Carolina Hurricanes Month in Review: April 2023 (+ First Round Preview)

With only eight games left on the schedule for April and a one-point lead in the division over the Devils, the job was anything but simple for the Canes. They certainly didn't make it easy on themselves either. It was a bit of a rollercoaster once again as the Canes battled a bunch of teams fighting for their playoff lives. These teams were hungry but the Canes still had something they were fighting for too. This meant they couldn't take their foot off of the gas pedal or else New Jersey would swoop in and steal their division crown. In the end, the Canes held on in the final game of the regular season to secure their third division crown in a row and a date in the 1st round with the first Wild Card team. It didn't always look pretty but the Canes came out of it on top. 

The Month in Review Through Headlines

4/1 at Montreal- "Raanta Returns with a Vengeance"- In his first start in a few weeks, Raanta shuts out the Canadiens, making 14 stops in an easy 3-0 victory in Montreal. 

4/2 v. New York (I)- "A Look at the Future?"- A third-period tally from Jordan Martinook puts the Canes ahead as they win 2-1 in a possible preview of the 1st round of the postseason. 

4/4 v. Ottawa- "Marty Regains his Mojo"- After the Senators fight back to tie the game in the third period, Martin Necas wires home a shot in overtime to spoil Merilainen's NHL debut.

4/6 at Nashville- "Juus-less in the Music City"- Saros continues to haunt the Hurricanes as he stops all 33 shots he faced to hand the Canes another shutout loss, 3-0 in the Music City. 

4/8 at Buffalo- "Sabres Stop the Sweep"- Dahlin dominates the Canes for three points and Tage Thompson scores his 46th of the season to deny the Canes the season sweep in a 4-3 win for Buffalo.

4/10 at Ottawa- "Sens-ing Some Danger"- Ottawa hands the Canes their third straight loss to conclude a desolate road trip behind three points from Claude Giroux, including his 1,000th NHL point. 

4/11 v. Detroit- "Flying High in the Home Finale"- The Canes find the win column in the final home game of the regular season as the Canes come one step closer to a division title. 

4/13 at Florida- "The Canes Wear the Crown Again"- The Canes come out of an eight-goal third period on the winning side as they clinch the division with a 6-4 victory to close the regular season.

Other Notes

• 5-3-0, 10 points in March
• 52-21-9, 113 Points, 1st in the Metropolitan Division
• 113 Points, 2nd-most in franchise history (116 in 2021-22) and 2nd in the league (Boston-135)
• 52 wins, T-2nd most in franchise history (tied with 2005-06, behind 2021-22's 54)
• .689 point percentage, 3rd-best in franchise history (.714 in 2020-21, .707 in 2021-22)
• 213 goals allowed this season, 2nd-fewest in the league
• 3rd straight division crown (Central in 2020-21, Metropolitan in 2021-22)
• 3-for-23 (13.0%) on the PP, T-22rd in the league/19.8% overall, 20th in the league
• 22-for-24 (91.7%) on the PK, 8th in the league/84.4% overall, 2nd in the league

Three Stars of the Month

Third Star- Antti Raanta (3-1-0, 1.74 GAA, .925 SV% in 4 Starts)

After returning from injury with a shutout, it felt like Raanta had jumped right back into the streak he'd been on since November. There wasn't much that was getting past him. While the streak did eventually come to an end in Buffalo, it doesn't take away from how strong he was the rest of the month. He allowed seven goals across his four games, four of which came in that loss to the Sabres. Raanta was also instrumental in the Canes breaking their losing streak with a strong performance against Detroit in the home finale. He's made the decision for Monday night's series opener a tough one for the coaching staff. Raanta went 16-1-2 in his final 21 games with the fourth-best GAA in the league among goalies with 15 games or more (2.16). It's not always going to be pretty but he helps the team win. 

Second Star- Brent Burns (4 Goals, 2 Assists, 6 Points in 8 Games)

I would say that Year 1 for Burns in Raleigh was a very successful one. He broke the Carolina record for points in a season by a defenseman with 61, finished tied for third in goals for a defenseman (18) with teammate Brady Skjei and Roman Josi, tied with Martin Necas for the team lead in assists (43), and finished the regular season on a three-game goal streak after scoring twice in the finale against Florida. Burns recorded a point in five of the eight games this month and was very timely with his goals. At 38, he's shown that there is still plenty left in the tank for him and the hope is that it will carry over into the playoffs. 

First Star- Jesperi Kotkaniemi (4 Goals, 3 Assists, 7 Points in 8 Games)

Kotkaniemi was sneakily the Canes' best player after the All-Star Break and he finished the regular season by being the team's leader in points for April with seven and tied with Burns for the most goals with four. Only Necas and Burns had more points than him after the break (Burns & Necas- 24, Kotkaniemi- 23) and only Sebastian Aho had more goals than him (Aho- 13, Kotkaniemi- 11). He tossed in a handful of multi-point efforts, including two in the final six games to finish tied for fourth on the team in goals (18) and fifth in assists (25) and points (43). With scorers like Andrei Svechnikov and Max Pacioretty unavailable for the playoffs, there is going to be a lot asked of Kotkaniemi if the Canes have any hope of going far. 

First Round Preview

With the Canes winning the division, they avoided a meeting in the 1st round with the New York Rangers. Instead, they'll be facing the team from Long Island as they are set to battle the New York Islanders. Here's a look back at the season series between the two sides. 

Head-to-Head- Carolina won three of the four meetings this season, including both games at UBS Arena. Three of the four games were decided by three or more goals. The Canes outscored the Islanders 12-9 overall and 8-2 in the two games on Long Island. Here's each game individually summarized. 

October 28- Islanders 6, Hurricanes 2 (PNC Arena)

The game was back and forth for the first two periods. Oliver Wahlstrom scored the lone goal of the first period and Martin Necas got the Canes on the board in the second to tie it. There would be three goals in less than two minutes with Matt Martin, Brent Burns, and Josh Bailey finding the back of the net to give New York a 3-2. The difference in the game would be the third period as Brock Nelson scored twice and Zach Parise scored into the empty net to finish it off. Ilya Sorokin made 33 stops in the win.

December 10- Hurricanes 3, Islanders 0 (UBS Arena)

The Hurricanes returned the favor when they met on Long Island behind an incredible defensive performance from the entire team. The defense would only allow 16 shots to get to Pyotr Kochetkov and he denied them all. Paul Stastny scored his first goal as a Hurricane to open the scoring in the second period. Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Jordan Staal would each add goals in the third period to add some cushion as the Canes cruised to a 3-0 victory. 

January 21- Hurricanes 5, Islanders 2 (UBS Arena)

The Staal line came out of the gates hot to begin this game as Staal scored 44 seconds into the contest and Jesper Fast added a second goal at 3:52 to put the Canes ahead by two early. New York responded in the later stages of the period with goals from Simon Holmstrom and Nelson just 100 seconds apart to tie it heading into intermission. From there, Aho took over the game for the Canes. He scored the only goal of the second period and added two more in the third to complete the natural hat trick as the Canes won 5-2. Frederik Andersen made 29 saves to make up for his loss in the first meeting. 

April 2- Hurricanes 2, Islanders 1 (PNC Arena)

For two teams with very good defenses, this was the only game of the series where it was on full display. Andersen and Sorokin battled for the third time this season and Andersen was the first to crack on a perfect shot from Jean-Gabriel Pageau to put the Islanders up by a goal after the first period. Kotkaniemi responded in the second period with the help of Jesse Puljujarvi's first point as a Hurricane. Early in the third, Jordan Martinook snapped a shot over the blocker of Sorokin and it would serve as the game-winner. Sorokin had the busier night, stopping 33 shots, but Andersen (21 saves) would prevail for the second time. 

Leading Scorers from the season series

Carolina- Sebastian Aho (3 goals), Jordan Staal (2 goals, 1 assist), Jordan Martinook (1 goal, 2 assists), Brent Burns (1 goal, 2 assists), Teuvo Teravainen (3 assists)

New York- Brock Nelson (3 goals), Mathew Barzal (2 assists), Scott Mayfield (2 assists), Anders Lee (2 assists)

Goalies

Carolina 

Frederik Andersen- 21-11-1, 2.48 GAA, .903 SV%, 1 SHO in 34 games (2-1-0, 2.67 GAA, .905 SV% in 3 games v. NYI this season)

Antti Raanta- 19-3-3, 2.23 GAA, .910 SV%, 4 SHO in 27 games (did not face the Islanders)

New York

Ilya Sorokin- 31-22-7, 2.34 GAA, .924 SV%, 6 SHO in 62 games (1-3-0, 2.79 GAA, .911 SV% in 4 games v. CAR this season)

Semyon Varlamov- 11-9-2, 2.70 GAA, .913 SV%, 2 SHO in 23 games (did not face the Canes)

This will be the second time the Canes and the Islanders will meet in the postseason. The Canes swept the Islanders during the 2nd round in Carolina's return to the playoffs in 2019. Jordan Staal scored the lone goal of the game in overtime to win Game 1. The Canes struck twice in the first 1:05 of the third period to win Game 2, 2-1. The offense then showed up in full force once the series shifted to Raleigh as the Canes won 5-2 in both Games 3 and 4 to earn their first four-game sweep in franchise history. Only five players from that series remain for the Hurricanes, while a lot of New York's core is still present, though none of the goalies for either team played in the series. 

My Honest Thoughts

This is a much better matchup for the Canes than the Rangers would have been. I don't mean that as a slight toward the Islanders either. The Islanders play a style that feels very similar to the Canes. They are going to focus much more on defense and goaltending to win their games and that was the case this season. New York was 22nd in goals but 5th in goals allowed. Their power play finished 30th in the league but their penalty kill was 9th. Sorokin should get serious consideration for the Vezina even if his record doesn't stand out compared to other goalies in the league. He has the ability to steal games, something only a few goalies in this league possess with much consistency. Barzal will be returning from injury and he's electric when he gets the puck. The Islanders are a very physical team, finishing 5th in hits this season yet they are one of the most disciplined teams in the league. This is not going to be an easy task for the Canes. 

However, the Canes are just as good, if not better, defensively, allowing the 2nd-fewest goals in the league. They're slightly better offensively, finishing in the top half of the league in goals. They have an equally impressive goalie duo. They have just as much star power and just as much playoff experience as the Islanders. They can absorb contact and have a ton of team speed. Their penalty kill is the 2nd-best in the league and they've been game-changing since the All-Star Break. I believe the Canes are the deeper team offensively and defensively and that could prove to be the difference in the end. New York's acquisition of Bo Horvat is the bigger addition between the two sides but the Canes' addition of Shayne Gostisbehere on defense gives them one of the best defensive cores in the league. I think the Canes will win this series, though it'll be a tight one throughout. I would love to see them get the job done quickly but I'm thinking this could likely go six games.