2023-24 Regular Season, Game 2: Hurricanes at Los Angeles Kings (Postgame)

After the success of Opening Night, the Hurricanes take their talents on the road to begin a long West Coast road trip for the next week. Their first stop is in Los Angeles. The Kings are a playoff team coming off a disappointing end to last season and a tough start to this season. With the Canes facing their first test of the season, a good start in LA could do wonders for their confidence for the rest of the trip. 

Scoring Summary

1st Period

CAR (4:15)- Brent Burns (1) (assisted by Jaccob Slavin (1))

CAR (6:41)- Sebastian Aho (1) SH (unassisted)

CAR (13:28)- Jesperi Kotkaniemi (1) (unassisted)

LAK (18:27)- Drew Doughty (1) (assisted by Kevin Fiala (1) & Mikey Anderson (1))

2nd Period

CAR (3:03)- Brendan Lemieux (1) (assisted by Tony DeAngelo (2))

LAK (5:20)- Anze Kopitar (1) PP (assisted by Adrian Kempe () & Kevin Fiala (2))

CAR (10:23)- Teuvo Teravainen (2) SH (assisted by Sebastian Aho (2) & Brady Skjei (2))

LAK (13:46)- Trevor Moore (1) PP (unassisted)

3rd Period

LAK (11:24)- Vladislav Gavrikov (1) (assisted by Trevor Lewis (1) & Blake Lizotte (1))

LAK (18:38)- Anze Kopitar (2) (assisted by Carl Grundstrom (1) & Kevin Fiala (3))

Overtime

None

Shootout

Adrian Kempe is stopped by Frederik Andersen

Brent Burns is stopped by Pheonix Copley

Pierre-Luc Dubois scores against Frederik Andersen (LAK 1-0)

Teuvo Teravainen is stopped by Pheonix Copley

Anze Kopitar is stopped by Frederik Andersen

Sebastian Aho scores against Pheonix Copley (Tied 1-1)

Kevin Fiala is stopped by Frederik Andersen

Seth Jarvis is stopped by Pheonix Copley

Trevor Moore scores against Frederik Andersen (LAK 2-1)

Martin Necas scores against Pheonix Copley (Tied 2-2)

Quinton Byfield is stopped by Frederik Andersen

Tony DeAngelo is stopped by Pheonix Copley

Carl Grundstrom is stopped by Frederik Andersen

Michael Bunting is stopped by Pheonix Copley

Phillip Danault is stopped by Frederik Andersen

Brady Skjei is stopped by Pheonix Copley

Alex Laferriere is stopped by Frederik Andersen

Jordan Martinook scores against Pheonix Copley (CAR wins 3-2)

My Thoughts

After getting a good night's sleep and processing everything we saw from the Canes in their second game of the season, I'm choosing to ignore that they blew a three-goal lead. I'm doing so because they won the game, and that's what matters. I'm looking at the bigger picture for a few reasons. First, it's a win, even if it was a very ugly win. Second, they beat a playoff team. Third, they're getting contributions up and down the lineup on offense, so everyone is starting the season well offensively. Fourth, it's a win, and I can't stress that point enough. 

When dissecting the game, there's no reason not to love the Hurricanes' start. The first power play looked great, with Brent Burns getting a puck off the post. Then, Burns scored the first goal, walking down from the point and snapping it over Pheonix Copley's glove. Shortly after, Sebastian Aho made franchise history by scoring on a short-handed breakaway, scoring the 17th short-handed goal of his career to pass Eric Staal. To round out a great first period, Jesperi Kotkaniemi snuck a shot under Copley's pads from a bad angle to make it 3-0. In hindsight, this soft goal saved the Canes because they would've lost in regulation otherwise. Frederik Andersen faced a bombardment of shots from the Kings and wasn't beaten until the end of the period on a blast by Drew Doughty. 

The good feelings started to slowly fade in the second period. It started great, with Brendan Lemieux scoring a goal in his team debut against his former team. Los Angeles responded quickly on the power play as Anze Kopitar tapped one in on the backdoor. The Canes' penalty kill struck again midway through the period, with Teuvo Teravainen taking the team lead in goals on a 2-on-1 with Aho, but the Kings' power play needed five seconds to get that goal back as Trevor Moore slapped one through Andersen's pads. After a back-and-forth period, things were back to where they began, with the Canes holding a two-goal lead. All they had to do was survive 20 minutes. 

The Kings pushed in the third period but weren't getting anywhere. The turning point of the night came with the Canes short-handed for the millionth time. Just like in the first period, Aho went one-on-one with Copley on a breakaway, but Copley won this round, preventing the lead from growing to three goals again. 42 seconds later, Vladislav Gavrikov threw the puck into an open net on a broken play to make it 5-4 with 8:36 left. The Canes were forced to kill another penalty late in the game, and while they did, Kopitar tied the game 12 seconds after it ended to tie the game 5-5. Watching from home, it was deflating, but the horn sounded to end the period, ensuring the Canes would get at least one point. 

Neither team scored in overtime, with the Canes missing the net 100 times in five minutes, and Frederik Andersen making a toe save after Moore's shot was blocked and still made it on net. This set up the first shootout of the season. Through five shooters, Pierre-Luc Dubois was the only one to solve a goalie, beating Andersen to his blocker side, making Aho's chance in the third round do or die. I'm not sure Copley has found his jock yet. Aho deked him out of position to slide the puck home to keep the game going. Kevin Fiala, who recorded three assists in regulation, and Seth Jarvis were both denied in the fourth round, but Moore stepped up and beat Andersen over his glove to force another must-score situation for Martin Necas. Once again, the Canes didn't miss. Necas slid the puck through Copley's pads to extend the shootout. Each team sent three more shooters, but no one scored, moving the shootout into the ninth round. Rookie Alex Laferriere was denied, giving the Canes another chance to win. Jordan Martinook skated in with speed, got Copley to bite on a fake, then backhanded the puck off the crossbar and into the net to win the game for the Canes, ending the marathon shootout. The relief that rushed through me once he scored was unlike anything I'd felt. The Canes avoided a complete collapse, earning the second point to start the road trip on the right foot. 

Once it was over and everyone posted the final score on the various social media platforms, Hurricanes and Kings fans were united in one area. Both fanbases had problems with the officiating, which is a regular occurrence in sports. Tonight, I think the scrutiny is warranted. It felt like the officials called every stick infraction, especially in the third period. 13 penalties were called in the game, eight against Carolina and five against Los Angeles. The game lacked any flow. Some of it was self-inflicted, but there were many questionable calls for both teams. 

History won't remember how the game was won, only that the Hurricanes came out on the right side. The road trip started with a win, so it's on to the next one. If this becomes a trend for the Hurricanes early in the season, we'll have something to be concerned about. Until then, I'm choosing to see the forest for the trees. It's the second game of the season. They aren't going to look like world-beaters in every game, especially in games they win. They're 2-0-0 to start the year. That's all I can ask for. 

My Three Stars of the Game

3rd Star- Brendan Lemieux- 1 goal, 2 hits

With the constant penalty killing the team had to do, the fourth line didn't get much time to play. Lemieux only played 6:06 in his team debut but made the most of his time. He scored a goal and laid a couple of hits to introduce himself to the fanbase. 

2nd Star- Brent Burns- 1 goal, 26:04 TOI

I really liked how Burns started the game. His shot off the post on the power play was a good sign that he'd be clicking. Then, he scored the goal to confirm my suspicions. He led the team in TOI with over 26 minutes, and I felt he played a very strong game in all three zones. 

1sr Star- Sebastian Aho- 1 goal, 1 assist, Shootout goal

After recording an assist in the season opener, Aho stepped up in the second game, recording the only multi-point game for the Canes. Few forwards in the league are better than Aho on the penalty kill, and he showed that tonight. His shootout goal was also a thing of beauty. 

Up Next- It's a quick turnaround for the Hurricanes as they play again on Sunday in Anaheim. The Ducks also played on Sunday, so they'll travel home from Vegas. I would expect Antti Raanta to make his season debut in Anaheim opposite Lukas Dostal after John Gibson faced the Golden Knights in a 4-1 loss. After Sunday, the Canes will have three stops left on their road trip, beginning with San Jose on Tuesday night.