2022-23 Regular Season, Game 42: Hurricanes (25-9-7) at Columbus Blue Jackets

The losing streak is up to four games for the Canes after falling at home to the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night. The teams' defensive struggles continue to be the story as they allowed five goals for the third time during the stretch. Things were looking very good for the Canes through almost two periods. The team scored twice short-handed, courtesy of Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Sebastian Aho, and Max Pacioretty scored his third goal in two games to stake the Canes to a 3-1 lead heading into the final minute of the second period. Instead of finishing the period strong, New Jersey scored twice in 18 seconds and would proceed to score twice more in the third period to complete the comeback and earn a 5-3 win as the lead in the Metropolitan Divison continues to shrink. We've officially entered the second half of the season as the Canes return to Columbus for the second time in three games. With Rod Brind'Amour named the Metropolitan Divison coach for the All-Star Game and the push for Martin Necas to join Andrei Svechnikov in Sunrise for the festivities, it has been nice to have some distractions to the losing streak. Tonight, there are rumblings of the Canes getting someone very important back for the first time in two months. Maybe they'll be the key to breaking the streak. Or the Canes could just show up and put together their first good performance in a week and a half. 

Projected Lines/Pairings 

Max Pacioretty-Sebastian Aho-Seth Jarvis

Andrei Svechnikov-Paul Stastny-Martin Necas

Jordan Martinook-Jordan Staal-Jesper Fast

Teuvo Teravainen-Jesperi Kotkaniemi-Stefan Noesen

Jaccob Slavin-Brent Burns

Brady Skjei-Brett Pesce

Jalen Chatfield-Calvin de Haan

Frederik Andersen

Pyotr Kochetkov

Injuries/Scratches- Derek Stepan (healthy), Dylan Coghlan (healthy), Antti Raanta (healthy)

IR- Ondrej Kase (LTIR- concussion)

For the first time since early November, Frederik Andersen will be between the pipes for the Hurricanes. He's 5-3-0 this season in eight starts and is going to look to reverse the team's fortunes while also returning to his Vezina-caliber form. He'll be backed up by Pyotr Kochetkov. After sitting the last two games, Calvin de Haan will also be back in the lineup tonight. The forwards will remain the same as the Canes look to break their streak. 

Tonight's Opponent: Columbus Blue Jackets (12-26-2, 26 Points, 8th in the Metropolitan Division)

While they own a win over the Canes from this past weekend, the Blue Jackets haven't had too much to cheer for in the last little while. They've only won twice in their last 13 games and have lost both contests since their victory five days ago. Columbus played the following day in Washington D.C. and it was a defensive struggle. Erik Gustafsson's goal early in the first period got Washington out in front early and it would turn out to be enough for the win. Darcy Kuemper stopped all 38 shots he faced and while Elvis Merzlikins only made one mistake, they'd come up just short. They were also in action on Tuesday night in Tampa Bay and there was a little bit more offense in this one. The Lightning jumped out to an early 2-0 lead after the first period. Both teams scored in the second and while Tim Berni's first-career goal brought them within one goal early in the third period, Tampa Bay scored three times to put the game out of reach in a 6-3 win. 

Last Meeting v. Carolina: It was a late afternoon start for the two teams on Saturday in Columbus. Marchenko got Columbus out ahead in the second period with two power-play goals before Max Pacioretty scored his first two goals as a Hurricane with a goal from Brady Skjei sandwiched between them. Though the Canes led 3-2 after 40 minutes, Marchenko finished the hat trick with the lone goal of the third period, sending the game to overtime. After neither team scored in a whistle-less five minutes, Kent Johnson would get the deciding goal in the shootout to secure the second point for Columbus. 

Columbus' Starting Goalie: Joonas Korpisalo (6-7-1, 3.10 GAA, .913 SV%)- After beating the Canes in a shootout on Saturday, Korpisalo hasn't played in either of Columbus' games. He served as the backup for their losses to Washington and Tampa Bay. This will be the 16th appearance against the Canes in his career as he goes for his eighth win against them. 

Columbus Player to Watch: Kirill Marchenko- After scoring a hat trick against the Canes on Saturday, there seems like no better person to keep an eye on than the Columbus rookie. After being shut out by Washington the next night, Marchenko scored in the team's loss to Tampa Bay on Tuesday night. He's proven to be a good shooter with nine goals but he's still waiting to pick up his first assist in the NHL. I'm sure the Canes have talked about stopping him in the build-up to this game and I'm sure the broadcast will highlight him whenever he's on the ice. 

Scoring Summary

1st Period

(CAR) 2:34- Brett Pesce (3) (assisted by Teuvo Teravainen (14))

(CAR) 10:39- Brent Burns (6) (assisted by Seth Jarvis (15) & Jaccob Slavin (10)) 

(CBJ) 15:00- Sean Kuraly (8) (assisted by Mathieu Olivier (4) & Gavin Beyreuther (3))

2nd Period

(CAR) 15:52- Jalen Chatfield (3) SH (assisted by Jesper Fast (11))

3rd Period

(CAR) 8:02- Brett Pesce (4) (assisted by Sebastian Aho (21))

(CAR) 14:55- Jaccob Slavin (3) (assisted by Sebastian Aho (22))

(CBJ) 15:27- Johnny Gaudreau (12) (assisted by Patrik Laine (10) & Adam Boqvist (4))

(CAR) 16:45- Seth Jarvis (7) (assisted by Stefan Noesen (13) & Jesperi Kotkaniemi (8))

Let's Talk About the Game

If you're looking to break out of the slump, it's going to take everyone. Tonight the defense took it pretty literally. For the first time in franchise history, four different defensemen scored a goal and the five goals they combined to score are tied for the most in a game. Ten different players found the scoresheet tonight and they did it all with Max Pacioretty leaving the game in the first period with a lower-body concern that didn't appear to be related to his Achilles injury. 

The Canes got it going early as Brett Pesce unleashed a wrister from the boards that Joonas Korpisalo never saw as it rang the far post and got the Canes on the board. Teuvo Teravainen got the play going despite the team losing the face-off and the Canes wouldn't look back from that point. The Canes would take the first penalty of the night on a weak slashing call given to Andrei Svechnikov but it would quickly be negated by Patrik Laine to give us some 4-on-4 time. Seven seconds after the Laine penalty, Brent Burns would finish a wrap-around to stretch the lead to two goals. Columbus would get one back as Sean Kuraly found some daylight between the defense and beat Frederik Andersen between his pads. By the end of the period, both teams had 12 shots and while it was just 2-1 on the scoreboard, it felt like a lot more could've been scored. 

The Canes built a solid second period and it really felt like they had found their groove again. The defense was suffocating Columbus at times, not allowing a shot for over ten minutes. The offense was getting their chances and forcing Korpisalo to work. Then, Martin Necas takes a bad penalty in the neutral zone to put the Canes on their second kill of the night. As we learned against New Jersey, that's not always the worst thing. In the dying seconds of the kill, Jesper Fast got the puck out of the zone and it took a friendly bounce to help spring Jalen Chatfield on a breakaway. Using his speed, he put some distance between himself and the defender and beat Korpisalo under the arm to score the third short-handed goal for the Canes in two games. It felt like this goal took the wind out of Columbus' sails as the team would hold their two-goal lead going into the break. 

Columbus was practically giving the Canes chances in the third period. They took two early penalties and while they'd kill both, the Canes were buzzing the net and throwing shots at Korpisalo from every angle. Shortly after Columbus killed their fourth penalty of the night, Pesce decided he wanted more as he picked up his own rebound and scored his second of the night. The Columbus fans were furious about this one because Korpisalo's mask came off during the play right as Pesce was shooting his second shot. They felt play should've been stopped but the referees made the right call to allow play to commence. Tempers would flare late in the game as Stefan Noesen and Erik Gudbranson exchanged recipes behind the net at one point and during the ensuing 4-on-4, both teams would find the net. First, Jaccob Slavin uncorked a bomb that would get some help from the iron to make it 5-1. Soon after, Johnny Gaudreau scored his first point of the season against the Canes with a tap-in goal after the defense overcommitted to the pass. To put a bow on the night, Seth Jarvis scored the first goal for a Canes' forward with an easy finish with Korpisalo out of position to re-establish the four-goal lead. Pesce would get some decent looks for his hat trick in the final seconds but would have to settle for just two tonight as the team snapped their four-game skid. 

A fun time was had by all tonight, even the coaching staff. After failing in his first four attempts, Rod Brind'Amour finally picked up the 200th win of his coaching career, becoming the third-fast coach to do so in NHL history. Andersen looked very good in his first game in over two months. He made some huge saves in the final minutes of the first period and early in the second period to keep the Canes ahead and would eventually get to watch most of the game as the Canes outshot the Blue Jackets 29-11 in the final 40 minutes. Sebastian Aho, Jarvis, Slavin, and Pesce all finished with two-point nights. The team adjusted well once Pacioretty went down and now the hope is that it isn't anything too serious and that he'll be able to go at some point this weekend during the back-to-back. They didn't let the last four games fester and came out tonight with a complete performance and some positive vibes heading into the weekend at home. 

My Three Stars of the Night

Third Star- Sebastian Aho (2 Assists)

Since returning from his injury, Aho has seven points in eight games and he now has multi-point nights in back-to-back games with two primary assists tonight. Both of his points came in the third period but he had plenty of chances all night, tying Pesce for the team lead with six shots. He's stepped his game up in the last week and has started to look like his usual self.

Second Star- Jaccob Slavin (Goal, Assist)

After recording just one point in his last eight games, Slavin found his offensive touch tonight with two points as part of the onslaught by the team's defensemen. He helped get the Burns' goal into motion off of the face-off in the first period then unleashed a bomb from the top of the circle and all the time in the world for his third goal of the season. Pair this with a solid defensive night and he got it done on both ends. 

First Star- Brett Pesce (2 Goals)

If you'd told me that Pesce has never recorded a two-goal game in his NHL career, I'd assume you were lying to me. While not known for his offensive prowess, he's played long enough for it to be a possibility. In reality, tonight was the first time and it came at the right time. He got the team on the board early in the game and they'd never look back. Add the goal early in the third period to kill Columbus' hopes and this will go down as a night to remember for him. 

What's Next

Now that the skid is over, we can look forward to this weekend as the Canes play two games at PNC Arena. They'll welcome the Pittsburgh Penguins to town on Saturday night for the fourth and final meeting of the season between their division rivals. The Canes own three wins over them already this season in three all-around struggles, two of which have needed overtime. Pittsburgh will be in action Friday night at home against Winnipeg, so they'll be on the second half of a back-to-back of their own. The Canes will finish the weekend with an early evening cross-conference battle against the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday night. Vancouver lost tonight in Tampa Bay and they'll be playing the Panthers on Sunday night, so they'll also be on the second half of a back-to-back.