2022-23 Regular Season, Game 46: Hurricanes (28-9-8) at New York Islanders

Thursday night's victory for the Canes came at a serious cost. After three days off, the Canes returned to the ice by dominating the Minnesota Wild, 5-2. Five different Hurricanes found the back of the net in the victory, including three more goals from the defense. After Kirill Kaprizov scored on the power play in the second period, Brent Burns began a streak of five straight goals for the Canes, highlighted by power-play goals from Brady Skjei and Martin Necas, a short-handed goal from Teuvo Teravainen, and Jalen Chatfield's fifth goal of the season. Minnesota would get one back in the third period but it wouldn't be enough as Frederik Andersen outdueled Marc-Andre Fleury. In the final minute of the game, Max Pacioretty went down on a non-contact play and was helped off of the ice without putting any weight on the same leg he injured during the offseason. After further evaluation, it's been determined he re-tore his Achilles and is done for the season. The Canes won the game but it certainly didn't feel like an occasion to celebrate. Tonight, the Canes will head to Long Island for the second and final time this season. It's an important division game as the Canes look to shake off the ending of the Minnesota game by earning two more points. 

Projected Lines/Pairs

Teuvo Teravainen-Sebastian Aho-Seth Jarvis

Andrei Svechnikov-Paul Stastny-Martin Necas

Jordan Martinook-Jordan Staal-Jesper Fast

Stefan Noesen-Jesperi Kotkaniemi-Derek Stepan

Jalen Chatfield-Brent Burns

Brady Skjei-Brett Pesce

Dylan Coghlan-Calvin de Haan

Frederik Andersen

Antti Raanta

Injuries/Scratches- Jaccob Slavin (lower-body injury)

IR- Max Pacioretty (Achilles), Ondrej Kase (LTIR- concussion)

The injury to Pacioretty means a return to a lineup that we saw quite a bit while he was out with his initial Achilles injury. Derek Stepan will draw back into the lineup, playing alongside Kotkaniemi and Noesen. On defense, Jaccob Slavin, who left the Minnesota game early, has been ruled out for tonight, meaning Dylan Coghlan will pair with de Haan. This is a big opportunity for Jalen Chatfield as he takes Slavin's spot on the top pairing with Burns. Frederik Andersen will get the nod in the net after a brilliant performance against Minnesota on Thursday night. He's allowed five goals in the three starts since returning from his injury. 

Tonight's Opponent: New York Islanders (23-19-5, 51 Points, 6th in the Metropolitan Division)

After ending 2022 with four straight victories, winning has been hard to come by for the Islanders in 2023. They've only won twice in their last ten outings and have lost their last three games. Part of the problem is that the offense has dried up. They've been held to one goal five times during this stretch, unsurprisingly resulting in five losses. Their recent struggles have them sitting just outside of a playoff spot at the moment as they try to keep up with the rest of the division. In their last game against Buffalo on Thursday night, they led 1-0 after the first and 2-1 after the second on goals by Brock Nelson and Matt Martin. Victor Olofsson tied the game midway through the third period to force overtime before Rasmus Dahlin floated a perfect pass to Dylan Cozens in the extra frame to earn the second point. The loss wasted a brilliant performance from Ilya Sorokin, who stopped 42 shots in the loss. 

Last Meeting v. Carolina- It was defensive domination from the Hurricanes when they visited Long Island in December. They stifled the Islanders' offense, allowing just 16 shots. Paul Stastny scored his first goal as a Hurricane to open the scoring in the second period. Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Jordan Staal would provide the nail and the dagger in the third period to finish with a 3-0 victory. Pyotr Kochetkov stopped all 16 shots to earn his second career shutout. 

New York's Starting Goalie: Ilya Sorokin (15-14-4, 2.32 GAA, .926 SV%)- While he might've lost on Thursday night, he was named to his first All-Star Game after winning the fan vote for the second goalie. He's been one of the lone bright spots during this rough stretch for the Islanders, going 2-3-3 and allowing just 20 goals in eight starts. He's been in the net for both games against the Canes this season, splitting the two meetings. This will be the fifth start against the Canes in his career. 

New York Player to Watch: Casey Cizikas- While it has been a slow season thus far for Cizikas, he's been picking up points as of late. Six of his 13 points this season have come in the last ten games, tied for the most of the team with Jean-Gabriel Pageau during this stretch and tied for second in goals behind only Matthew Barzal. He picked up an assist in New York's win in Raleigh and will look to stay hot tonight. 

Scoring Summary

1st Period

(CAR) 0:44- Jordan Staal (12) (assisted by Jalen Chatfield (3) & Brent Burns (24))

(CAR) 3:52- Jesper Fast (6) (assisted by Jordan Staal (9))

(NYI) 14:02- Simon Holmstrom (2) (assisted by Anders Lee (16))

(NYI) 15:42- Brock Nelson (17) (unassisted)

2nd Period

(CAR) 16:40- Sebastian Aho (15) (assisted by Teuvo Teravainen (16))

3rd Period

(CAR) 7:09- Sebastian Aho (16) (unassisted)

(CAR) 19:38- Sebastian Aho (17) EN (assisted by Teuvo Teravainen (17))

Let's Talk About the Game

This game made you feel all of the emotions for about 30 minutes, then it felt like a runaway train for the final 30. With the long-term injury to Max Pacioretty and the announcement of Jaccob Slavin missing tonight's game, this had the makings of an interesting night for the Canes. It meant Jalen Chatfield was going to get some more time on the ice and if we had any questions about whether that would be a problem, they were quickly answered in the first period. Less than a minute into the game, Chatfield fired a shot at the net that was redirected by Jordan Staal to put the Canes on the board in an instant. The Staal line kept their momentum going as the captain started the play in the defensive zone, brought the puck the length of the ice, and found Jesper Fast to finish the play to make it 2-0 just under four minutes into the contest. The fast start from the Canes prompted the Islanders to burn their timeout but it seemed to work for New York. After the boo birds made their presence known after the Islanders failed on their first power play, they found some magic at the end of the period. It started with a wicked shot from Simon Holmstrom through a screen provided by Brett Pesce that would beat Frederik Andersen to cut the deficit in half. New York found more magic 100 seconds later as Brock Nelson became a one-man wrecking crew as he finished a wrap-around to tie the game. It was a very deflating feeling after a solid start. Andersen would make a huge pad save at the end of the period on Zach Parise, who felt like he was all over the ice tonight, and the two sides ended the period tied. 

New York continued to control the puck a lot at the start of the second period. After a surgical kill from the Canes, as they stood the Islanders up at their line several times, New York kept coming at them quickly. Andersen was up to the task, using his pads very effectively to kick pucks away. A little past the midway point in the second period, I felt like the ice started to tilt back in the Canes' favor. It started with a shift from the Aho line that featured a ton of chances in the offensive zone for Brent Burns. From there, the Canes drew a penalty, and while it was unsuccessful, it would eventually provide the spark the team needed. Tripp Tracy made a point that a line other than the Staal line needed to get something going and almost as if it were magic, Sebastian Aho redirected a pass from Teuvo Teravainen over the shoulder of Ilya Sorokin to give the Canes a late lead. As if we didn't have enough inception tonight with two Sebastian Ahos in the game, the Canes' Aho got some help from the skate of the Islanders' Aho to give the Canes the lead. The Islanders would kill their third penalty of the game at the end of the period but it felt like the Canes were in the driver's seat for good now. 

That feeling would carry into the third period with a strong start from the fourth line. Though they wouldn't be rewarded, Derek Stepan had a great chance all alone in the slot that Sorokin got a glove on and Stefan Noesen was denied on at least two solid chances at the side of the net on his backhand. Another player that kept things going in the third period was the Canes' Aho. While the Islanders' defenders were trying to play catch, Aho got his stick in the lane to knock the puck out of mid-air. He would then carry the puck between the dots and beat Sorokin one-on-one for his second of the night as the lead swelled to two goals. New York showed some serious fight at the end of the game. 16 of their 31 shots would come in the third period and there were two long stretches where it felt like the puck couldn't get out of their zone. On both occasions, Andersen stood tall, denying anything to get past him, and the defense put their bodies on the line to prevent some good looks. With Sorokin on the bench, New York hemmed the Canes in their zone for a solid two minutes. Staal and Jean-Gabriel Pageau battled in the face-off dot several times during that stretch and once they were finally able to change after a long shift, the focus was on getting Aho his hat trick. That is exactly what happened as he won a race down the ice and even as he was tripped, he got enough of the puck to get it into the net to complete the natural hat trick, the sixth hat trick of his career. The Canes, despite a rough end to the first period, fought hard for 40 minutes and came away with two more points and their 13th win against the division this season. 

It might not have felt like it at times but this was another clinical win for the Canes on Long Island this season. There were so many solid performances up and down the boards for the Canes. Obviously, there's the hat trick from Aho and a two-point night for Staal. Teravainen finished with primary assists on two of Aho's goals. Burns and Chatfield finished a combined +7 tonight and had an assist each. Fast had a goal and led the team with three blocked shots. Andersen stopped 29 shots and made some huge saves with the game tied in the first and second periods. The Stastny line was the only quiet line of the night with the most exciting part of their night being the debacle with Andrei Svechnikov getting two penalties on one play despite going up against two Islanders. How he was penalized twice in that situation is absurd to me. Regardless, the team got the job done with arguably their most valuable defenseman out of the lineup. It was a great win before they head into another long stretch between games as they expand their lead in the division for the time being. 

Canes' Three Stars of the Game

Third Star- Jalen Chatfield (Assist)

After being asked to step up while playing on his off side, Chatfield continued his hot stretch of play by picking up an assist in the first minute of the game and playing a strong game overall. He broke 20 minutes on the ice for the first time in his NHL career (20:24) and finished as a career-high +4. He's proven to be a valuable part of this season and has gotten the job done in multiple different roles. 

Second Star- Jordan Staal (Goal, Assist)

The captain led by example tonight by starting the game with two points in under four minutes, including the opening goal of the contest. His line was the Canes' best all night, getting plenty of chances in the first two periods before locking things down in the third period down the stretch. He was also very physical tonight, leading the team with four hits. 

First Star- Sebastian Aho (Hat Trick)

It was a record night for Aho as he continues to move up the leaderboards. He passed Geoff Sanderson and Jeff O'Neill as he sits in sixth in franchise history in goals, one shy of 200. He moved into fourth in hat tricks with his sixth, passing several players in the process. His chemistry with Teravainen was on full display tonight. He also added three hits and two blocks to his stellar night. 

What's Next

It's another three-day gap between games for the Canes as they head home to Raleigh before departing for Dallas for a game Wednesday against the Stars. The Canes won a back-and-forth contest in Raleigh in December, ended by Martin Necas in overtime. Dallas kicked off an eight-game homestand tonight with a 4-0 victory over the Arizona Coyotes. Radek Faksa scored twice, Miro Heiskanen added two assists, and Jake Oettinger stopped all 33 shots he faced for his fourth shutout of the season. The Stars will host Buffalo on Monday night before welcoming the Canes. The Canes will play their next three games at home, the biggest of which is the game against Boston next Sunday, before playing Buffalo on the road on February 1 in their final game before the All-Star Break.