2022-23 Regular Season, Game 82: Hurricanes (51-21-9) at Florida Panthers

If we're being completely honest, tonight is not going to define the Hurricanes' season. Yes, it will determine whether or not the team will win the division but we can't overlook the fact that whoever they play in the 1st round is going to give them an excellent fight. For all we know, this could be the team Carolina faces when the postseason starts next week. The Canes finally got back on the winning side of things on Tuesday night, beating Detroit 4-1 in the team's regular-season home finale. The scoring started early as Stefan Noesen beat former Hurricane on a wrap chance less than three minutes into the game. Jordan Martinook would add to the fun a few minutes later to move the Canes ahead 2-0. Detroit would get a goal back early in the second but Brent Burns would get a lucky bounce on a shot from the point to restore the two-goal lead. Jesperi Kotkaniemi would put the nail in the coffin with an empty-net goal as the Canes snapped their three-game losing skid. Antti Raanta stopped 20 shots to earn his 19th win of the season and the team's 51st. Kotkaniemi finished the night with two points and the defense accounted for four points in the win. Tonight, they meet a team that has already clinched a playoff spot as they try to clinch a division crown for the third season in a row. 

Projected Lines/Pairs

Teuvo Teravainen--Sebastian Aho-Seth Jarvis

Stefan Noesen-Jesperi Kotkaniemi-Martin Necas

Jordan Martinook-Jordan Staal-Jesper Fast

Jack Drury-Paul Stastny-Jesse Puljujarvi

Jaccob Slavin-Brent Burns

Brady Skjei-Brett Pesce

Shayne Gostisbehere-Jalen Chatfield

Frederik Andersen

Antti Raanta

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

IR- Andrei Svechnikov (Torn ACL), Max Pacioretty (Achilles), Ondrej Kase (concussion)

Frederik Andersen will get the start in this all-important game in Sunrise. He's 1-4-1 in his last six starts, though his last outing against Ottawa on Monday wasn't a terrible one. Andersen is allowing just over two goals per game during that stretch. He's 10-4-3 in 19 career appearances against the Panthers. Other than the goalie, the rest of the lineup remains the same for the Canes. 

Tonight's Opponent: Florida Panthers (42-31-8, 92 Points, 4th in the Atlantic, Clinched WC)

By virtue of both Buffalo and Pittsburgh falling in regulation on Tuesday night, the Panthers have clinched a spot in the postseason for the fourth straight season. While they didn't play on Tuesday night to clinch their spot, they did their part over the last two weeks by winning seven straight before dropping a game in overtime on Monday night to Toronto. Before facing Toronto on March 29, the Panthers were the first team out of the playoffs, three points behind Pittsburgh. Not only have they jumped Pittsburgh but they've also caught up with the Islanders, who were six ahead of them two weeks ago. A major part of their recent success has been Alex Lyon as he stepped in while Spencer Knight was hurt and Sergei Bobrovsky was sick. He was named the third star of the week last week and followed it up by stopping 23 shots in the 2-1 overtime loss on Monday night. Brandon Montour scored the Panthers' lone goal halfway through the third period to get the game to overtime before John Tavares scored in the final 30 seconds to win it for Toronto. It prevented Florida from clinching a playoff spot that night before they ultimately did on Tuesday. While the team success hasn't been there, the individual success has. In his first season with Florida, Matthew Tkachuk has the second-highest assist (68) and point (108) totals in franchise history. Tkachuk (40) and Carter Verhaeghe (41) also put together the third and fourth 40-goal performances in franchise history. Montour now holds the single-season record for points by a defenseman (79) and he joins Tkachuk and Aleksander Barkov in the top ten for assists in a single season. Montour likely won't get the same amount of love as some of the other big defensemen in the league but he's been just as impressive. 

Last Meeting v. Carolina- After Knight served the Hurricanes in Sunrise early in the season, Antti Raanta returned the favor when the two teams met in Raleigh to close out 2022. It's crazy to say nowadays but the Canes' power play owned the night, scoring three times against Knight. Stefan Noesen opened the scoring in the first period, then Andrei Svechnikov and Teuvo Teravainen added two in the second period. Jesperi Kotkaniemi scored the only goal at even strength early in the third period as the Canes shut out the Panthers, 4-0. Raanta didn't have to do too much, facing only 19 shots and stopping them all. Kotkanuiemi joined Brent Burns and Seth Jarvis with multi-point nights. 

Florida's Starting Goalie: Alex Lyon (9-3-2, 2.80 GAA, .914 SV%)- For the eighth straight game, Lyon will occupy the starter's crease for the Panthers. He's been very good during this stretch, going 6-0-1 with a .952 SV% and just 11 goals allowed. He's allowed two or fewer goals in all seven starts, including a 56-save performance against Ottawa and a shutout against Columbus. He made 23 saves in Florida's 2-1 overtime loss to Toronto on Monday. Lyon made two spot starts for the Hurricanes last season, going 1-0-1. He's also made one start against the Canes in his career, a 4-2 victory as a member of the Philadelphia Flyers in 2018. 

Florida Player to Watch: Anthony Duclair- Duclair missed most of the season with an Achilles tear, which hits a little close to home for the Canes with Pacioretty suffering the same injury. Though he hasn't produced much since his return (1-7-8 in 19 games) and he hasn't scored in four games, Duclair has been very good against the Canes in his career. In 18 games, he's posted five goals and 15 points, including six points in three meetings last season. 

Scoring Summary

1st Period

(CAR) 8:21- Brent Burns (17) (assisted by Sebastian Aho (31) & Seth Jarvis (24))

2nd Period

(CAR) 1:12- Jesperi Kotkaniemi (18) (unassisted)

3rd Period

(FLA) 1:14- Aleksander Barkov (23) (assisted by Sam Reinhart (36) & Radko Gudas (13))

(FLA) 3:33- Ryan Lomberg (12) (assisted by Radko Gudas (14))

(CAR) 6:07- Brent Burns (18) (assisted by Jack Drury (6))

(CAR) 6:28- Jesper Fast (10) (assisted by Jordan Staal (17) & Shayne Gostisbehere (28))

(CAR) 17:20- Shayne Gostisbehere (13) EN (unassisted)

(FLA) 17:58- Anthony Duclair (2) (assisted by Eric Staal (15) & Radko Gudas (15))

(FLA) 18:36- Carter Verhaeghe (42) (assisted by Matthew Tkachuk (69))

(CAR) 19:00- Sebastian Aho (36) EN (assisted by Seth Jarvis (25))

Let's Talk About the Game

They never ask how you got to your final destination. All that matters is that you arrive. For the Canes, that's about how they won this game and the division. They waited until the final game of the season to wrap it up but they did it nonetheless. It's a good thing they did too because New Jersey came back from three goals down to beat the Capitals in overtime, which would've given the Devils the division crown if the Canes had lost in any fashion. It's all hearsay now because the Hurricanes are the champs of the division once again. The Canes got to their game early in this one, starting with a drawn penalty just seven seconds into the contest. While they didn't convert, they got it going from there. Both Alex Lyon and Frederik Andersen were tasked with some big chances but it would be Lyon that faltered first, though through no fault of his own. After the Canes won a face-off, Sebastian Aho got the puck back to Brent Burns and with some help from Carter Verhaeghe's leg, he found the back of the net as Lyon couldn't react to the puck changing directions. The puck continued to move up and down the ice all period long but nothing would come of it as both teams would fail to capitalize on power plays before the end of the period. The Canes once again wasted little time getting to Lyon in the second period as Jesperi Kotkaniemi picked up a loose puck and fluttered it over the glove of Lyon with Martin Necas providing a moving screen. Just 72 seconds into the period, the Canes had doubled their lead and had to be feeling pretty good. The Canes wouldn't capitalize on a third power play but it was safe to say that the Canes had dominated the first two periods of this game. 

The best way to describe the third period was chaotic and it had Canes fans experiencing mood swings for the full 20 minutes. It started poorly with Florida getting not one but two goals just 3:33 into the period from Aleksander Barkov and Ryan Lomberg to ignite the arena and get this game tied. A very animated Rod Brind'Amour called his timeout after the second goal and the message seemed to be received by the team. Burns picked up his second goal of the game and 21 seconds later, Jesper Fast deposited a rebound past Lyon to restore the team's two-goal lead less than three minutes after the Panthers tied it. The arena drew quiet again as the Canes looked poised to lock down the division. Aho made a huge defensive play midway through the period. After Verhaeghe was unable to finish a one-timer, Aho bodied the rebound in the crease and cleared it to keep it at 4-2. Lomberg would be called for a penalty with less than six minutes to go and after Florida killed it, Shayne Gostisbehere would be called for one of his own to give the Panthers some late life. Not only did the Canes kill it, but Gostisbehere would also score into the empty net right after he stepped out of the box to make it 5-2. With 2:40 left, it felt like the game was in the bag. The Panthers clearly didn't think so. Anthony Duclair would slide a quick shot through the pads of Andersen to get back within two goals. With Lyon on the bench for the extra attacker, Verhaeghe would slip a rebound into the net to make it 5-4 with 1:24 left. Lyon would remain on the bench as the Panthers continued to push but Aho would put the game to bed with 1:00 left and after some fireworks to close the game, the Canes surrounded Andersen as they celebrated another division title after a stressful eight-goal third period. 

The final score may indicate otherwise but there was a lot to like about the Canes' game, even in the third period. The offense really showed up tonight after a brief stretch when it felt like they couldn't buy a goal. The defense finished the season exactly how they started it. With two goals from Burns and the empty-netter from Gostisbehere, the Canes' defense scored 59 goals this season, the most in the league. Burns tied Brady Skjei with his 18th goal of the season, giving the team two of the five highest goal-scoring defensemen in the league. Aho stepped up and played a great game, as did Teuvo Teravainen and Martin Necer, though the latter two didn't factor into the scoring tonight. Andersen played an excellent first two periods before playing a subpar third. He made a huge blunder on the Panthers' second goal by turning the puck over, then allowed a very leaky goal to Duclair during Florida's late push. I think Brind'Amour is going to have a very interesting decision to make when Game 1 comes around early next week. They'll have a few days to figure out what's going to happen in that regard. For now, just enjoy the win and get psyched for the playoffs. 

Canes' Three Stars of the Game

Third Star- Shayne Gostisbehere (Goal, Assist)

It was games like this that the Canes went out and got Gostisbehere for. He played a critical role in the division title tonight, blocking three shots on the defensive end and adding two points, including the game-winning empty-net goal. He finished with ten points in 23 games after coming over from the Coyotes, which is pretty good for a defenseman but it's his improvement defensively that has been most impressive to me. 

Second Star- Sebastian Aho (Goal, Assist)

Throughout the entire broadcast tonight, Tripp Tracy was very complimentary of Aho's two-way game tonight. He got roughed up quite a bit tonight but responded with two points, a hit, and two blocked shots, including the goal-saving play in the third period. It's very fitting that he scored the final goal of the regular season to ensure the Canes would clinch the division. 

First Star- Brent Burns (2 Goals)

I've seen a lot of people say that Burns is likely the team's MVP this season and I think they have a very good point. He certainly was the MVP tonight with two huge goals, including the first goal after the timeout to get the team back in front. He finishes the season with 61 points, third-most on the team, and has been everything the Canes hoped he would be when they acquired him in the offseason. 

What's Next for the Canes

With tonight's win to wrap up the Metropolitan Division, the Canes have ensured a date with the top Wild Card team and since they beat the Florida Panthers in regulation, it means that team is going to be the New York Islanders. The Canes took three of four games from the Islanders during the regular season but that means nothing now. Everyone is back at square one as the season resets to begin the battle for the toughest major championship to win. It's yet to be announced when the Canes will play Game 1 but it'll either be on Monday or Tuesday with a game likely to happen every other day. I'll have a more comprehensive look at the series in the coming days, along with all eight 1st round matchups.