2022-23 Regular Season, Game 33: Hurricanes (20-6-6) at Pittsburgh Penguins

The Canes are on the verge of tying history as they aim to extend their point streak to 13 straight games. It's been done twice in franchise history, by the 2016-17 team (9-0-4) and the 2020-21 Central Division team (9-0-4). This team has been on a roll for almost the last month. They're 10-0-2 in their last 12 games and have won six in a row as they leapfrogged the New Jersey Devils by beating them 4-1 on Tuesday night to complete a perfect four-game homestand. Jesperi Kotkaniemi got the ball rolling 20 seconds into the game but the Devils were the better team for most of the night. Fortunately for the Canes, Pyotr Kochetkov was playing like Superman. With goals in the second period by Jordan Staal and Teuvo Teravainen, a dagger from Stefan Noesen in the third period, and 37 saves from Pyotr Kochetkov, the Canes emerged victorious. The Canes now sit atop the Metropolitan Division, two points clear of the Devils and four points ahead of tonight's opponent. It doesn't mean much in December, but it's always good to play with a lead. 

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

Brett Pesce-Jalen Chatfield

Calvin de Haan-Dylan Coghlan

Antti Raanta

Pyotr Kochetkov

Injuries/Scratches- Sebastian Aho (lower-body injury), Brady Skjei (personal)

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

After the awkward save Pyotr Kochetkov made late in the second period on Tuesday night kept him down for a minute, Antti Raanta is getting the start tonight out of precaution with the team playing tomorrow night as well. In front of him, there is a last-minute change as Brady Skjei is out tonight for "personal reasons", meaning Dylan Coghlan is drawing back into the lineup. Coghlan hasn't seen any action in the NHL since November 9, though he did just return from a conditioning stint in Chicago where he had three points in five games. 

Tonight's Opponent: Pittsburgh Penguins (19-9-4, 42 Points, 3rd in the Metropolitan Division)

There's not a whole lot that can be said about the Penguins since we last saw them, especially since it's only been five days. They've only played one game since Sunday night, a 3-2 home victory against the New York Rangers. Chris Kreider scored 22 seconds into the game for the Rangers before the Penguins scored three unanswered goals. Evgeni Malkin and Bryan Rust each scored on the power play in the second period and Sidney Crosby scored in the third period to put Pittsburgh ahead 3-1. Kreider scored his second of the game to cut the Rangers' deficit to one goal just past the midway point. Pittsburgh would ultimately hold on to their lead as Tristan Jarry stopped 26 shots to end the Rangers' win streak at seven games. Crosby finished with two points and six other Penguins recorded points in the victory. 

Last Meeting v. Carolina- We don't have to dig back in the archives to find the last meeting because it took place in Raleigh on Sunday night. Each side went scoreless in the first period before trading goals in the second period, Derek Stepan scoring for the Canes and Rickard Rakell on the power play for the Penguins. Brock McGinn burnt his old team with a goal in the third period but Brady Skjei and Jordan Staal put the Canes ahead late before the defense and Pyotr Kochetkov (23 saves) shut the door on their division opponent for the second time this season. Staal and Stepan finished with multi-point games and Casey DeSmith made 26 saves.

Pittsburgh's Starting Goalie: Tristan Jarry (15-3-3, 2.60 GAA, .922 SV%)- I wrote before their first meeting of the season that Jarry was on fire. That sentiment still applies heading into this contest. Since losing to the Canes in overtime on November 29, Jarry has won all seven of his starts and has allowed just 14 goals. He's 11-0-2 in his last 13 starts and has a save percentage of .934. He started the team's 3-2 win over New York on Tuesday night. The Canes have seemed to find a way against him in his career, beating Jarry in four of the five starts in his career against Carolina. 

Pittsburgh Player to Watch: Danton Heinen- Though he didn't score in the game on Sunday night, Heinen had some excellent chances to get on the board. His three shots were second on the team along with Crosby and just behind Rakell. After a scorching start to the season, Heinen has just four assists in his last 22 games and he hasn't scored a goal since his two-goal game against the Blue Jackets on October 22. I'm not saying it's a guarantee he'll score, but he's come pretty close. 

Scoring Summary

1st Period

(PIT) 17:28- Sidney Crosby (19) PP (assisted by Kris Letang (14) & Jake Guentzel (18))

(CAR) 17:43- Martin Necas (14) (assisted by Calvin de Haan (5) & Dylan Coghlan (1))

(CAR) 18:00- Jalen Chatfield (1) (assisted by Jesperi Kotkaniemi (5))

2nd Period

(PIT) 19:16- Brock McGinn (10) SH (assisted by Teddy Blueger (5) & Brian Dumoulin (8))

3rd Period

(PIT) 12:55- Bryan Rust (9) (assisted by Marcus Pettersson (11))

(CAR) 15:34- Jordan Staal (10) (assisted by Dylan Coghlan (2) & Jesper Fast (9))

Overtime

(CAR) 0:23- Jaccob Slavin (2) (assisted by Seth Jarvis (11) & Brent Burns (19))

Let's Talk About the Game

I'm starting to write this about 15 minutes after the game ended and I still can't quite find the words to describe this game because it was very exciting but it was also very methodical. The first period was probably a great example of that because there were about 16 minutes of absolutely nothing before the levy broke and the goals poured into the net. Each side iced the puck three times in quick succession in the early stages and while both teams had their decent chances, Tristan Jarry and Antti Raanta both held their ground. The triggering play in the period was Jalen Chatfield cross-checking Sidney Crosby at center ice. 39 seconds later, Crosby picks up a rebound to open the scoring. 15 seconds later, Martin Necas picks up a rebound after Calvin de Haan fired wide and responded to the Crosby goal to tie it. 17 seconds after that, Chatfield atoned for his mistake by firing a puck past Jarry off the face-off for his first NHL goal and it was a long time coming. It was a clean shot that the Pens' netminder just couldn't see. After a boring start, we saw three goals in 32 seconds and the Canes left the period up 2-1. 

The second period didn't have much scoring but it was far from boring. There were six penalties in the period and while the Canes and there probably could've been more. It genuinely looked like Andrei Svechnikov drew a tripping call during the second power play of the night, but it went undetected. Both sides had power plays negated due to their own lack of discipline. Pittsburgh's penalty kill stifled the Canes the entire period and their killers would be rewarded as Brock McGinn burnt his old team for the second time in as many games with a goal short-handed to tie it in the final minute of the period. It was definitely a buzz kill after two solid periods from the team. The third period was all about some close calls, mostly when it comes to injuries for the Canes. For a short period in the third, Necas went back to the locker room with some discomfort, though I'm not sure when exactly it happened. A little bit later, Seth Jarvis was sent flying into the Canes' net after Kris Letang got his stick in his skates and he seemingly went rib-first into the goal post. He was down for a little bit before skating off on his but the worst part was that a clear trip went undetected again. Fortunately, both guys would return to the ice. Pittsburgh seemingly had the game won after Bryan Rust made an excellent move to get to the front of the net and he beat Raanta with just over seven minutes left. The Canes, not one to quit on a close game, would respond with the captain scoring against his old team once again on a wrap-around as Jarry overcommitted to the initial shot by Coghlan and left his net wide open for Jordan Staal to tie it. Raanta made some big stops in the final minutes of the period to keep the game tied as the Canes extended their point streak to 13 games, tying the franchise record. It didn't take long for the Canes to earn the second point as Jaccob Slavin began and ended the play with a 200-foot effort. After forcing Evgeni Malkin to chase him around the net, he skated the puck all the way to the blue line. He'd pass it off to Brent Burns, who'd give it to Seth Jarvis, who'd give it right back to Slavin as he went forehand-backhand to beat a sprawling Jarry and seal the deal for the Canes as they won their seventh game in a row, tied for the third-longest since relocation. 

To go along with extending their point streak, several guys hit individual milestones tonight. With an assist on the game-winner, Burns picked up his 800th point, making him the 17th defenseman in NHL history to reach that mark. Coghlan picked up his first points as a Hurricane with assists on each of the Canes' tying goals. Not only did Chatfield score his first NHL goal tonight, but Jesperi Kotkaniemi scored his 100th NHL point by winning the face-off to get the puck to Chatfield. Five of the six defensemen scored points tonight, with Brett Pesce being the lone man out. I thought Raanta was fine tonight, though his rebound control seemed to get him in some trouble. On the first goal, he didn't know where the puck was and his frantic movement jarred it loose for Crosby to score. He was unable to handle a puck on the short-handed goal, leading to McGinn beating him as he was moving. The third goal was a nice move from Rust, though it looked like he got stuck on the post. For all of his faults, he made some big saves down the stretch to get the game to overtime. The power play was abysmal for the Canes all night. They went 0-for-5 and allowed a short-handed goal, which is not ideal. Still, for every bad thing, there are three or four good things. Part of the magic of long streaks like this is that you just find a way to get it done on some nights. Tonight was one of those nights. They stayed in the game until the very end and got the job done by outworking the Penguins. The streak lives on and this team is officially in the record books. 

Canes' Three Stars of the Game

Third Star- Jalen Chatfield (Goal)

A bunch of guys on defense needed to step up tonight with Skjei out of the lineup. I'd say scoring your first goal after being moved up the lineup is stepping up. He played over 16 minutes paired with Pesce, his second-highest total this season. On top of his goal, he had some other good chances to score while also leading the defense with three hits and three takeaways. 

Second Star- Dylan Coghlan (2 Assists)

Shortly before the puck drop tonight, I'm not sure Coghlan was expecting to play tonight. I know I wasn't expecting it. Having not played with the team in over a month, he was thrown into the fire. The conditioning stint in Chicago must have helped because he came up with two huge assists tonight, including the primary assist on the tying goal in the third. He almost scored too, ringing the post in the second. 

First Star- Jordan Staal (Goal)

You could practically copy and paste exactly what I said about the captain after his game against the Penguins on Sunday. After scoring the game-winner a few days ago, he scored the huge tying goal on a wrap-around late tonight to hit double digits in goals. He laid the body plenty tonight with four hits to lead the team. He leads by example every night and now he's scored in three straight games. 

What's Next

The team is one game away from getting to enjoy their Christmas and it comes tomorrow night as they return home to finish this back-to-back against the Philadelphia Flyers. The Flyers played an afternoon game in Toronto today, losing 4-3 to the Maple Leafs despite holding a 1-0 lead for most of the first two periods. Toronto scored three goals in just under four minutes of game time over the second and third periods. Carter Hart went for the Flyers and with backup Felix Sandstrom out with an illness, they'll either have to turn back to Hart tomorrow or have Samuel Ersson make his NHL debut. With it being the last game before the break, I would expect to see Hart, but I have no clue. There is some history on the line for the Canes. A point against the Flyer would set a new franchise record with points in 14 straight games. A win would give them eight straight, tying the second-longest streak in Hurricanes/Whalers history with the 2020-21 team that won the Central Division. The record is nine straight, set by the 2005-06 team (twice), the 2008-09 team, and last year's team that started the season 9-0-0. The other good thing is that the team will remain at home through the end of the calendar year with two more home games in 2022.