2022-23 Regular Season, Game 32: Hurricanes (19-6-6) v. New Jersey Devils

Coming off what might have been their biggest win of the season, the Canes are back at it with their eyes on the top of the division. With points in their last 11 games and wins in their last five, the Canes have gotten hot at the absolute right time. They've followed up a near-perfect road trip with an equally as impressive homestand with six of a possible six points in their pocket. They've beaten three playoff teams by one goal each in three different ways. The Seattle game was pure domination that was only kept in check by an excellent goaltending performance by Philipp Grubauer. They found a way to outscore one of the best offensive teams with a 5-4 overtime victory over Dallas. On Sunday night, the Canes dug in and came from behind in the third period to earn a tough win on the back half of a back-to-back. Down 2-1 in the third, Brady Skjei and Jordan Staal scored roughly five minutes apart to put the Canes ahead and the defense did the rest in a 3-2 division victory over the Penguins. Pyotr Kochetkov continued his hot stretch with 24 saves as Staal, Skjei, and Derek Stepan all finished with multi-point nights. They've done all of this without Sebastian Aho in the lineup, winning all five games he's missed. Tonight, the Canes are going to need every bit of their skill as they try to dethrone New Jersey at the top of the Metropolitan Division.

Projected Lines/Pairs

Andrei Svechnikov-Paul Stastny-Martin Necas

Teuvo Teravainen-Jesperi Kotkaniemi-Seth Jarvis

Jordan Martinook-Jordan Staal-Jesper Fast

Derek Stepan-Jack Drury-Stefan Noesen

Jaccob Slavin-Brent Burns

Brady Skjei-Brett Pesce

Calvin de Haan-Jalen Chatfield

Pyotr Kochetkov

Antti Raanta

Injuries/Scratches- Sebastian Aho (lower-body injury), Dylan Coghlan (healthy)

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

It'll be the same squad for the Canes tonight as they look for their sixth win in a row. Pyotr Kochetkov will start once again after an excellent performance against the Penguins. The Canes brought Dylan Coghlan back from his conditioning stint in Chicago and he'll be the healthy extra on the back end. Sebastian Aho is doubtful for tonight as he continues to recover from his injury. Max Pacioretty and Ondrej Kase were in yellow no-contact sweaters during practice as they try to get healthy as well. Seth Jarvis will be skating in his 100th NHL game. 

Tonight's Opponent: New Jersey Devils (21-8-2, 44 Points, 1st in the Metropolitan Division)

For as hot as the Canes have been in December, it has been a slow burn for the Devils as all the magic they seemed to have during their massive win streak has disappeared. One of the biggest headlines of the early months was the Devils' 13-game win streak that saw them outscore their opponent 56-24 and had them at the top of the division with a 16-3-0 record. Since then, the Devils are just 5-5-2, including 2-4-2 in their last eight, and 0-4-1 in their last five. For reference, the Devils had an eight-point lead on the Hurricanes on November 23. That was the night the Canes lost to Arizona 4-0 at home and Toronto snapped New Jersey's winning streak. This would turn out to be a crucial night because the Canes have a point in all 11 games since that loss (9-0-2) and has erased that deficit to tie the Devils. Despite their struggles recently, the Devils are way ahead of schedule for their rebuild. They are square in the middle of the dogfight in the Metropolitan Division. On the backs of their young stars Jack Hughes (team-leading 16 goals, 36 points), Jesper Bratt (30 points), and Nico Hischier (13 goals, 29 points) as well as veteran defenseman Dougie Hamilton (24 points), and a resurgent Vitek Vanecek, the Devils are top six in both goals per game and goals allowed per game. Arguably the most crucial part of their start is their 11-1-1 record on the road. Their .885 points percentage on the road is the best in the season, while their 11 wins are tied for second with the Canes and Rangers and 23 points trail the Golden Knights and Canes in fewer games. The Canes might be the Road Warriors but the Devils have been the Road Generals. 

Last Season v. Carolina- The Canes took three of four from the Devils last season but some of the headlines from these games were the real story. All four games last season were played in 2022 with the first meeting taking place in New Jersey on January 22. The story that night was the first NHL start for Jack LaFontaine. It didn't go well for the rookie. The Devils peppered him with seven goals in a 7-4 victory for New Jersey. Six Devils have multi-point games, led by Ryan Graves and Andreas Johnsson with three points each. A week later, the two met in Raleigh on Whalers Night and all the offense came in the first period. Jordan Martinook and Andrei Svechnikov got the Canes out to a 2-0 lead and though Jesper Boqvist would score before the end of the period, it would be the only shot to beat Antti Raanta that night as he made 24 saves in a 2-1 win for the Canes. It would be about three months before these two met again as they'd play twice in the Canes' final four games. By this point, the Canes were trying to win the division. For their third meeting, another rookie goal would make his first NHL start. This game would be the NHL debut of Pyotr Kochetkov and though New Jersey led 2-0 with 11:30 left in the game, Brady Skjei and Nino Niederreiter would score in the final five minutes to force overtime. Sebastian Aho would force a turnover by the Devils behind their own net before Tony DeAngelo found Seth Jarvis for the game-winner to give Kochetkov his first NHL win and help the Canes inch closer to the division crown. In the season finale, with the division locked up, the Canes' offense got ready for the playoffs by putting up six goals in a 6-3 win. 

New Jersey's Starting Goalie: Vitek Vanecek (12-3-2, 2.37 GAA, .912 SV%)- After two decent seasons in Washington, the Capitals opted not to give him a qualifying offer. This would be to New Jersey's benefit as Vanecek has played very well. He's top ten in the league in wins (12) and GAA (2.37). Much like New Jersey, he's struggled recently, allowing ten goals in his last three starts since his shutout win over Chicago on December 6th. This is his third start against the Canes, the previous two taking place last March. He pitched a 36-save shutout in his first start before allowing five goals in his next. 

New Jersey Player to Watch: Yegor Sharangovich- With all the young players on the Devils, it's easy for a guy like Sherangovich to fly under the radar. He's putting together a solid start in his third campaign with eight goals and 15 points. Since scoring two goals against the Rangers on November 28, the scoring has disappeared. He has just one point in his last eight games. He played well against the Canes last season, scoring three points in four games.

Scoring Summary

1st Period

(CAR)- 0:20- Jesperi Kotkaniemi (4) (assisted by Seth Jarvis (10) & Calvin de Haan (4))

2nd Period

(CAR) 4:17- Jordan Staal (9) (assisted by Jordan Martinook (8) & Jaccob Slavin (7))

(CAR) 6:21- Teuvo Teravainen (2) SH (assisted by Jaccob Slavin (8) & Jesper Fast (8))

3rd Period

(NJD) 15:24- Jack Hughes (17) (assisted by Brendan Smith (2) & Jesper Bratt (21))

(CAR) 16:46- Stefan Noesen (6) (unassisted) 

Let's Talk About the Game

It is December 20th and the Carolina Hurricanes are sitting in first place in the Metropolitan Division. In the grand scheme of the season, it's not that important because there are still 50 games left, but it sure does feel good. That 4-0 home loss to the Coyotes may have been the best thing that could've happened to the team. Since then, the Canes are 10-0-2 and have now won six straight. For as much as the scoreboard might say the Canes dominated this game, they honestly didn't. New Jersey was the far more dangerous team for most of the night. The Canes won this game because they took advantage of their opportunities in the first two periods and Pyotr Kochetkov played arguably his best game of the season. Each of his 37 saves was impressive with a few standing out as truly spectacular. These two teams meet three more times this season and I expect them to be electric. 

The Canes wasted no time getting out front of this game as Jesperi Kotkaniemi's line started the game with a goal 20 seconds into the contest. It helped to set the tone early and allowed them to play the rest of the game with the lead. It was very clear that this game was going to be a physical bout. The bodies were flying all night and it started early. The Canes would then endure New Jersey's first power play as they put five shots on Kochetkov and the Russian netminder was having none of it. The Devils kept coming for the rest of the period, drawing a second penalty in the late stages of the first, but it stayed 1-0 through 20 minutes. It looked like the Canes had taken a 2-0 lead early in the second period after Brent Burns danced through the New Jersey defense to find Martin Necas for a wide-open goal. The Devils challenged the goal and it was ruled offside. The Canes didn't let that get them down because about three minutes later, the captain got in on a 2-on-1 and sniped a shot over the glove of Vitek Vanecek to give them a 2-0 lead for real. Jalen Chatfield was assessed a penalty shortly after the goal and as the Canes did their best to keep the Devils out of the net, the same couldn't be said for New Jersey. With a wrist shot from a fair distance, Teuvo Teravainen scored his second of the season with a shot that felt like it should've been stopped. Instead, it gave the Canes a 3-0 lead. The Canes held the lead to the end of the period, but some fans were holding their breath in the dying moments. After making a sprawling boot save on Jesper Bratt, Kochetkov was a little slow to get up. The worry wouldn't last long as he skated it off and stayed in the game but it certainly had many worried. New Jersey made a change in the net to begin the third period as Mackenzie Blackwood would relieve Vanecek. The Devils also had their fourth power play of the night carry over into the third period and as it has many times in the last few seasons, the kill was huge. Brett Pesce made some huge blocks and Jaccob Slavin made a glove save on a Bratt shot that was labeled for the wide-open net to force it high and kill another penalty. New Jersey eventually found the back of the net on Kochetkov with a perfectly placed shot from Jack Hughes, the Devils' most impactful player all night, to the blocker side to end the shutout and give the Devils some life. Instead of allowing the momentum to grow, Stefan Noesen put a stake in it. With the puck behind the net, Noesen purposefully banked the puck off the back of Blackwood as it found the back of the net 1:22 after the Hughes goal. It put the Canes back ahead by three goals and would effectively end any thoughts of a New Jersey comeback. 

This was the second straight game where none of the team's leading scorers found the scoresheet, though Necas and Burns did combine on a pretty no-goal. With all due respect to the Kotkaniemi line for scoring on the first shift of the night, it was the work of the Staal and Drury lines that carried the Canes to victory. Noesen and Staal scored goals. Derek Stepan was a bouncing puck away from his third in four games. Jack Drury hit a crossbar and looked very good once again. Jordan Maritnook tied his point total from last season with an assist tonight. Jesper Fast had an assist on the short-handed goal. The defensemen put their bodies on the line all night, blocking a combined ten shots. It was the type of effort that we really needed to see from the Canes. Lost in all of this talk about leading the division is that this victory completed a perfect four-game homestand after getting 11 of 12 points on the road. They beat four incredible opponents and this was the first victory by more than one goal. It might not have been the prettiest of games for the Canes. It still got them two points over a division opponent. 

Canes' Three Stars of the Game

Third Star- Jesperi Kotkaniemi (Goal)

Scoring 20 seconds into a game is a good way to get things going. The reason he's in this spot is that he didn't sit back after his goal. He put together a strong game in all three zones for three periods. He was strong on the puck defensively. He was also physical when he needed to be, laying three hits, tied for the most on the team tonight. Kotkaniemi set the tone for this game and got the fans into it very early. 

Second Star- Jaccob Slavin (2 Assists)

He played such a strong game defensively that I completely forgot that he had two assists in the second period. It's Slavin's first multi-point game of the season and that's secondary to how great he played in front of Kochetkov. He led all skaters tonight with four blocked shots and added two takeaways to his multiple helpers to help the Canes jump out to a big lead in the middle period. 

First Star- Pyotr Kochetkov (37 Saves on 38 Shots)

His bench interview with Slavin and Hannah Yates might go down as one of the best bench interviews in team history, right up there with Petr Mrazek's after the team clinched. He was the best player on the ice tonight and won this game for the Canes. He was beaten by one perfect shot on an otherwise perfect night. He now trailed Linus Ullmark with a 1.94 GAA and is tied for third in save percentage (.928). 

What's Next

The Canes ride into the Christmas break with a road-home back-to-back against divisional adversaries. They'll face the Penguins for the second time in five days and the third time in 24 days when they travel to Pittsburgh on Thursday night. The Penguins played tonight against the Rangers and won 3-2 to snap New York's seven-game win streak. Sidney Crosby had a goal and an assist while Tristan Jarry made 26 saves. Pittsburgh is four points back of the Canes in third place after tonight's win. The Canes will come home for a date with the Flyers on Friday night for their second meeting of the season. Philadelphia also played tonight, beating Columbus 5-3 at home. Travis Konecny and Owen Tippett each scored twice for the Flyers. They'll also be playing the second game of a back-to-back as they're scheduled to play in Toronto on Thursday afternoon. The Canes will then have a four-day break before finishing 2022 with home games against the Blackhawks and the Panthers.