2022-23 Regular Season, Game 45: Hurricanes (27-9-8) v. Minnesota Wild

The Hurricanes ride into tonight with a three-game point streak but their loss to Vancouver on Sunday left a bitter taste in everyone's mouth. The Canes had a chance to shut the game down but couldn't get the job done, settling for a shootout loss to earn another point. Paul Stastny and Jordan Martinook each scored in the first period and after Vancouver scored the next two, Sebastian Aho scored on a breakaway in the final three minutes to give the Canes the lead. Brock Boeser tied the game with the goalie on the bench and just 17 seconds left. Colin Delia shut the door in overtime and outperformed Pyotr Kochetkov in the shootout as Elias Pettersson ended it on a Peter Forsberg one-handed tuck goal to seal the deal. It was the first time the Canes failed to win on the back end of a back-to-back, dropping their record to 6-0-1. They maintain a slim lead over the Devils in the Metropolitan Division, though things are opening up a little bit outside of the top four teams. The team had back-to-back off days and haven't played since the Sunday game, so it allowed them to get some much-needed rest. 

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 

Antti Raanta

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

IR- Ondrej Kase (LTIR- concussion)

Max Pacioretty returns to the lineup after missing the last three with a lower-body injury. Jordan Staal also draws back in tonight after missing the Vancouver game due to a personal matter. The Canes will go back to the traditional 12/6 look with Derek Stepan and Dylan Coghlan serving as the healthy extras. The Canes sent Pyotr Kochetkov back down to Chicago for the time being, meaning it'll be the tandem of Frederik Andersen and Antti Raanta for the foreseeable future. Andersen gets the nod tonight, his third start since returning from injury. 

Tonight's Opponent: Minnesota Wild (25-14-4, 54 Points, 3rd in the Central Division)

In the two months since the two sides met in mid-November, it's been a lot of winning for the Wild. In fact, the Canes and Wild have near-identical records, with the Canes holding a slight 39-36 edge in points with one more game played. Minnesota has earned points in seven of their last eight games and they've won their last three while allowing just four goals. The Wild took down another Metropolitan team on Tuesday night when they defeated the Capitals 4-2 in Washington D.C. Jared Spurgeon scored twice and added an assist, Connor Dewar picked up two primary assists, and Filip Gustavsson stopped 34 shots to extend their win streak to three games. Minnesota's All-Star Kirill Kaprizov continues to lead the way, leading in goals (25), assists (27), and points (52) through 43 games. Mats Zuccarello continues to thrive as well, sitting just behind Kaprizov with 26 assists and 44 points. They've also managed to find a reliable goalie tandem that is top ten in the league in save percentage and goals allowed per game. They've already announced that Matt Dumba will be a healthy extra for tonight's game, which I'm a little surprised by. 

Last Meeting v. Carolina- It was exactly two months ago that these two sides met in Minnesota. It was a low-scoring affair that turned into a goalie duel between Gustavsson and Pyotr Kochetkov. Sebastian Aho scored late in the first period and that 1-0 lead would hold until late in the third period when Sam Steel snuck a shot through Kochetkov to tie the game and force overtime. The extra period didn't last too long as Alex Goligoski won a race to the front of the net and buried a shot to win the game 2-1 for the Wild. 

Minnesota's Starting Goalie: Marc-Andre Fleury (14-8-3, 2.86 GAA, .905 SV%)- Since the Hurricanes moved to Raleigh, only four goalies have faced the Canes more times than Fleury has. Tonight will be his 37th appearance against the Canes, holding a 19-10-6 record with a .916 SV% and 2.46 GAA. As he gets older, his numbers start to drop and while he's clearly not in his prime, he's still putting up good numbers for a starting goalie. He faced the Canes twice last season, once with Chicago and once with Minnesota. His start with the Wild was a 37-save win.

Minnesota Player to Watch: Sam Steel- Amid a career season, Steel factored on both goals during the meeting in November. His late goal secured Minnesota a point and he set up the game-winner in overtime from Goligoski. He has already broken his career-high in goals (8) and is a point away from setting a new career-high in points, sitting with 22 at the moment. After playing a solid game against the Canes once already this season, he's going to be the player I'm keeping an eye on.

Scoring Summary

1st Period

None

2nd Period

(MIN) 7:11- Kirill Kaprizov (26) PP (assisted by Mats Zuccarello (27) & Joel Eriksson Ek (20))

(CAR) 9:06- Brent Burns (7) (assisted by Andrei Svechnikov (17)) 

(CAR) 13:33- Brady Skjei (10) PP (assisted by Martin Necas (23) & Stefan Noesen (14))

(CAR) 17:22- Teuvo Teravainen (4) SH (assisted by Jalen Chatfield (2) & Jesper Fast (12))

3rd Period

(CAR) 2:13- Jalen Chatfield (5) (assisted by Andrei Svechnikov (18)) 

(CAR) 5:27- Martin Necas (18) PP (assisted by Seth Jarvis (16) & Brady Skjei (12))

(MIN) 7:21- Matt Boldy (13) (assisted by Ryan Hartman (9) & Jonas Brodin (6))

Let's Talk About the Game

It's crazy that I'm about to say that the Canes won this game on special teams considering how they looked on the power play in the first period. At the end of the night, the Canes scored twice on the power play, once while short-handed, allowed just one goal to Minnesota's power play, and killed a major penalty without allowing a goal. Once the Canes got one goal on Marc-Andre Fleury, it felt like the floodgates opened. The game went from a goalie duel to a special teams battle. To their credit, the Canes' power play did look very good on their first attempt. Kirill Kaprizov took a penalty 39 seconds into the contest and Fleury was tested early with four shots by the Canes. None of them would find the back of the net but it gave us all some hope that they could get one tonight. From there, Fleury and Frederik Andersen went save-for-save for 20 minutes. Fleury was flashing the leather. Andersen was using the pads. The Canes would get two more chances on the power play but each chance got considerably worse. Andersen made the save of the period on Matt Boldy after he came out of the box on the Canes' third power play and the two sides would move into the second period after a scoreless first. 

As if it were magic, the Minnesota Wild drew their first penalty in the second period and everyone instantly knew what that meant. Wouldn't you know it, Kaprizov would pick up a loose puck at the side of the net and beat a sprawling Andersen to get Minnesota on the board first on the power play. The Canes wouldn't sit around to let that set in and just under two minutes later, they'd find an answer. After Fleury lost his stick and Brent Burns barely kept a puck onside, he would be on the receiving end of a pass from Andrei Svechnikov as he moved into the zone and beat Fleury under his pads to tie the game. Soon after, the Canes would draw their fourth penalty of the game and after almost wasting the entire two minutes, Brady Skjei wristed a shot from the point that Fleury didn't see until it was too late. Skjei's 10th goal sets a new career-high for him while also putting the Canes up 2-1. Jordan Staal would be called for a penalty in the offensive zone near the end of the period but, as we've learned in the last few weeks, the Canes are pretty good at generating offense while short-handed. Tonight, they'd do it again with Teuvo Teravainen burying a 3-on-2 chance with a wicked shot that beat Fleury cleanly. The goal put the Canes up by two heading into the break and with momentum on their side. 

The offense would stay hot coming out of the break as Jalen Chatfield, who set up the short-handed goal at the end of the second period, scored another one with a quiet shot from the point. After Minnesota unsuccessfully challenged for goalie interference to give the Canes a power play, Brandon Duhaime would take a roughing penalty to give the Canes a two-man advantage. While they didn't score on the short 5-on-3 chance, Seth Jarvis would make sure the power play wasn't a complete wash by placing a cross-seam pass on the stick of Martin Necas and he'd find the back of the net with Fleury way out of position. Minnesota would get one back with Boldy atoning for being denied on an earlier breakaway by beating Andersen on his second chance to put an end to the Canes' goal streak. The end of the game continued to wear out the path to the penalty box. Skjei was called for hooking but the Canes killed it. Shortly after the kill, Svechnikov would be assessed a five-minute major and game misconduct for cross-checking Duhaime into the boards from behind, forcing the kill to withstand five minutes down a man. It was a bad hit and will likely serve as a learning moment for Svechnikov. On the ensuing kill, the Canes' stood tall. Minnesota would get seven shots on Andersen, most from in close, but he didn't bend. A late penalty from Kaprizov would all but end the game as the Canes picked up two huge points. 

Though the Canes put in an excellent effort tonight, the end of the game put a major damper on what should've been a great win. During the final power play late in the game, Max Pacioretty, returning to the lineup tonight after missing a few games with a lower-body injury, would go down with another injury after hitting a rut in the ice. It was a non-contact injury and the early prognosis doesn't appear to look good. We'll know more information in the next few days but I'd expect we see someone called up from Chicago in the next few days. It reminded me a lot of Jesperi Kotkaniemi's injury at the end of a win last season against Washington. While Kotkaniemi's leg injury was the result of a bad hit, it gave me that same feeling after what should've been celebrated as a big win. To compound all of that, Necas wasn't voted to the All-Star team for the Metropolitan Division tonight despite what I felt was a terrific effort from the Caniacs. He's more than deserving of a spot on the team. Even with this snub, he played well tonight, as did everyone on the team. Necas joins Svechnikov, Skjei, and Chatfield with multi-point nights as he eclipses 40 points for the third-straight season and ties his career-high in 45 games. While we aren't in much of a celebratory mood, we shouldn't let the Necas snub get us down. While the rest of the league might not appreciate what he's done this season, I know everyone who follows the team certainly does. He's come into his own this season and put together a great campaign. The Canes picked up a big win tonight to extend their most recent point streak to four games. 

Canes' Three Stars of the Game

Third Star- Andrei Svechnikov (2 Assists)

His major penalty at the end of the game doesn't make me rethink how well I thought he played tonight. Though he isn't scoring goals, he's setting up his teammates for success and he did it twice tonight, giving him three in two games. Both of his assists were primary assists, so he was directly responsible for two goals, both of them very big in the overall outcome of the game. 

Second Star- Jalen Chatfield (Goal, Assist)

I'm not sure where this offensive outburst has come from Chatfield but I'm certainly not upset about it. Just a few games after picking up his first short-handed goal, he helped to set up the short-handed marker from Teravainen late in the second period, then started the third period with his fifth goal. He's putting the puck in the net at a rapid pace as he continues to shine on the third defensive pair. 

First Star- Frederik Andersen (29 Saves)

He's now 3-0-0 since returning from his injury and this might've been his best performance to date. He matched Fleury in the first period and even after allowing the first goal, Andersen didn't give an inch. He finished tonight with 29 saves, 12 of which came while the Canes were short-handed. He didn't make many flashy saves but made the ones he needed to to get the Canes back in the win column. 

What's Next

The Canes will hit the road for a Saturday night visit to Long Island for the third meeting of the season with the Islanders. They've split the first two meetings this season with the road team prevailing on both occasions. New York was in action tonight also, losing 3-2 in overtime despite 42 saves from All-Star goalie Ilya Sorokin. The loss is New York's eighth in their last ten games as they start to fall behind some of the pack in the Metropolitan Division. Once they finish in New York, they'll get another long break before hitting the ice in Dallas next Wednesday night. They'll play three games next week, finishing the week with a visit from the Boston Bruins next Sunday night for Boston's first visit to Raleigh since losing in Game 7.