2022-23 Regular Season, Game 57: Hurricanes (38-10-8) v. Ottawa Senators

There was little lag from the Canes on Tuesday night after the week they'd just had. They took it to the St. Louis Blues for most of the 60 minutes and came out with a 4-1 victory to extend their win streak to four games. The line of Andrei Svechnikov, Sebastian Aho, and Seth Jarvis provided all of the offense, combining for eight points and all four of the team's goals with Svechnikov scoring twice to break his 19-game goalless drought. Brent Burns was the only other player to record a point for the Canes, adding two assists. Frederik Andersen stopped 35 shots and the penalty kill was perfect, denying all three St. Louis power plays. They had the chance to get a few days off before coming into tonight's game, the first half of a back-to-back. Both games this weekend are against teams out of the playoff hunt but they've struggled against them in recent meetings. 

Projected Lines/Pairs

Andrei Svechnikov-Sebastian Aho-Seth Jarvis

Teuvo Teravainen-Jesperi Kotkaniemi-Martin Necas

Jordan Martinook-Jordan Staal-Jesper Fast

Stefan Noesen-Paul Stastny-Derek Stepan

Jaccob Slavin-Brent Burns

Brady Skjei-Brett Pesce

Calvin de Haan-Jalen Chatfield

Antti Raanta

Frederik Andersen

Injuries/Scratches- Dylan Coghlan (healthy)

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

With this being the first game in a back-to-back situation, the Canes have decided to start Antti Raanta tonight. He's in the midst of a franchise-record 13-game point streak that has spanned over three months. He's 11-0-2 during this stretch, his most recent win coming last Thursday night in a 20-save performance against Montreal. This means Frederik Andersen will get the start tomorrow night against his former team, the Anaheim Ducks. The forward lines and defensive pairs will remain the same. 

Tonight's Opponent: Ottawa Senators (27-25-4, 58 Points, 7th in the Atlantic Division)

All of the work the Senators did to improve in the offseason hasn't quite manifested into a huge amount of success yet. They're doing their best to hang around the Wild Card chase, trailing Florida by six points for the second spot, but have been inconsistent at times this season. They aren't scoring at a great pace and there has been a revolving door in the net with the injuries they've faced. Still, they've managed to stick with it and play a fun brand of hockey. After dismantling the Blues 7-2 on Sunday, they traveled to Boston on Monday to complete a back-to-back of their own. After a penalty-heavy first period, Jake DeBrusk and Claude Giroux had the game tied. David Pastrnak took over from there, scoring his 40th goal of the season in the second period and adding his 41st in the third to earn Boston the 3-1 victory. Kevin Mandolese, in his second NHL start, stopped 29 shots in the loss. Ottawa is a year or two away from being truly great with plenty of young pieces. Their captain Brady Tkachuk leads the team with 60 points, while Tim Stutzle is right behind him with 59 points and a team-leading 26 goals. Offseason additions Claude Giroux and Alex DeBrincat have both fit in nicely also. They have the players to compete in the Atlantic Division. All they need now is strong and consistent goaltending. 

Last Season v. Carolina- Ottawa was one of the few teams the Canes struggled against last season. The Senators earned points in all three meetings, winning twice and losing in a shootout. In both of their wins, they scored early and Anton Forsberg was outstanding. In the first meeting, Alex Formenton scored twice before the Canes found the scoresheet. Teuvo Teravainen and Andrei Svechnikov scored 1:45 apart in the third period to tie the game. It would be short-lived as Josh Norris scored 19 seconds after the Canes tied it and Forsberg shut it down, stopping 47 shots in a 3-2 win for Ottawa. The Canes' win would come in the next meeting, the first of two in Ottawa. Derek Stepan opened the scoring but Ottawa scored twice to hold a 2-1 lead early in the third period. Nino Niederreiter tied it late in the third and after neither side scored in overtime, a shootout would decide it. Svechnikov scored the lone goal of the shootout against Matt Murray as the Canes won 3-2. For the final meeting, Ottawa held a 4-0 lead through two periods behind two goals from Tkachuk and Formenton's fourth in three games against the Canes. The Canes mounted a furious comeback with Svechnikov, Brendan Smith, and Vincent Trocheck all scoring to bring them within one but it wouldn't be enough. Forsberg stopped 42 shots in a 4-3 win for Ottawa. 

Ottawa's Starting Goalie: Cam Talbot (12-13-1, 2.90 GAA, .905 SV%)- After missing the last month with an upper-body injury, Talbot will make his return to the net tonight. He left Ottawa's game against the Islanders on January 25 and has missed their last nine games. He earned the win in the game, just his second in his last seven starts. He's allowed three or more goals in five of those seven starts. Talbot has been very successful against the Canes in his career, going 6-2-0 in nine career appearances with a 2.06 GAA. He made 37 saves against the Canes last season with the Wild in a 3-2 win for Minnesota. 

Ottawa Player to Watch: Shane Pinto- In a season with some very good rookies, Pinto has likely gotten lost in the fold. He's in the top ten for rookie scoring and is tied for second with 14 goals, behind only Matty Beniers. He's been playing well lately, with points in four of his last six games and eight points in his last 13. Pinto is making the most of his first full season in the NHL and is being surrounded by some solid young players to help him. 

Scoring Summary

1st Period

(CAR) 3:48- Brent Burns (12) (unassisted)

(CAR) 6:29- Seth Jarvis (13) (assisted by Sebastian Aho (26) & Andrei Svechnikov (29))

2nd Period

None

3rd Period

(CAR) 12:34- Martin Necas (23) (assisted by Andrei Svechnikov (30))

(CAR) 16:30- Brady Skjei (11) EN (assisted by Sebastian Aho (27))

Let's Talk About the Game

From beginning to end, this game was about the penalty kill and Antti Raanta. I don't think this was a great 60-minute effort from the entire team, especially with the second period being as slow as it was, but they got off to a quicker start and had the better goalie tonight. For almost the entire first period, the Hurricanes were swarming the net. The first goal was a bit of a weird one. Sebastian Aho threw the puck to the front of the net looking for Seth Jarvis but he was taken off of his skates by Alex DeBrincat. This caused him to collide with Cam Talbot as the puck made its way to Brent Burns. The Canes' defender wasted little time walking into the zone and snapping one past Talbot as he tried to dive for it to give the Canes a 1-0 lead. The officials allowed the play to go and Ottawa didn't challenge the play, so it stood as a good goal. Less than three minutes later, the same line was right back at it. Andrei Svechnikov won a battle along the boards to get the puck to Aho. He backhanded a pass to Jarvis and while he was denied on his initial chance, Talbot was unable to locate the rebound as Jarvis slid it home for his fifth goal in four games to double the lead. The Canes continued to push for offense but the tide turn in Ottawa's favor after the newly-acquired Julien Gauthier was stopped on a breakaway. They followed it up by suffocating the Canes' power play to get it to the intermission with the Canes up 2-0.

The second period was a drag and it was largely brought on by the Canes taking too many penalties. Svechnikov took a late penalty in the first that carried into the second and Jordan Staal was called for slashing to give Ottawa a 5-on-3 for 43 seconds. The Canes withstood the remainder of the Svechnikov penalty and with a little help from the referee blocking a clearance and Thomas Chabot ringing the post, the Canes survived. That was until Svechnikov was called for tripping less than a minute later. Raanta was stout though and denied a few tight chances to kill it off. Jarvis would draw the Canes' second power play of the night but it would make it the full two minutes as Martin Necas would take an offensive zone penalty to put the Canes on their fourth kill of the night in the first 30 minutes of the night. The Canes would kill it once again but Ottawa seemed to control the period from there. Ottawa outshot the Canes 13-7 in the second period but no chance was greater than the breakaway that DeBrincat got. Raanta got his shoulder on the shot and it hit the post to stay out to keep the Senators off of the board. The Canes tried to make a push late in the period but the score would remain 2-0 after 40 minutes. 

For the third period, the puck moved up and down the ice a lot for nothing to happen in the end. Raanta and Talbot were going save for save at this point and the defenses were denying chances in transition. The physicality was ramping up and the extra-curriculars after the whistle were starting to become a regular occurrence. It felt like Ottawa was building something when they earned their fifth power play of the night. Little did they know, Raanta wasn't about to allow a goal. The Senators tried their hardest a few feet from the crease to get something past Raanta only to be met by the Finn. He won't get an assist for it but without Raanta's heroics on the defensive end, the Canes likely don't score their third goal. Calvin de Haan, who'd just taken the fifth penalty, picked off a pass in the neutral zone to begin the play and it would end with Svechnikov putting a pass on the tape of Necas for him to one-time it over the shoulder of Talbot to extend the lead to three goals. This third goal would prompt DJ Smith to pull Talbot with about 4:30 left and the Canes would find it about a minute later as Brady Skjei threw one down the ice to make it 4-0 with just one job left. On this night, the job would get done as Raanta finished the final 3:30 of the game without allowing a goal to earn the 18th shutout of his career as the Canes picked up a huge two points. 

As I said at the beginning, I don't think this was their best game but it's a 4-0 win no matter how you look at it. Raanta did his best Superman impression tonight, making 32 saves and doing some of his best work during the five penalty kills. He did get some help from the post and Claude Giroux feeling the pressure to push a puck wide with the net open. The top line was special again tonight as they played a hand in all four goals. Aho and Svechnikov each initially were credited with an assist on the opening goal that was later taken away, so they'll have to settle for two assists each. All six defensemen played well tonight. Burns continued his incendiary play with a point in his fifth-straight game and his 15th in the last 13 as he and Skjei each scored a goal. Jaccob Slavin and Brett Pesce made some huge defensive plays to deny great chances for Ottawa. The third pair of de Haan and Jalen Chatfield made great plays in both zones. It was a team effort on a night where the Canes never found their stride after the first period. None of it matters as they try to make the most of these games they have in hand against New Jersey. 

Canes' Three Stars of the Game

Third Star- Sebastian Aho (2 Assists)

As the center on one of the hottest lines in the league over the last week, Aho now has multi-point games in three of the last four. He had a few chances to score tonight but he did most of his work setting up his teammates. Both of his assists were primary helpers and he was instrumental in the team getting on the board early. 

Second Star- Andrei Svechnikov (2 Assists)

Since coming together with Aho and Jarvis last Thursday, Svechnikov has eight points in four games. He's tied for sixth in points and tied for third in assists during this stretch and he's playing some of his best hockey this season. He did take two tough penalties tonight but he still played with an extra edge. He laid a huge hit on Mathieu Joseph in the third period, one of his three hits tonight. 

First Star- Antti Raanta (32 Saves)

The streak that Raanta likely won't be noteworthy around the league since he's only played in 15 games since mid-November. He's now 12-0-2 in his last 14 decisions with three shutouts and a 2.26 GAA. This might've been his best effort of the season as his 32 saves are his second-most this season. He stood on his head during all five of the Canes' kills, stopping nine shots. 

What's Next

The homestand comes to an end tomorrow night as the Canes welcome the Anaheim Ducks to PNC Arena. The Ducks beat a struggling Washington team on Thursday night, winning the game with two goals in the third period to hand the Capitals their sixth-straight loss, 4-2. John Gibson stopped 41 shots and nine Ducks found the scoresheet. This will be the Canes' final game of February before they start March on the West Coast with two on the road against Vegas and Arizona as they prepare for a loaded March schedule. They'll play eight games in the first 14 days and 16 games in 31 days.