2022-23 Regular Season, Game 36: Hurricanes (23-6-6) v. Florida Panthers

The Hurricanes head into their final contest of 2022 trying to add to their division lead, extend their winning streak and close out what has been an excellent calendar year for the team. In 87 regular-season games this year, the Canes have 55 wins and 123 points. They've won their last nine games and with a win tonight, they'd set a new franchise record with their tenth-straight victory to add to their growing point streak. They returned from their holiday break with a convincing victory over the Chicago Blackhawks. The Canes took it to Chicago early with Martin Necas and Jesper Fast scoring in the first half of the first period and with Jordan Martinook adding to the lead in the third period, the team rode a 24-save shutout from Antti Raanta to win their ninth in a row as their lead in the division grew to six points. Standing in their way of history tonight is the Florida Panthers. Though they have struggled at times this season, they always seem to find a new gear against the Canes. It'll take a lot from the Caniacs at PNC Arena to will this team to win number ten. 

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- Dylan Coghlan

IR- Ondrej Kase (concussion), Frederik Andersen (lower-body injury), Max Pacioretty (LTIR- Achilles)

As they've been doing during this entire run, the Canes are sticking with the hot hand between the pipes. The hot hand right now is Antti Raanta. He's coming off of a 24-save shutout against Chicago and will make his fourth-straight start after winning both games before the break. The rest of the group remains the same, though Jack Drury was sent back down to Chicago, so Dylan Coghlan will be the lone healthy extra. Positive signs on the injury front as Max Pacioretty is no longer wearing the yellow no-contact jersey and could be making his debut within the next ten games or so, according to Rod Brind'Amour

Tonight's Opponent: Florida Panthers (16-16-4, 36 Points, 6th in the Atlantic Division)

The break for Christmas couldn't have come at a better time for the Panthers. After dominating the league last season, it's been an uphill battle through 36 games. Injuries haven't helped that cause with Aaron Ekblad and Aleksander Barkov missing some time. Heading into the break, Florida had lost four of its last five games, including a three-game skid where they were outscored 16-6. Their return to action against the Montreal Canadiens last night saw Barkov and Ekblad, as well as Radko Gudas, return from injury and they were dominant from the very beginning. Barkov completed his fourth-career hat trick in just 15:22 and added two assists in a 7-2 rout of the Canadiens. Matthew Tkachuk, the team's leader in points, scored twice and picked up an assist and Brandon Montour added three helpers. Sergei Bobrovsky allowed two power-play goals in the first period but settled down to stop 25 shots in the win. Things got ugly in the third period with two separate instances resulting in 52 total minutes of penalties between the two sides. That's not too much of a surprise given the score. This will be the second half of a back-to-back for the Panthers. 

Last Meeting v. Carolina- In their first meeting of the season in Sunrise, Spencer Knight stole the show. Nick Cousins scored the opening goal just under ten minutes into the contest before the game turned into a goaltending duel. A power-play goal from Barkov in the third period would be the dagger and with Sam Reinhart adding the empty-net goal, the Panthers served the Canes their first shutout loss of the season as Knight stopped all 40 shots he faced to outduel Antti Raanta (34 saves). 

Florida's Starting Goalie: Spencer Knight (8-5-3, 2.93 GAA, .909 SV%)- While playing in a backup role, he's arguably been the better goalie to this point in the season for the Panthers. He has as many wins as Bobrovsky (8) and has better numbers overall, granted in a smaller sample size. He loves playing the Canes, winning both of his starts against them, including a 40-save shutout earlier this season. 

Florida Player to Watch: Radko Gudas- I don't like Radko Gudas and I haven't for a long time. He just irks me with the way he plays sometimes. That being said, he's effective because that's his role on whatever team he's on. He's just returning from an injury so I'll be interested to see what type of game he chooses to play tonight. I doubt he'll show any signs of rust or fatigue and will be annoying everyone every chance he gets. While he's not a major threat for points on most nights, he does have nine points against the Canes in his career, the third-most against any team in his career. 

Scoring Summary

1st Period

(CAR) 7:05- Stefan Noesen (8) PP (assisted by Sebastian Aho (17) & Brent Burns (21))

2nd Period

(CAR) 4:58- Andrei Svechnikov (19) PP (assisted by Brent Burns (22) & Martin Necas (20))

(CAR) 11:55- Teuvo Teravainen (3) PP (assisted by Seth Jarvis (12) & Jesperi Kotkaniemi (6))

3rd Period

(CAR) 3:50- Jesperi Kotkaniemi (6) (assisted by Brett Pesce (10) & Seth Jarvis (13))

Let's Talk About the Game

It was one year ago that my brother and I sat inside PNC Arena and watched the Canes blow away a short-handed Montreal team with three power-play goals in a 4-0 victory. Tonight, a year after that came from the comfort of my couch, I watched the Canes beat the Florida Panthers 4-0 with three power-play goals. The starting goalie for both games? Antti Raanta. While last season it was 24 saves in the final game of 2022, he had a lighter load tonight with just 19 stops. In front of him, one of the best defensive efforts of the month as the team posts back-to-back shutouts for the second time in December. This was not a pretty game by any stretch of the imagination, especially the first two periods. Carolina and Florida combined for nine penalties in the first 40 minutes tonight. Turns out, that would make all the difference in the world. The first kill was pretty easy as Jordan Martinook's penalty was quickly negated by Brandon Montour. In the ensuring abbreviated power play, Sebastian Aho's shot would get through Spencer Knight and while it would hit the post, Stefan Noesen was there to bury it into a wide-open net to draw first blood. From there, the Canes dominated the first period. They held the Panthers without a shot for almost 15 minutes. By the end of the period, it was 3-2 Canes in the penalty box and 1-0 Canes on the scoreboard. 

In the second period, the action was fast and furious. Knight made an excellent glove save to rob Aho after Seth Jarvis laid a beautiful pass to the front of the net. The Florida bench would take a penalty and Andrei Svechnikov would make them pay. He wired a wicked shot from the right circle off of the post and in to double the lead. After Jaccob Slavin made an excellent play to prevent him from getting a chance, Sam Bennett wasn't able to avoid contact with Raanta, who'd already been run into once tonight, and he was sent off for two minutes. He wouldn't be there the entire time as Jarvis, trying to put a shot on Knight, had the puck roll off of his stick. Fortunately, it ended up on the tape of Teuvo Teravainen and he put it into the back of the net to make it 3-0. At this point, the Canes seemed to be in control. Despite taking two more penalties in the period, the Canes managed to kill both and went into the locker room up by three. Early in the third period, the Canes were unsuccessful on their fifth power play but right after it expired, Jesperi Kotkaniemi walked down the yellow-brick road as the defense parted for him, and he snapped one past Knight. It's at this point that I could probably copy and paste the same thing I've said so many times during this streak about the team's play in the third period. They were simply clinical against the Panthers in their attempt to make a comeback. They allowed just five shots to get through to Raanta and despite there being some good chances, Father Finn was having none of it. After a little scuffle in the final 30 seconds sent Svechnikov and Matthew Tkachuk to the box, the Canes ran off the remaining seconds to secure a franchise-record tenth victory in a row. 

I just don't know what else I can say about this team that I haven't said for the last month. They are practically unbeatable right now. They dropped one month for the entire month, an overtime loss to Anaheim during the road trip early this month. They've rewritten the franchise history books. No team in franchise history has ever won ten games in a row. Their point streak sits at 16 straight games. Throughout these streaks, they've found ways to win games in different ways. Tonight, their special teams won the game. The penalty kill was able to handle the heavy workload, allowing four shots during their six kills. The power play scored three times, something they haven't done since the aforementioned Montreal game exactly a year ago. It was the big players that got the job done. Svechnikov and Teravainen both scored goals. Jarvis and Brent Burns each had two assists. Aho and Martin Necas picked up an assist each and had some good scoring chances. The Staal line was kept off of the scoresheet but with the help of Brett Pesce and Brady Skjei, they shut down Aleksander Barkov and his entire line all night. I will say that I'm not a huge fan of nationally televised games, largely because I've gotten used to the vocal stylings of Mike Maniscalco and Tripp Tracy in the booth. The ESPN broadcasts don't have the same feel. If they play like this for the rest of the season, I'll listen to the broadcasts in Finnish for all I care. It's fun to watch this team when they're playing like this. They close out 2022 on the highest of high notes and roll into 2023 with aspirations of something even greater. 

Canes' Three Stars of the Game

Third Star- Antti Raanta (19-Save Shutout)

The defense made it easy on him once again as he secures back-to-back shutouts for the second time in his career and his first time as a Hurricane. He didn't face too many high-danger chances but he shrugged them away all night while getting knocked around quite a bit. I was worried after the collision with Ekblad in the first period but he recovered nicely as the fans let him hear it after the game. 

Second Star- Jesperi Kotkaniemi (Goal, Assist)

It's official, Kotkaniemi is on a hot streak. After having his three-game point streak snapped in the Chicago game, he came back with two points tonight. He has seven points in his last ten games and while he's moved down the lineup a little, he's settling into a nice role. It doesn't get much easier with his goal in the third period as a lane seemed to open up perfectly for him as he beat Knight cleanly. 

First Star- Seth Jarvis (2 Assists)

If not for the glove of Knight on Aho's redirection, he'd have three assists, but I guess two is good too. With as much time as the Canes had to play short-handed, he was only on the ice for a little over ten minutes but he made the most of that time. He assisted on the final two goals, even if the assist to Teravainen was an accident. He also blocked three shots tonight to lead the team. 

What's Next

As the calendar changes to 2023, things get started with a bang for the Hurricanes. They'll face New Jersey on New Year's Day in the second meeting between the two sides. This time they'll be meeting in New Jersey for a weird afternoon start in the first of two meetings in the first ten days of the month. They'll then make the drive to Madison Square Garden to face the New York Rangers for the first time this season after the Rangers knocked the Hurricanes out of the playoffs last season. It'll also be the first time we see Vincent Trocheck in Rangers' blue. The first home game of the month will be next Thursday when they welcome the Nashville Predators as we get to see Nino Niederreiter on the other side for the first time.