2022-23 Regular Season, Game 27: Hurricanes (14-6-6) at New York Islanders

After a few days off, the Canes are back at it for the final two games of the six-game road trip. After starting 3-0-0 on the trip, they hit a tiny speed bump in Anaheim. Despite Anaheim being the worst team in the league, the Canes never seemed to find their stride and played from behind for most of the first two periods. It didn't help that some weird bounces didn't quite go their way. The two sides alternated goals with the Canes getting tying goals from Brady Skjei, Sebastian Aho, and Jordan Staal. After a scoreless third period, the Canes secured a point, but they fell victim to the same troubles they've had in overtime all season. The Ducks won the draw and never allowed the Canes to touch the puck. All it took was a bad line change for Anaheim to get in on Pyotr Kochetkov and score the game-winner. It wasn't a fun ending but the ending the Canes likely deserved after a tough night. Now they have to get back at it against a division opponent on Long Island. This is a bit of a revenge game after the Canes had a poor showing earlier this season. They'll be a little undermanned to add to it. They're putting their eight-game road point streak on the line. 

Projected Lines/Pairs

Seth Jarvis-Paul Stastny-Martin Necas

Andrei Svechnikov-Jesperi Kotkaniemi-Teuvo Teravainen

Jordan Martinook-Jordan Staal-Stefan Noesen

Jack Drury-Derek Stepan

Jaccob Slavin-Brent Burns

Brady Skjei-Brett Pesce

Calvin de Haan-Jalen Chatfield

Maxime Lajoie 

Pyotr Kochetkov

Antti Raanta

Injuries/Scratches- Sebastian Aho (lower-body injury), Jesper Fast (undisclosed)

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

For the first time this season, the Canes will be going with 11 forwards and seven defensemen due largely to the injuries to Sebastian Aho and Jesper Fast. I don't get the sense that either injury is going to be long-term, but it means you're losing one of your most impactful players and a key piece to your best line. This means we'll get an extra man on the back end and instead of it being Dylan Coghlan, it's going to be Maxime Lajoie. Coghlan was sent on a conditioning stint in Chicago, while the team recalled Lajoie in his place for his second game of the season. Pyotr Kochetkov will be in the net once again. 

Tonight's Opponent: New York Islanders (17-11-0, 34 points, 4th in the Metropolitan Division)

Since the last time we saw the Islanders, they've been playing very well. They've sprinkled a couple of win streaks across the last few weeks to put them in an excellent position after missing the postseason last year. They've hit a small rough patch lately, losing three of their last five contests, but they looked good last night against the Devils in New Jersey. Two late goals in the first period and three goals in the second period helped the Islanders get out ahead of the Devils and they were able to withstand some late pressure to win the game 6-4 over the division leaders. Four Islanders had multi-point nights and Semyon Varlamov stopped 25 shots in the win. Matthew Barzal has managed to find the net but his impact has been greater felt as he sets up his teammates. He is tied for third in the league with 27 assists and leads the team with 30 points. Brock Nelson has torn it up as well, leading the team with 14 goals and sitting just behind Barzal with 28 points. Their team defense is still among the league's best, boasting a strong penalty kill and a solid goalie duo. 

Last Meeting v. Carolina- The game was competitive for two periods as the two sides traded goals. Oliver Wahlstrom scored the only goal of the first period before a four-goal second period. Martin Necas scored before the halfway point of the period, then three goals were scored in under two minutes, highlighted by Brent Burns' first as a Hurricane. The Islanders took over in the third period, getting two goals from Brock Nelson and an empty-netter from Zach Parise to give the Islanders the 6-2 win. 

New York's Starting Goalie: Ilya Sorokin (10-8-0, 2.33 GAA, .927 SV%)- Sorokin has continued to be the driving force for the Islanders to keep them afloat. While his record might be a bit pedestrian, he's fifth in the league in save percentage and GAA and is continuing to play like one of the best goalies in the league. He made 33 saves in the Islanders' 6-2 win earlier this season. 

New York Player to Watch: Noah Dobson- He's truly found his scoring touch this season, scoring eight goals in 28 games thus far. He's also been good on the power play with half of his points coming on the man advantage. He was held scoreless in the first meeting this season, so I expect to see him get more involved at home. 

Scoring Summary

1st Period

None

2nd Period

(CAR) 7:06- Paul Stastny (1) (assisted by Andrei Svechnikov (11) & Brady Skjei (6))

3rd Period

(CAR) 4:05- Jesperi Kotkaniemi (3) (assisted by Brent Burns (16) & Martin Necas (17))

(CAR) 8:49- Jordan Staal (7) (assisted by Jordan Martinook (7) & Stefan Noesen (9))

Let's Talk About the Game

The only way I could describe this game was a chess match, at least for the first two periods. The Canes had to buckle down early with Brett Pesce and Brent Burns taking early interference penalties to put them on a 5-on-3 early, but the team dug in. They were helped by Anders Lee taking a penalty as they killed everything and from there they took control. The first period was easily the most even of the three periods and even then it felt like the Canes were in full control. They didn't score on their power play late in the period but it still looked very good with some excellent chances for Andrei Svechnikov and Teuvo Teravainen. The teams went into the first intermission scoreless. The second period might have been one of the quickest periods I've ever seen. It went by in a flash. The Canes stifled the Islanders on an early power play and after some excellent plays defensively, they'd finally break the ice. Brady Skjei unleashed a shot from the point and after Svechnikov collected the puck, he found Paul Stastny all alone on the doorstep. A good pass set him up for his first goal as a Hurricane and finally got someone on the board. The rest of the period was all about shutting things down as the period ended 1-0 in the Canes' favor. 

The third period was quintessential Hurricanes hockey. Most of the period was spent in the offensive zone and when it did manage to get in front of Pyotr Kochetkov, they weren't high-danger chances. The offense broke through a few more times on Ilya Sorokin. First, Jesperi Kotkaniemi got his stick on a shot from Burns and he bounced it past Sorokin to double the Canes' lead. About five minutes later, the Staal line had a typical shift for them and the captain finished a hard-working play that began with Stefan Noesen and was helped along by Jordan Martinook. With the lead up to 3-0, they didn't let up on offense. They could've scored a few more goals if not for Sorokin making some good saves. On the other end of the ice, Kochetkov turned away a couple of shots from Brock Nelson for New York's best chances for the period. The time would wind down and the Canes would complete one of their best efforts of the season as Kochetkov picked up his second shutout of the season in a much easier fashion than his first one. 

While we could easily consider this effort from the Islanders a direct result of them playing the night before, I think it says more about just how well the Canes played, even without Sebastian Aho and Jesper Fast. Now, I won't say that we need to play without them more, but it's nice to know this is the type of effort we can expect from them no matter who is out of the lineup. The 11/7 personnel has usually not been kind to the Canes, yet tonight it didn't seem to cause any problems. I thought pretty much everyone had a good night. Stefan Noesen proved the point that anyone can play on the Staal line on any given night. Stastny stepped up in his elevated role and finally scored a goal after one was taken away from him earlier this season. Kochetkov only faced 16 shots and stopped all of them with the defense making things easy for him. It was about as perfect an effort as you could ask for from a team that hadn't played in a few days against a team that had played the night before with their starter in the net. 

Canes' Three Stars of the Game

Third Star- Jordan Staal (Goal)

It's purely a coincidence that I'm highlighting the three goal scorers from the game here and I want to start with the captain. His effort tonight was rewarded with the goal to kill the Islanders' hopes but it was his efforts elsewhere that really impressed. He was all over Barzal the entire night, outright shoving him off of the puck at times. He laid a team-leading five hits to add to his night. 

Second Star- Paul Stastny (Goal)

Another guy that can get the money off his back, it was really cool to see Stastny get his first of the season after moving up the lines. He's another guy to benefit from being among the playmakers in the top six. He didn't see the minutes the normal top guys get but he made the most of it with a goal on his only shot. Hopefully, this will mean more production from the veteran. 

First Star- Jesperi Kotkaniemi (Goal)

It hasn't been the start of the season he was looking for after the big contract, so to see him score tonight with a top guy out and at a time in the game when they really needed a goal. On top of that, it was a pretty deflection. He played 18:12 tonight, the fourth-highest of the season, and looked really good all night. Add three hits tonight and I'd say it was a good game. 

What's Next

The neverending road trip will finally come to an end on Tuesday night as the team heads to the Motor City for their first date with the Detroit Red Wings. Detroit has started very well this season, sitting in fourth in the Atlantic right now, but they're in the midst of a rough patch. They're 2-3-2 in their last seven, including losses in their last two games. They played on Saturday night as well, a 3-2 losing effort to Dallas in overtime. Ville Husso looked very good, stopping 30 of 33 shots and the Red Wings got goals from David Perron in his 1000th game and from Dylan Larkin. After this game, they'll be home for a bit as they begin a four-game homestand and will play seven of their next eight games at PNC Arena. It'll be a nice change of scenery since they've played 19 of their first 28 games on the road.