Carolina Hurricanes Month in Review: March 2023

Fitting in the spirit of the NCAA tournament, March was a month of madness for the Hurricanes. Often, it wasn't for any good reasons. They played their busiest schedule of the season and some of the toughest teams the league has to offer. With a slim lead in the division, there was very little room for error. The trade deadline came and went as the team acquired Jesse Puljujarvi from the Oilers and Shayne Gostisbehere from the Coyotes. In somber news, Andrei Svechnikov tore his ACL, ending his season and any chances of him playing in the postseason. This would provide its own set of challenges as the Canes needed to find scoring, which was hard to come by at certain points. March is the final full month of the regular season as the Canes prepare to make the push for the postseason. 

The Month in Review Through Headlines

3/1 at Vegas- "Bright Lights are Blinding"- Despite fighting back in the third period, Vegas finds a late goal to down the Canes 3-2 behind two goals from Jack Eichel. 

3/3 v. Arizona- "Demolition in the Desert"- Aho scores twice, Gostisbehere scores in his team debut, and the power play strikes three times as the Canes blowout the Coyotes, 6-1 in their first trip to Mullet Arena.

3/5 v. Tampa Bay- "Bringing the Thunder"- The power play stays hot, striking four times, Kotkaniemi records five points, and Teravainen nets a hat trick in a 6-0 shutout victory over Tampa Bay. 

3/7 at Montreal- "KK Gets the Last Laugh"- Fast ties the game late in the third to force overtime and Kotkaniemi wins it in the shootout in front of a hostile crowd to burn his old team once again. 

3/9 v. Philadelphia- "Welcome Back, Kooch"- Svechnikov scores early in the first, and Kochetkov outduels Sandstrom in his return to the NHL as the Canes hold on for a 1-0 victory. 

3/11 v. Vegas- "A Quick Word"- The Canes are unable to solve the newest Knight as Quick stops all 33 shots he faces in a 4-0 victory for the Knights. 

3/12 at New Jersey- "No Goals in New Jersey"- Vanecek hands the Canes their second-straight shutout loss in one of the most important division battles of the season. 

3/14 v. Winnipeg- "Flying High Again"- The puck starts finding the back of the net for the Canes as Kotkaniemi's two-goal night paces a 5-3 win in Raleigh over the Jets. 

3/17 at Toronto- "No Luck on St. Patrick's Day"- All the bounces seemed to go Toronto's way in the first period as they jump out to an early lead and never let it go, beating the Canes 5-2. 

3/18 at Philadelphia- "The Cardiac Canes Strike Again"- Necas ties the game with 0.3 seconds left in regulation and Aho finishes his third hat trick of the season in overtime to earn a huge comeback win. 

3/21 at New York (R)- "Banger in the Big Apple"- A three-goal third period is capped off by a late goal from Teravainen as the Canes finally solve the Rangers in a 3-2 victory at Madison Square Garden. 

3/23 v. New York (R)- "Fox Serves Some Payback"- Aho scores in the first but the Rangers find goals in the second and the third to return the favor to the Canes 2-1 in Raleigh. 

3/25 v. Toronto- "Hockey Night in Raleighwood"- Though they were outshot 44-28, Kochetkov stops 41 shots and Aho scores a late goal to defeat Toronto 5-3 despite two goals on 15 shots from Matthews. 

3/26 v. Boston- "Goliath Meets Goliath"- The Hurricanes erase a two-goal lead in the third period to earn a point but Boston wins it in the shootout as Pastrnak scores his 50th and 51st goals of the season.

3/28 v. Tampa Bay- "Lightning Doesn't Strike a Third Time"- Point scores twice as he, Stamkos, and Kucherov combine for eight points and Vasilevskiy stops all 31 shots he faces in a 4-0 win for Tampa. 

3/30 at Detroit- "Hitting a Wal"- Walman scores with 3.2 seconds left in regulation to spoil a potential point for the Canes as Burns and Slavin score in a 3-2 loss in the Motor City. 

Other Notes

• 8-7-1, 17 Points in March
• 16 Games, T-Most in the league this month
• 47-18-9, 103 Points, 1st in the Metropolitan Division
• 1 Point ahead of New Jersey with a game in hand, 4 Points ahead of New York with two games in hand
• 10-for-39 (25.6%) on the PP, 7th in the league/20.4% overall, 20th in the league
• 7-for-9 in the first 3 games of March, 3-for-30 since
• 31-for-35 (88.6%) on the PK, 1st in the league/83.6% overall, 2nd in the league
• Had a 28-straight kill streak ended on 3/17
• Clinched their fifth straight playoff spot, the second-longest in Whalers/Hurricanes history

Three Stars of the Month

Third Star- Sebastian Aho (8 Goals, 3 Assists, 11 Points in 16 Games)

It was a slow start to the month for Aho. In the first nine games of March, his only points came in a three-point performance against Arizona. He broke out of his slump in a big way by recording his third hat trick of the season, including the game-winner in overtime, in a 5-4 victory over Philadelphia. Beginning with the hat trick in Philly, he'd score six goals and eight points in seven games to finish the month. He broke past the 30-goal mark for the fourth time in his career as he now paces the team with 33. Of his eight goals, three were game-winners, tied for the most in the league. He did most of his damage at even strength, scoring nine of his 11 points at 5-on-5. 

Second Star- Jesperi Kotkaniemi (3 Goals, 8 Assists, 11 Points in 16 Games)

Kotkaniemi was another player that had a streaky month. He tore up the Lightning early in the month with a five-point game, with four points on the power play. He went quiet for a few more games until a two-goal, three-point game against Winnipeg. This would begin a stretch of six points in six games as Kotkaniemi set new career highs in goals (14) and points (36) in March. He would finish the month on a three-game pointless streak but he has been very noticeable. His biggest moment of the month might've come when he silenced a hostile Montreal crowd by burying the game-winner in a shootout. He's starting to turn into the player the Canadiens were hoping they'd gotten with the third pick in 2018.

First Star- Martin Necas (4 Goals, 12 Assists, 16 Points in 16 Games)

After scoring 16 points in 16 games in March, Necas's 68 points this season are more than 1/3 of his career point total (189). He led the team with 12 assists and 16 points, five more points than Aho and Kotkaniemi. Necas had five multi-point outings, including back-to-back three-point games against Arizona and Tampa. While his -7 is going to also be a point of emphasis and he did have his fair share of mishaps on both sides of the puck, he was tearing it up on the scoresheet. He holds a solid lead over Aho in points and is tied with Burns for the lead in assists. He's on the verge of hitting 30 goals for the first time and is likely to break 70 points by the end of the season. 

April Preview

Schedule Breakdown

8 Games

3 Home, 5 Away

7 games v. East, 1 game v. West

1 game v. Metropolitan, 6 games v. Atlantic, 1 game v. Central

2 sets of back-to-backs, both with travel

I also figured I would include the remaining schedules for the three teams left in the division race. 

Games to Watch

4/2 v. New York (I)

The battle with the Islanders is important for a few reasons. First, it's the final division game of the season as the Canes look to finish a very good season against the division. They swept Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and Washington, beat Columbus, split with the Devils, and took a game from the Rangers. They've won two of the three games against New York this season to boot, so the worst they can do is split. It's also big because this could be a potential playoff preview if the Canes win the division and the Islanders control the first Wild Card. The Canes need all the points they can get and with the Islanders being the only team on their schedule that is currently in a playoff spot, they need to win this game and earn the two points. 

4/6 at Nashville

While this is the final game against the Western Conference this season, I'm highlighting it because of Juuse Saros' performance in the first meeting. Aside from being Max Pacioretty's debut as a Hurricane, this game will likely be more remembered as the night Saros made 64 saves to steal a win for the Predators back in January. It likely won't mean much in the grand scheme of the season but it'll be worth watching. 

4/13 at Florida

The season finale has the ability to be a few different things. Florida is fighting for a playoff spot, meaning every game is going to matter for them. If they are still in it by the final night of the season, this game could be incredibly important. For the Canes, they could still be fighting for the division crown if they don't get the job done. Just like last season, it could come down to the final week to decide the champions of the Metropolitan. If the Canes do have things wrapped up, they could be sitting their starters in preparation for the first round.