Thoughts From My Couch

For the third time in 17 days, the Hurricanes were kept off of the board as the Lightning, led by three points from Brayden Point and Steven Stamkos and 31 saves from Andrei Vasilevskiy, shut out the Canes 4-0 on Tuesday night. To their credit, the Hurricanes didn't play a terrible game. They ran into a desperate team that really needed a win and a goalie that can win any game that he starts. The Canes threw all they could at Vasilevskiy, only to be denied in the end. To make matters worse, they lost Stefan Noesen in the second period after a leg-on-leg collision with Nick Paul. Pyotr Kochetkov allowed three goals on 20 shots in the loss. While they weren't able to pick up any points, they maintained their three-point lead in the division. Tonight, the Canes wrap up their March schedule with a trip to the Motor City as the team looks to begin the push to the postseason. Projected Lines/Pairs Seth Jarvis-Sebastian Aho-Martin Necas Stefan Noesen-Jesperi Kotkaniemi-Jesse Puljujarv...

It took a third-period comeback but the Canes fought back to earn a point against the Boston Bruins on Sunday night as the team celebrated Whalers Night. Jack Drury scored his second goal of the season to draw the Canes back even in the second period before Boston scored twice more to hold a 3-1 lead after two periods. Brady Skjei and Sebastian Aho scored in the first four minutes of the third period to tie the again as Jeremy Swayman and Frederik Andersen refused to give an inch for the remainder of the period. With the game going to overtime and both teams securing a point, neither team could be too upset with the result. After a great overtime went scoreless, the Bruins would ultimately prevail in a shootout to take the second point. While it's not the two points they would've wanted, they got something out of a game that seemed to be a lost cause after 40 minutes. Andersen allowed three rough goals but he also kept the Canes in the game, settling for his first overtime or s...

She wasn't the prettiest win but the Canes persevered through an onslaught from the Toronto Maple Leafs to come out on the winning side of last night's fight. Brent Burns and Jordan Staal struck in the first period but Toronto would outshoot Carolina 29-6 over the next 30 minutes, finding two goals in the second period to draw back even heading into the third. Stefan Noesen would earn a hard-working goal just before the midway point of the third period and the Canes' lead would stand until Auston Matthews scored his second goal of the night with less than three minutes to go. It was a bit of a weird goal and the fans weren't very happy. Their moods would quickly change 32 seconds later when Sebastian Aho deposited a juicy rebound into the back of the net to put the Canes out front once again. Teuvo Teravainen would find the empty net less than a minute later as the Canes held on for a 5-3 win. They were outshot 44-28 in the game as it became all about Pyotr Kochetkov. T...

It was a solid effort from the Canes on Thursday night against the Rangers but it wasn't enough to earn the victory. Sebastian Aho scored the Canes' lone goal in the first period and Frederik Andersen made 14 saves as the Canes fell 2-1. Despite the loss, the Hurricanes clinched a playoff spot for the fifth straight season thanks to tonight's opponent beating Florida 6-2 on the same night. It was a bittersweet ending to a home-and-home with the Rangers in which the road team won both games. The Canes remain in the lead for the division crown with New Jersey continuing to breathe down their necks. With just one game in hand and a few more games in this hellacious homestand, the Canes need every point they can muster. No matter who they play in the first round, it's going to be a dogfight.  Projected Lines/Pairs Teuvo Teravainen-Sebastian Aho-Martin Necas Seth Jarvis-Jesperi Kotkaniemi-Stefan Noesen Jordan Martinook-Jordan Staal-Jesper Fast Jesse Puljujarvi-Derek Stepan-J...

The Hurricanes and Rangers met on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden, hence why I'm not rolling out the full format for tonight's game. The Rangers entered the game with a seven-game point streak and hadn't allowed a goal in the last two games, scoring 15 unanswered goals. The Hurricanes pulled a rabbit out of a hat in their last game, scoring with 0.3 seconds left to force overtime before Sebastian Aho finished his hat trick in overtime. The game with the Rangers marked the beginning of a tough five-game stretch for the Canes. After two bad decisions against New York, the Canes really needed this one. It took a while for the first goal but it would be the Rangers striking first with Tyler Motte finding the back of the net with 3:00 left in the first. Frederik Andersen and Igor Shesterkin battled it out in the second period and after 40 minutes, the Rangers' lead remained 1-0. After a quiet second, the goals started to roll in during the third. Jalen Chatfield broke...

The road for the Canes doesn't get much harder than this. Over the next eight days, the Hurricanes will play five games against four of the eight best teams in the league. While they'll get to do most of it at home, they have to begin on the road tonight in one of the toughest barns in the NHL for road teams. The Cardiac Canes found a way to earn two points on Saturday night in a game that they looked like they were going to win in regulation for 40 minutes, then looked like they were going to lose in regulation before the Canes found their magic in the final seven seconds. Sebastian Aho and Brady Skjei got the Canes on the board in the first period and after the Flyers finally broke through, Aho scored his second of the game just past the midway point of the game to give the Canes a 3-1 lead. Philadelphia would score three unanswered goals, including two goals in 1:27 in the third period, to take their first lead of the game. Philadelphia looked likely they were about to pull ...

Last night didn't go how the Canes would've hoped but there's no time to cry about it because another big game in the division will take place tonight. The Canes were in Toronto last night for their second meeting of the season with the Maple Leafs and luck was not on their side. Toronto jumped ahead with three goals in the first period with Brady Skjei spoiling some of the fun as the Leafs held a 3-1 lead through 20 minutes. Martin Necas cut the deficit in half with his 26th of the season in the second period but Zach Aston-Reese would score his second of the night a few minutes later and Toronto would add another goal in the third to hand the Canes a 5-2 loss, their third in four games. Pyotr Kochetkov didn't have a great night, stopping just 19 shots and taking the loss. The silver lining for the game is that the Canes maintain a one-point lead in the division and still hold a game in hand. They'll take every little bit they can as the road to the end of the seas...