2022-23 Regular Season, Game 43: Hurricanes (26-9-7) v. Pittsburgh Penguins

The Hurricanes broke the losing streak with a dominant 6-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday night, exacting a little revenge for the loss a few days prior. The theme of the night for the Canes was the defense taking the charge offensively. Five of the six goals came from the defensemen, led by two goals from Brett Pesce, the first multi-goal game of his career. Brent Burns, Jalen Chatfield, and Jaccob Slavin also scored, Chatfield's coming while the team was short-handed. Seth Jarvis was the lone forward that scored, breaking an 11-game drought. Frederik Andersen made his return after two months and looked good when he did see some action. He stopped 21 shots to provide some new life to the team. The Canes return home tonight for the first half of a back-to-back and the final meeting of the season against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Canes are looking to sweep the series, having won the previous three meetings by one goal each. 

Projected Lines/Pairings 

Teuvo Teravainen-Sebastian Aho-Seth Jarvis

Andrei Svechnikov-Paul Stastny-Martin Necas

Jordan Martinook-Jordan Staal-Jesper Fast

Derek Stepan-Jesperi Kotkaniemi-Stefan Noesen

Jaccob Slavin-Brent Burns

Brady Skjei-Brett Pesce

Jalen Chatfield-Calvin de Haan

Frederik Andersen

Pyotr Kochetkov

Injuries/Scratches- Max Pacioretty (lower-body injury), Dylan Coghlan (healthy), Antti Raanta (healthy)

IR- Ondrej Kase (LTIR- concussion)

After leaving during the first period on Thursday night, Max Pacioretty will be out tonight with a lower-body concern that will likely keep him out tomorrow night as well. The good news is that it doesn't appear to be related to his Achilles injury. Derek Stepan will join the lineup in his place after serving as the healthy scratch for the last two games. Frederik Andersen will start for the second game in a row after making his return in Columbus. 

Tonight's Opponent: Pittsburgh Penguins (21-14-6, 48 Points, 5th in the Metropolitan Division)

The Penguins didn't have a fun end to December. Spurred by the overtime loss to the Hurricanes on December 22, the Penguins lost six in a row, including some close games to New Jersey, Boston, and Vegas. They broke their skid with back-to-back wins over Arizona and Vancouver to get some life back into the team. They were in action last night as they played host to the Winnipeg Jets. With Tristan Jarry on IR and a division game looming tonight, the Penguins started Dustin Tokarski, who'd come in to relieve Casey DeSmith after he allowed three goals to the Canucks. He didn't get much help from his team. The two sides were tied after 20 minutes with Blake Wheeler scoring on the power play and Drew O'Connor evening it up for the Penguins. Winnipeg would pull away with three unanswered goals, two off the stick of Mark Scheifele, and the Pittsburgh offense failed to get anything going against David Rittich. Tokarski made 36 saves but the Penguins would fall 4-1. It's been tough as of late for the Penguins' offense with their stars not producing at the same rate they have and the depth scoring drying up. They showed flashes against Arizona and Vancouver so it's only a matter of time before they find their game again. It doesn't help that three of their most experienced defensemen are out hurt.

Last Meeting v. Carolina- This is the most time we've had between meetings this season, so there has been some time for things to boil over. Sidney Crosby opened the scoring late in the first period but Martin Necas answered 15 seconds later and Jalen Chatfield added his first NHL goal 17 seconds after that. The second period featured eight minor penalties and while no one scored on the power play, Brock McGinn burnt his former team with a short-handed goal in the final minute of the period to tie it. Bryan Rust broke the tie with under eight minutes to go before Jordan Staal continued his stellar play against the Penguins to tie it and force overtime. The Canes needed 23 seconds to get the win as Jaccob Slavin started and ended the play to earn Brent Burns his 800th point and the Canes the second point. 

Pittsburgh's Starting Goalie: Casey DeSmith (5-8-2, 3.17 GAA, .904 SV%)- It hasn't been a good stretch of play recently for DeSmith. He's won just once in his last six starts and has allowed 19 goals during that time. He only lasted 7:05 in his last start against Vancouver on Tuesday night, allowing three goals on five shots before being pulled. He's allowed three or more goals four times in his last six games and ten times in his 16 appearances this season. DeSmith started against the Canes when they were in Raleigh in mid-December, allowing three goals on 29 shots in a 3-2 loss for the Penguins. 

Pittsburgh Player to Watch: Brock McGinn- I tried to avoid putting McGinn in his spot three times this season but it's hard to ignore what he's done this season against the team that drafted him. He's scored in the last two games against the Canes and both were either go-ahead or tying goals. He's having a very McGinn-like season, already reaching ten goals, tied for fifth-most on the team, and is halfway to his career-high in points (30 in 2017-18 with the Canes). He has thrived in big spots against the Canes this season and could easily do it again tonight. 

Scoring Summary

1st Period

(CAR) 17:02- Brady Skjei (9) (assisted by Brett Pesce (14) & Jordan Martinook (12))

2nd Period

(CAR 9:14- Jalen Chatfield (4) (assisted by Sebastian Aho (23))

3rd Period

(PIT) 7:48- Rickard Rakell (15) PP (unasssisted)

Let's Talk About the Game

Tripp Tracy set it a few times tonight during the broadcast that beating a team in your division four times in a season is a tough thing to do. To put it in perspective, the Canes have only gone 4-0-0 against a division opponent once under Rod Brind'Amour until tonight, beating the Flyers all four times in his first season. In fact, they've only gone 3-0-0 against a team once also, doing it to the Islanders the following season before the COVID bubble. This game had the feeling of a playoff game but it also felt like the Canes were the better team for the majority of the 60 minutes. The most of the first period, the puck was going up and down the ice with some serious pace and both teams looked fast. Both Casey DeSmith and Frederik Andersen were up to the task, making save after save. The Canes did benefit from some iron as Jason Zucker rang it twice in the first period. Pittsburgh killed a penalty midway through the period. Andrei Svechnikov went for a lacrosse goal. Both goalies stood on their heads and we looked to be heading to the intermission scoreless. That was until the Canes' defense decided to pick up right where they left off in Columbus. The Staal line, who looked like they were back to normal tonight, had a great forechecking shift and after Jordan Martinook's pass made it back to the point, Brett Pesce sent the puck over to Brady Skjei. As we've learned over the past year, Skjei is a sniper. He fired a puck that DeSmith got a piece of with his glove but clearly not enough as the puck hit the net and the Canes earned a late lead to head into the break. 

The penalty kill came up with a huge kill early in the second period that almost saw the Canes score another short-handed goal. For a team that takes the number of penalties that the Canes do, it's nice to know they can also come up with some great opportunities a man down. Both sides continued to push for goal on two goalies that clearly had no interest in letting that happen and the defenses were doing a very good job of denying any good chances. Several times tonight, someone would get an odd-man rush and the chance was thwarted by either a diving body or a well-placed stick. The Canes pushed their lead to two goals with another excellent forecheck from Martinook during a partial line change. The puck made its way to Sebastian Aho and as he made his way to the point, he put the puck perfectly on the tape of Jalen Chatfield. As of late, Chatfield has found his scoring touch and he gets one over the blocker of DeSmith with some bodies in front of the net to make it 2-0 for the Canes. DeSmith faced a flurry of chances after the second goal and to his credit, he made some timely saves, including a few saves on the Canes' second power play that was killed off. The Canes found themselves in a bit of a pickle late in the second. Calvin de Haan took a tripping penalty in the final two minutes and during the kill, Jordan Staal was called for tripping DeSmith on a play that neither saw coming and in Staal's defense, DeSmith was outside of the crease when contact was made. Regardless of the lack of intent, the Canes had a 5-on-3 to kill. The penalty kill came up big once again. Pesce denied a pass that likely would've led to a high-danger chance and Andersen made a great standing save on Evgeni Malkin as the Canes survived to the intermission with their two-goal lead. 

The third period started in a way that I don't think we'll ever see again. Because the Canes still have ten seconds of a 5-on-3 to kill and Aho was kicked out of the face-off, Brent Burns was forced to take it against Sidney Crosby. Better yet, Burns won the draw. This helped to kickstart the kill as they'd erase both penalties that carried over. The Canes would find them in penalty trouble again as Martinook was called for tripping, forcing the Canes to the kill for the fourth time. In a move that I've never seen before, Andersen catches a lofted puck from Jake Guentzel and instead of taking the whistle, he tries to throw it up and bat it out of the zone. While I see what he was going for, he hits it right into Rickard Rakell as he passes through and it finds the back of the net to make it a one-goal game in the weirdest way possible. After a nearly perfect game from the Canes, they now only led by one against a team that was building momentum. To add even more stress to the situation, Chatfield takes his second penalty of the night for throwing the puck over the glass in the defensive zone with 6:21 left. The kill would come up big once again, getting some timely blocks and a good save by Andersen on a redirection, as time started to trickle away. I'm not sure we got to the final commercial break of the night because there wasn't a whistle for a while after the kill. So much time melted away that DeSmith eventually made his way to the bench to give the Penguins the extra attacker. During a puck battle in the corner, Burns was called for cross-checking Guentzel but what went undetected was a cheap shot from Guentzel. Instead of both men in the box, the Canes would be on their sixth kill of the night having to withstand a 6-on-4 from the Penguins with the net empty for over a minute. The defense stood tall, denying the Penguins a clean entry into the zone. The Canes barely missed the empty net twice with no icing and they'd do just enough to hold on and pick up two valuable points. 

I know that season series don't always matter once you reach the playoffs. The Canes lost all four games to Washington in 2018-19, then beat them in the playoffs. They lost all three games to the Rangers in 2019-20 before the bubble, then swept them in three straight. They dominated the Bruins in three meetings last season, yet were locked into a tight seven-game series. However, when you're in a tight division battle, this is a good sign. The Canes earned all eight points possible against the Penguins, yielding only two points in return. They did it while winning each game by just one goal and by holding their stars in check for the most part. Crosby and Guentzel each had three points in four games. Malkin only had an assist in four meetings. Zucker and Jeff Carter were held scoreless. The Canes did have the benefit of not having to face Kris Letang or Jeff Petry much but they still got the job done. All three of the team's goalies played at least once and they combined to allow eight goals on 119 shots (.933 SV%). On top of it all, they have important players getting hot at the right time. Aho has points in four straight. Pesce has points in three straight. Chatfield has goals in the last two. Andersen has looked fantastic in his return from injury. The penalty kill is coming along. If the power play can start showing some results, this is going to be a tough team to face nightly. 

Canes' Three Stars of the Game

Third Star- Andrei Svechnikov (3 Shots, 4 Hits)

It has been seven games since the Canes' All-Star has scored a goal and we've seen him revert to some bad tendencies lately, taking some ill-advised penalties during this most recent stretch. Tonight, it felt like the Penguins were going out of their way to be physical with him, hitting him every chance they got. He responded with four hits of his own and his line had some really good shifts. He's going to score tomorrow night, I just have a feeling. 

Second Star- Jalen Chatfield (Goal)

Few defensemen are scoring at the rate that he is over the last 11 games. After going 66 games without a goal, Chatfield now has four goals in his last 11, including game-winning goals in the last two games. The dam seems to have opened up for him as he continues to find the back of the net. Tonight, he placed it perfectly over the blocker and it would the deciding goal in the game. 

First Star- Frederik Andersen (34 Saves)

We can joke about the one goal now that they've won but that could've been catastrophic. I'm just going to ask that he never tries that again. Outside of that unfortunate mistake, this was a phenomenal performance. Having his first game come against Columbus was smart before facing a tougher test. It paid off big time as he stopped 34 shots to pick up his seventh win of the season. This is the Freddie that we saw at his best last season. 

What's Next

The Canes will finish their back-to-back against the Vancouver Canucks with a 5p start tomorrow night. This is the seventh set of back-to-backs the Canes have played this season and to this point, they're 6-0-0 in the second half. They'll be facing a Vancouver team that also played tonight, losing 4-3 to the Panthers. Vancouver held a 2-1 lead early in the second period after Tyler Myers scored his first of the season but Florida scored three times in the second, including twice on the power play to take a 4-2 lead and were able to withstand a late push to hold on for the victory. With Thatcher Demko hurt and Spencer Martin facing 35 shots tonight in the loss, I'd expect the Canes will see Colin Delia tomorrow. The Canucks come into this game on the struggle bus, losing four straight and seven of their last eight. After this game to conclude a busy week for the Canes, they'll be off until Thursday night when they host the Minnesota Wild.