2022-23 Regular Season, Game 25: Hurricanes (13-6-5) at Los Angeles Kings

The Hurricanes have come to life in their last three games after a brutal 0-1-4 stretch. They've won three straight games against good opponents and seem to be back in control of things. Their most recent outing against the St. Louis Blues was a perfect example. After Jordan Binnington made some huge saves and St. Louis found their way to a 2-0 lead, the Hurricanes struck three times in 64 seconds to take the lead. Before the end of the period, the Blues would tie the game and the Canes would start the third period with Pyotr Kochetkov in the net after Antti Raanta allowed three goals on 15 shots. It was hinted that Raanta had been dealing with some cramping during warm-ups and that was the reason for the change. It doesn't matter why it happened, but it would turn out to be the right move. Kochetkov came in and shut things down, allowing an inconsequential goal on 11 shots. Jordan Martinook became the star of the show in the third period, scoring twice to complete his second-career hat trick as the Hurricanes won 6-4. Tonight, the team heads to California for the first of two games in the state.

Projected Lines/Pairs

Seth Jarvis-Sebastian Aho-Martin Necas

Andrei Svechnikov-Jesperi Kotkaniemi-Teuvo Teravainen

Jordan Martinook-Jordan Staal-Jesper Fast

Jack Drury-Paul Stastny-Stefan Noesen

Jaccob Slavin-Brent Burns

Brady Skjei-Brett Pesce

Calvin de Haan-Jalen Chatfield

Pyotr Kochetkov

Antti Raanta

Healthy Scratches- Dylan Coghlan, Derek Stepan

IR- Ondrej Kase (upper-body injury), Frederik Andersen (lower-body injury)

A very familiar name is back in the lineup tonight after missing the last ten games. Teuvo Teravainen, who was taken off Injured Reserve in the last 24 hours, will slot into the second line, moving Stefan Noesen down to the fourth line, and sending Derek Stepan into the press box as the healthy scratch. This is a welcome return for the team and hopefully means Teravainen will be back at 100%. Pyotr Kochetkov will get the start. He was strong in his relief appearance and is looking like a popular pick to remain the starter for the time being. Just two games after one of his teammates celebrated the same milestone, Brett Pesce will be skating in his 500th NHL game tonight.

Tonight's Opponent: Los Angeles Kings (13-9-4, 30 points, 3rd in the Pacific Division)

It has been a very interesting week for the Kings. Tuesday night, they did battle with the Seattle Kraken in a game where the last team to score was going to win because none of the goalies involved were very interested in stopping a shot. Los Angeles needed two goals in the third period to tie the game 8-8 and force overtime before ultimately falling 9-8 at home to the Kraken. Kevin Fiala recorded four assists, Drew Doughty had three, and seven different Kings found the back of the net. They used both goalies in the game and almost immediately afterward, Cal Peterson was placed on waivers. The Kings would follow this up with a slightly less exciting, albeit entertaining, victory over the Arizona Coyotes, coming back from 3-1 down and scoring four unanswered goals in a 5-3 win. The offense has been the focal point of this team because the defensive efforts have been pretty abysmal. The Kings are averaging just under 3.5 goals per game, but are towards the bottom of the league in goals allowed per game and penalty kill. Seven Kings have at least ten assists. Ten players have at least five goals. Ten players have at least 15 points, led by Fiala's 28 and Anze Kopitar's 21. This is a lethal team in the offensive zone, but the goal is to keep them in the defensive zone because the goaltending hasn't been able to save them at times. 

Last Season v. Carolina- The Canes and Kings played both of their games before Christmas last season with Carolina sweeping the series. The first game in Los Angeles was the epitome of back-and-forth. For two periods, the teams traded goals with Los Angeles tying the game on four separate occasions. A goal from Martin Necas in the final minute of the second period to make the game 5-4 would be the difference in the game as the Canes shut things down defensively to leave Los Angeles with two points. In Raleigh a month later, it was all Carolina. A short-handed Canes team jumped out to a 4-0 lead on Los Angeles and would go on to win the game 5-1 with Jack Drury his second in as many nights in the third period of the victory. 

Los Angeles' Starting Goalie: Jonathan Quick (8-6-2, 3.28 GAA, .889 SV)- I had very high hopes for Quick and the Kings at the beginning of the season. It's been anything but smooth for him after playing well last season. He's allowed three or more goals in 12 of his 18 appearances this season, including five of his last six. Quick has average numbers against the Canes in his career, going 6-5-0 with a .911 SV% and 2.85 GAA. He was on the wrong end of the 5-1 loss for the Kings in Raleigh last season.

Los Angeles Player to Watch: Sean Durzi- In his sophomore campaign, there was been no signs of slumping for the defenseman. He's ninth on the team with 15 points and is tied for fifth with 11 assists. He's on a four-game heater for the Kings with two multi-point games during that stretch. He didn't record a point in the one game he played against the Canes last season. I expect him to be in the middle of the play tonight as the Kings look to charge for the top of the division.

Scoring Summary

1st Period

(CAR) 4:01- Brady Skjei (3) (assisted by Jordan Martinook (6) & Jesper Fast (5))

(CAR) 19:41- Martin Necas (12) PP (assisted by Brent Burns (13) & Stefan Noesen (8))

2nd Period

(CAR) 14:11- Sebastian Aho (10) (assisted by Martin Necas (16) & Seth Jarvis (7))

3rd Period

(LAK) 9:31- Arthur Kaliyev (9) PP (assisted by Phillip Danault (12) & Sean Durzi (12))

(CAR) 12:10- Andrei Svechnikov (15) (assisted by Brent Burns (14) & Brett Pesce (6))

(LAK) 17:25- Samuel Fagemo (1) (assisted by Blake Lizotte (4) & Matt Roy (8))

Let's Talk About the Game

Right out of the gate, the first thing I noticed about Los Angeles was how fast they were. It felt like they were swarming the entire first period, meaning Pyotr Kochetkov needed to be on his game. Fortunately for him and the entire Hurricanes team, they were all going in the first period. Just over four minutes into the game, Brady Skjei joined the rush and received a beautiful saucer pass from Jordan Martinook. The defenseman put the puck on his backhand, faking out Jonathan Quick, and scored to break the ice with a move that words won't give justice to. Martinook stays hot, while Skjei gets the team on the board. After the first goal, the period was back-and-forth down the ice. We went a solid five to six minutes without getting a whistle of any kind. The Kings shot themselves in the foot a little at the end of the period with Sean Durzi taking a penalty to give the Canes a late power play. During the power play, Martin Necas drew another penalty, and during the delayed sequence, he sniped one past Quick to make it 2-0 with another power-play goal for the Hurricanes. It also meant the Canes would get nearly a full power play to begin the second period. It was a beautiful shot from Necas that was labeled over the shoulder of Quick. It was a strong ending to a dominant period for the Canes. 

I felt the Kings slowed down a bit for the remainder of the game after falling behind by two goals. It quickly became all about Quick trying to keep this game in a place where the Kings could try and come back. He started by making a huge save on Sebastian Aho from his stomach just seconds after Aho pushed a puck wide with a wide-open net. Quick reached across with his glove as Aho was unable to elevate the puck. At the other end, Kochetkov's workload was lighter, but he was still making timely saves. In the latter stages of the second period, Aho would get his chance for redemption. Seth Jarvis became the transition down the ice, passed it over to Necas, and he found Aho streaking toward the net. Aho put the puck on his backhand and got one past Quick to make it 3-0 for his tenth of the season. The defense buckled down at the end of the period with Jaccob Slavin making a save on an Anze Kopitar wrap-around and Kochetkov doing a two-pad stack to stop Durzi. 

The third period was far from the Canes' best as some of the old habits came out. They took two early penalties in the period and the second would cost them a goal as Arthur Kaliyev found some daylight under the arm of Kochetkov to cut into the lead. Despite this minor inconvenience, Andrei Svechnikov would get that goal back. Doing his best McDavid impression, Svechnikov wove through the defense and while he was trying to pass it to a returning Teuvo Teravainen, it deflected off of the skate of Drew Doughty and into the net as the Canes regained their three-goal lead. In the dying minutes, Samuel Fagemo would get loose on a breakaway and beat Kochetkov for his first NHL goal, but it wouldn't be enough as the Canes dominated their way to a 4-2 victory. 

Canes' Three Stars of the Game

Third Star- Sebastian Aho (Goal)

He could've scored three or four goals in this game, but he'll have to settle with the one to get him into double digits once again. He had so many opportunities to expand the Canes lead if not for the glove of Quick. He's on pace to hit 30 goals once again and is still playing at a point-per-game pace. He was very dangerous tonight and his goal turned out to be a big one. 

Second Star- Martin Necas (Goal, Assist)

The meteoric ascent of Necas continues as he picked up two more points in impressive fashion. The puck exploded off of his stick on the power-play goal in the first period and he put an excellent pass on the stick of Aho for the goal in the second. There isn't much he hasn't been able to do in 25 games and he's not showing any signs of stopping. 

First Star- Brent Burns (2 Assists)

While the forwards are going to get a ton of love, I felt Burns was the top Hurricane tonight. He recorded two primary assists in the game but made some huge plays to break up chances for the Kings. He went into an all-out dive to prevent a breakaway chance from materializing and broke up a short-handed 2-on-1 as he continues to prove just how valuable he is to this franchise. 

What's Next

The Canes will have one more game in California as they travel to Anaheim to face the Ducks on Tuesday night. It has been a struggle for the Ducks this season, sporting just one win in regulation and six overall in 26 games. They played on Sunday afternoon in Winnipeg in a 5-2 loss to the Jets. The game started well enough for them, taking a 2-0 lead on goals from Jakob Silfverberg and Brett Leason, but Winnipeg scored five unanswered, including three in the third period to win the game. Anaheim sports plenty of young stars. They just don't have the tools to be a team that competes at a high level. After their game in Anaheim, the Canes will return to the east for two more road games before kicking off their first homestand of the season.