate from a tough trip. 

Projected Lines/Pairs

Teuvo Teravainen-Sebastian Aho-Seth Jarvis

Andrei Svechnikov-Jesperi Kotkaniemi-Martin Necas

Jordan Martinook-Jordan Staal-Jesper Fast

Stefan Noesen-Paul Stastny-Derek Stepan

Jaccob Slavin-Brent Burns

Brady Skjei-Brett Pesce

Dylan Coghlan-Jalen Chatfield

Frederik Andersen

Antti Raanta

Extras- Ondrej Kase (concussion protocol), Calvin de Haan (day-to-day)

It's not often we care about who the extras are, but a name is missing tonight. Just hours before puck drop, Ethan Bear was traded to Vancouver with Lane Pederson, who the Canes acquired with Brent Burns this offseason, for a 5th-round pick in the upcoming draft. I was really excited when the Canes traded for Bear from Edmonton. Unfortunately, he never found much consistent playing time and had yet to play this season. It's also worth noting that Calvin de Haan is listed as day-to-day, according to Rod Brind'Amour. He was banged up in Calgary and hasn't practiced much this week. It'll be the same lineup from the Vancouver win with Frederik Andersen between the pipes. 

Tonight's Opponent: New York Islanders (3-4-0, 6 points, 7th in the Metropolitan Division)

Despite being under .500 seven games into the season, the Islanders are feeling it right now. They came up on the losing end of two close games with Tampa Bay and Florida before putting it on the Rangers on Wednesday night. The Islanders blanked their in-state rivals behind two goals from Kyle Palmieri and a 41-save shutout from Ilya Sorokin in a 3-0 win on Long Island. After missing the playoffs last season, it's time for a bounceback with Lane Lambert in control behind the bench. It does help that they aren't starting the season with a ton of away games in a row. Their stars have played like it to start the season. Matthew Barzal, despite not scoring a goal yet, is tied with Anders Lee with seven points. Lee also has the early team lead in goals with four. They've gotten a lot of help from their defense offensively, combing for seven goals early in the season. They also boast a perfect penalty kill, stopping all 25 chances they've faced. Sorokin has also been very good early. Though he's 2-3-0, he's allowed just 11 goals on 160 shots in five starts. This isn't a team that is built to outscore you every night, but they'll defend you to death. 

Last Season v. Carolina- The Canes took two of three games from the Islanders, splitting the two meetings in Raleigh before beating them on Long Island at the end of the season. The two teams met on Opening Night in Raleigh and though Matthew Barzal got the scoring started, Andrei Svechnikov scored twice and recorded three points in a blowout 6-2 win for Carolina. It wouldn't be until early April that these two would meet again and it was a defensive struggle. The Islanders held a 1-0 lead into the final minute of the third period before the Canes would tie it in hopes of forcing overtime. With 15 seconds left, Kyle Palmieri beat Frederik Andersen to win in regulation and stun the fans at PNC Arena. They would meet again in the final week of the season in New York and with a 2-1 lead in the second period, Antti Raanta would leave the game with an injury, paving the way for the second appearance of Pyotr Kochetkov, less than 24 hours after making his debut in a win in New Jersey. The Islanders would tie it in the second period before the Canes exploded for three goals in the third to win 5-2 en route to a division crown.

New York's Starting Goalie: Ilya Sorokin- Sorokin is coming off a magnificent performance against the Rangers on Wednesday night. He made his first two career starts against the Canes last season and to mixed results. He allowed five goals on Opening Night in Raleigh before stopping 20 of 21 shots in the Islanders' only win against the Canes. Most of the damage came at 5-on-5 in the two games, which could be a key in tonight's game. Sorokin was one few bright spots of their season in 2021-22, finishing sixth in Vezina voting. 

New York Player to Watch: Josh Bailey- Tonight is a big night for Bailey as he plays his 1,000th game in the NHL He's just the third player in team history to reach 1,000 games as an Islanders and it comes one game after recording his first goal and point of the season. 46 of his first 999 games have been against the Canes, where he's recorded 23 points, his seventh-highest total against any team. He'll be playing alongside Barzal tonight, so expect to see him get some chances to make Game 1,000 even more memorable. 

Scoring Summary

1st Period

(NYI) 16:29- Oliver Wahlstrom (4) (assisted by Matthew Barzal (8) & Scott Mayfield (1))

2nd Period

(CAR) 8:57- Martin Necas (4) (assisted by Brady Skjei (3))

(NYI) 14:29- Matt Martin (2) (assisted by Casey Cizikas (1))

(CAR) 15:35- Brent Burns (1) (assisted by Jordan Martinook (2) & Brett Pesce (2))

(NYI) 16:26- Josh Bailey (2) (assisted by Matthew Barzal (9) & Alexander Romanov (1))

3rd Period

(NYI) 3:59- Brock Nelson (1) (assisted by Anthony Beauvillier (2) & Anders Lee (4))

(NYI) 11:06- Brock Nelson (2) (assisted by Anthony Beauvillier (3) & Ryan Pulock (3))

(NYI) 18:06- Zach Parise (2) SH EN (unassisted)

Let's Talk About the Game

There is no way around it, the Islanders just completely outplayed the Hurricanes in the final 40 minutes. I thought the first period was very even and if not for a bad bounce over Brent Burns' stick, it likely would've been scoreless. Instead, Matthew Barzal finds Oliver Wahlstrom and the Islanders score the only goal of the first period. One thing that happened well before this goal that was a bad indication of things to come was the mishandling of the puck by the Hurricanes, particularly by their third defensive pairing in and around Frederik Andersen. Early in the first period, Dylan Coghlan loses a puck that leads to an excellent chance for Matt Martin, but Andersen was ready for it and made the stop. If this had been a one-off, it would've been no big deal. It just happened way too many times tonight and Andersen wasn't able to bail them out every time. 

This had the makings of a tight, defensive game. We learned that wouldn't be the case midway through the second period. The Canes came out in the second period and they started peppering Ilya Sorokin with shots, but the Islanders' netminder kept them out. It wouldn't be until a beautiful give-and-go play between Brady Skjei and Martin Necas where the latter redirected a pass from the former that the Canes finally solved Sorokin. As much as he tried to stretch, he wasn't able to reach it and the Canes had tied it up. Then, things got crazy. While trying to get going in front of Andersen, Jalen Chatfield mishandled the puck and it was stolen by Casey Cizikas, who wound draw a penalty. During the delayed sequence, Cizikas, as he was falling, found a wide-open Martin and he beat Andersen to the blocker side to regain the lead for New York. Just over a minute later, Jordan Martinook won a battle and got the puck the Burns at the blue line. The defenseman unleashed a shot that bounced around, hit the Islanders' Sebastian Aho in the skate, and trickled across the goalline to tie and game and give Burns his first as a Hurricane. This elation was short-lived as Barzal entered the zone and found Josh Bailey, who outwaited both Skjei and Andersen and backhanded it into the net to give the Islanders the lead again just 51 seconds later. 

The momentum-changing moment in this game would be at the end of the second period when the Islanders took two penalties in short order to give the Canes 1:23 of a 5-on-3. With Burns and Coghlan both on the ice, it turned into a shooting gallery. Coghlan rang the post early in the two-man advantage and he would continue to shoot for the entirety of the power play, but nothing was getting past Sorokin. As hard as they tried to tie it, the Islanders killed both penalties and entered the third period ahead by one. From there, they took over. Brock Nelson scored twice in the third period, both set up by Anthony Beauvillier, and Zach Parise scored into the empty net while short-handed and the Islanders dealt the Canes a big loss on home ice after coming off the road and waiting for 16 days to play inside PNC Arena again. 

It was just not a good night for the Hurricanes. They had trouble holding onto the puck all night and even when it seemed like they were building some momentum, Sorokin was there to shut the door. Even on the last power play at the end of the game, Sorokin was going all out to prevent the Canes from getting anything. The third pair of Coghlan and Chatfield had a rough night. Teuvo Teravainen continued to be snake-bitten, finding himself with Jordan Staal and Jesper Fast before the night was over. The Islanders were able to pick apart every little mistake the Canes made tonight and they resulted in goals. They had all the puck luck tonight and it showed. There are no excuses here. The Islanders played like the better team and built off their win on Wednesday night to come into Raleigh and shove it to the Hurricanes for the better part of 60 minutes. 

Canes' Three Stars of the Game

Third Star- Martin Necas (Goal)

It's becoming a regular occurrence that we talk about Necas after a game. He continues his blazing-hot start to the season with another goal tonight, tying him with Aho and Svechnikov with nine points through seven games. The entire play between him and Skjei was great and he was on the receiving end of it, breathing some life into the Canes at that moment. 

Second Star- Jordan Martinook (Assist)

I've often said that (+/-) is an overrated way of evaluating players but the fact remains, Martinook was the only Hurricane to finish as a positive tonight. He was elevated to the first line in the third period but even before then, he set up the Burns goal in the second period. He was all over the ice tonight trying to will his team back into the game. 

First Star- Brett Pesce (Assist)

Pesce was the other player to earn an assist on the Burns goal, picking up the secondary helper. He was also the only defenseman to finish outside of the negatives tonight in (+/-). I thought he played a strong defensive game and may have been the best on the ice tonight among the blueliners. I'm waiting for one to find the back of the net for him as he continues to shoot the puck a lot. 

What's Next

There isn't going to be much time for the Canes to feel sorry for themselves as they head up to Philadelphia to complete the back-to-back against the Flyers. Philly has easily been the surprise in the division to start the year, as they'll sit in the top spot when the Canes come to visit. Like the Canes, they started the season 3-0-0, but have split their last four games. It'll be the first time we've seen Tony DeAngelo after the Canes traded him in the offseason. He's off to a good start for new head coach John Tortorella, putting up six points thus far. Kevin Hayes paces the team with nine assists and ten points, while Travis Konecny has four goals and eight points. Carter Hart has found his game once again, starting the season 5-0-0 and allowing just two goals per game. This is not going to be an easy trip for the Canes as they try to get the sour taste of tonight out of their mouths for a clash in the City of Brotherly Love tomorrow night.