2022-23 Regular Season, Game 35: Hurricanes (22-6-6) v. Chicago Blackhawks

As we enter the final week of 2022, the Hurricanes look to complete what has been an excellent December. To this point, the Hurricanes have only dropped one point in 11 games and they made franchise history on Friday night before their break for Christmas. They took an exciting route to get there but the team beat the Flyers 6-5 at PNC Arena to earn points in their 14th-straight game to set a new benchmark for the franchise. Six different Hurricanes scored and the Staal line combined for eight points as the team held on despite leading 6-2 entering the third period. Antti Raanta earned his third win in a row to complete the back-to-back after the team beat Pittsburgh in overtime the night before. Sebastian Aho returned to the lineup after a seven-game absence and Brady Skjei drew back in after missing the Pittsburgh game. Though they set one new mark on Friday night, they still are chasing history in their final two games of 2022. With eight wins in a row coming into tonight's game, if they were to beat Chicago and then beat Florida on Friday night, they'd set a new record for consecutive wins, becoming the first team in franchise history to earn double-digit victories in a row. That's down the road. There is a task at hand tonight with the Blackhawks in town. 

Projected Lines/Pairs

Andrei Svechnikov-Sebastian Aho-Martin Necas

Teuvo Teravainen-Paul Stastny-Seth Jarvis

Jordan Martinook-Jordan Staal-Jesper Fast

Derek Stepan-Jesperi Kotkaniemi-Stefan Noesen

Jaccob Slavin-Brent Burns

Brady Skjei-Brett Pesce

Calvin de Haan-Jalen Chatfield

Antti Raanta

Pyotr Kochetkov

Injuries/Scratches- Jack Drury, Dylan Coghlan

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

The Canes will go with the same group that earned them the win on Friday night against the Flyers. Everyone is a little bit healthier after the break, so hopefully, someone like Sebastian Aho can make a greater impact tonight than he did against Philadelphia. In the net, Antti Raanta will get his third-straight start. It initially looked like Pyotr Kochetkov was going to get the start after he was in the starter's crease during warm-ups, but the change came just before puck drop. Raanta is on a small win streak of his own and won both ends of the back-to-back before the break. Paul Stastny celebrates his 37th birthday today. 

Tonight's Opponent: Chicago Blackhawks (8-20-4, 20 Points, 8th in the Central Division)

When the Hurricanes met Chicago in mid-November, the Blackhawks were 6-5-3. Little did we all know that a loss to the Canes would spur one of the worst stretches of hockey the city of Chicago has seen in a very long time. Since that game on November 14, the Blackhawks have gone 2-14-1. The loss to Carolina would begin an eight-game losing streak. Even after they broke that streak, they started on another eight-game slide that was snapped before the holiday break. They've been held to two or fewer goals 11 times in their last 17 games and have been outscored 76-37 during that stretch. Their penalty kill has been horrendous, allowing 15 goals on their last 42 kills. They got to go into the break on a good note with a 5-2 victory over Columbus on Friday night. The Hawks jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first 23:24 of the game to chase Daniil Tarasov from the Columbus net. The Jackets would cut the lead in half early in the third period, but a power-play goal from Jonathan Toews to cap a three-point night would put it away to snap their losing streak. Along with Toews, Patrick Kane finished with a goal and two assists, and Max Domi finished with one of each. Alex Stalock stopped 27 shots to earn his fourth win of the season. Going into the break, the Hawks have the best odds at the top pick and a chance to draft Connor Bedard, with Anaheim close on their heels. 

Last Meeting v. Carolina- The game in Chicago was all about the dominance of the Staal line and the majesty of Pyotr Kochetkov. In the first period, the trio of Jordan Staal, Jordan Martinook, and Brent Burns combined for two goals with Staal and Martinook scoring and assisting on each other's goals and Burns setting both up with primary assists. In the second period, Jesper Fast got in on the action and knocked a pass out of mid-air that found Andrei Svechnikov during a partial line change and he beat Petr Mrazek through his pads to make it 3-0. This was more than enough cushion for Kochetkov in his second start of the season. He'd make 27 saves and earn the first shutout of his NHL career. 

Chicago's Starting Goalie: Petr Mrazek (2-8-1, .874 SV%, 4.23 GAA)- Statistically, Mrazek has been one of the worst goalies in the league this season. Among all of the goalies with eight or more games played, he's third-worst in GAA and fourth-worst in save percentage. Since losing to the Canes on November 14, he's 1-6-0 with 33 goals allowed, including four games where he's allowed four or more goals and 14 total allowed over his last three starts. This will either go very well for him or it'll be an early night. 

Chicago Player to Watch: Taylor Raddyish- Since joining the Blackhawks at the deadline as part of the Brandon Hagel trade, Raddyish has found himself a good home. He's scored 24 points in 53 games and is being used as a key part of the offense. His ten goals this year are only behind Toews and Max Domi's 11 goals each and he's fourth on the team with 14 points. He scored in their win over Columbus on Friday night and has put together a decent December after a rough November. 

Scoring Summary

1st Period

(CAR) 3:36- Martin Necas (15) (assisted by Brent Burns (20) & Paul Stastny (8))

(CAR) 8:53- Jesper Fast (5) (assisted by Brett Pesce (9) & Brady Skjei (9))

2nd Period

None

3rd Period

(CAR) 4:55- Jordan Martinook (9) (assisted by Jordan Staal (8))

Let's Talk About the Game

When the Canes came out for the first period, it was very clear that this had the potential to get very ugly early. In some respects, it did. The Canes peppered their former teammate Petr Mrazek with shots from just about every angle for the entirety of the period. For their hard work, the Canes were rewarded with two very ugly goals. Martin Necas battled hard at the front of the net to win a puck and beat Mrazek as he challenged way out of his net as the puck trickled over the goalline to give the Canes an early advantage. Just over five minutes later, the Staal line finds their magic once again as they worked in front of the net and they end up getting an excellent bounce as Jesper Fast bounces a puck off the skate of Connor Murphy and into the net to double the lead. Sometimes, the puck needs to be on your side and it was in the first period. The Canes outshot the Blackhawks 23-7 in the first 20 minutes and to Mrazek's credit, he played well despite the defense in front of him giving him no help at all. 

The second period felt very disjointed in large part to the penalties that both sides, mostly the Canes, took. Teuvo Teravainen was given a penalty at the end of the first period that largely needed to be killed in the second and Fast took another penalty before they could kill the initial penalty, giving Chicago a brief 5-on-3. Fortunately, the kill dug in and killed both penalties, getting some excellent chances on some odd-man rushes that ultimately wouldn't connect. They enjoyed killing penalties so much that Calvin de Haan took one shortly after that was killed to remain a perfect 3-for-3. Necas drew a penalty to get the power play on the ice for the first time right after killing the de Haan penalty, but the power play generated nothing. If it was possible, they might've generated negative offense. The rest of the period would be played at 5-on-5 and this is where Antti Raanta settled into the game. Chicago got the better of the play in the second period after generating very little in the first. For all of the pressure that Chicago brought, Raanta was there to keep the puck out of the net. He kept the game 2-0 through 40 minutes to keep the momentum on the Canes' side. 

The Canes regained their groove in the third period, beginning with a much better power play in the first few minutes. Though they didn't score, the power play put up five shots and had some good looks against Mrazek. With the power play coming up empty, the Canes needed a good bounce-back shift. Enter the Staal line as they once again answered the call. Their forechecked forced the Hawks to turn the puck over and just 26 seconds after the power play failed, Jordan Martinook stayed hot by burying a loose puck on the backhand to push the lead to three goals. Chicago tried to find their way back into the game, but the defense of the Canes did exactly what we've seen them do a million times now. They held the Blackhawks to just seven shots, outshooting them 19-7 in the period. A late power play for the Canes, a third failed advantage of the night, all but put things to bed as any momentum Chicago thought they had gone out the door. The fans counted down the seconds as Raanta completed his first shutout of the season and the fans showered him with love.

This team continues to write themselves into the history books. Not only did they extend their point streak to 15 games, but they've also now won nine in a row to match a streak that has been accomplished four previous times, including by last year's team and twice by the Stanley Cup team in 2006. The Staal line continues to play like the team's best during this streak by scoring for the fifth straight game with two of the three goals tonight as each man contributed a point. 17 of the 18 skaters finished with at least one shot and all but one of the forwards had at least two. Each line had its moments to shine, even if they didn't score. Seth Jarvis made some great plays that he wasn't rewarded for. The fourth line was solid all night, especially Stefan Noesen. At the end of the night, this game belongs to Raanta. While his record is great, he feels like the odd man out once Frederik Andersen returns from his injury because of how well Pyotr Kochetkov has played. He's done his part to get this streak to where it is. Tonight, he was called upon once again to get the job done and he did it with flying colors. 

Canes' Three Stars of the Game

Third Star- Martin Necas (Goal)

It's old news that Necas is having an excellent rebound season. He scored his 15th goal of the season tonight to open the game after scoring 14 in each of his last two seasons. One more goal and he's tied his career-high. He led the team with six shots tonight and seemed to be going in a different gear in the first period. He was moving up and down the ice with ease all night long. 

Second Star- Antti Raanta (24-Save Shutout)

I've gushed over Raanta's effort all night and while I don't have him as my first star, it's more like a 1A/1B situation. His workload was light in the first and third periods while he did his best work in the second period. This will likely go down as an easier shutout with how well his team played in front of him, but it goes in the scorebook the same. 

First Star- Brett Pesce (Assist)

The Canes are fortunate to have a top-four that might be the best in the league because they truly can play against anyone. Pesce had a night that won't be properly reflected by the scoresheet. He provided a secondary assist on the Fast goal but he was arguably the most effective defenseman on the ice for either team. He blocked three shots and made some effortless defensive plays on some of the best playmakers in the league. 

What's Next

The chance for history is on the Canes' doorstep as they head into their final game of 2022. Their quest for the longest winning streak in franchise history will confront them on Friday night when the Florida Panthers come to visit on Friday night. They don't play their first game after the break until they host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night in Sunrise. The Panthers have had the Canes' number for the last two seasons, including a 3-0 shutout victory earlier this season. This is far from the team that won the President's Trophy last season. They have all the skill in the world and some of the best players in the league, yet their goaltending and team defense have let them down many times. Florida enters their game against Montreal on a three-game losing streak and just three wins in their last ten contests. They'll be looking to turn things around, while the Canes look to complete one of their best months in franchise history with a victory.