2023-24 Regular Season, Game 25: Hurricanes at Edmonton Oilers (Postgame)

The second stop on the six-game road trip saw the Hurricanes in Alberta to begin the first half of a back-to-back. They made their way to Edmonton for a second meeting in two weeks with Connor McDavid and the Oilers. The Oilers entered the game with four straight wins and haven't played in almost a week. After a frustrating loss in Winnipeg on Monday night, the Canes were looking to turn the tides and get their first win on the road trip. 

Scoring Summary

1st Period

EDM (0:28)- Ryan McLeod (2) (assisted by Warren Foegele (6) & Mattias Janmark (2))

EDM (0:41)- Mattias Ekholm (4) (assisted by Connor McDavid (22) & Evan Bouchard (18)) 

EDM (5:14)- Zach Hyman (13) (assisted by Mattias Janmark (3) & Evan Bouchard (19))

EDM (14:03)- Zach Hyman (14) (assisted by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins () & Connor McDavid (23))

2nd Period

EDM (2:49)- Warren Foegele (4) (assisted by Mattias Janmark (4))

3rd Period

CAR (7:05)- Jordan Staal (3) (assisted by Jaccob Slavin (12))

EDM (9:35)- Zach Hyman (15) (assisted by Connor McDavid (24))

My Thoughts

As crazy as this is going to sound, I have to thank the Carolina Hurricanes after this game. I need to thank them for telling me in the first minute that they were going to lose tonight, saving me the embarrassment of blindly believing they were going to do the impossible by coming back. I can't recall a worse start in the last five years, and I'm not certain it exists. After 41 seconds, every Hurricanes fan should've just gone to bed and saved themselves from watching this game. I didn't take my own advice and watched all 60 minutes of this dumpster fire of a performance. It might've been against my better judgment, but I needed to see how bad it would get. 

If you think this loss is on Pyotr Kochetkov, you're wrong. All three goals were scored within two feet of the goal line and were the result of terrible defensive play from two of their strongest defensemen. Jaccob Slavin casually tried to play the puck after chasing it behind the Canes' net, allowing Warren Foegele to take it away and set up Ryan McLeod 28 seconds into the game. The next two were Brett Pesce losing races to the net. First, he lost to Connor McDavid, who found Mattias Eklholm on the doorstep. Then, he lost to Zach Hyman, who slid his first of three to the far side of Kochetkov's pad, ending the goalie's night in less than six minutes. 

Antti Raanta didn't have an easier time in relief. The only goal I'll put on either goal was Hyman's second of the game late in the first period. Raanta thought he was making the right play when he cleared the puck. Instead, the puck went right to Evan Bouchard on the other side of the blue line, and it began a series of events that led to Hyman burying a one-timer. After that, Warren Foegele's stick helped finish a breakaway, and McDavid's backcheck and silky mitts resulted in Hyman's hat-trick goal. The team didn't give either goalie a chance to succeed. While I think the team needs to look at other options in the net, tonight's effort doesn't fall on them. 

A lot was made of Rod Brind'Amour's mid-game interview with Darren Pang. Brind'Amour didn't mince words about how he felt his team was playing to that point. There were no lies told by the head coach. This was about as bad a game as we've seen them play this season and probably in the last five years. The truth is that it could've been far worse. Raanta made some incredible stops. I expected the Oilers to add the extra point during their late power play, but the kill did its job and didn't break. The only thing that could've made the loss worse was if they'd been shut out. Thankfully, the captain ruined the shutout in the third period. There's no use dwelling on the result. It was bad. Anyone who watched it could see it. 

My Three Stars of the Game

3rd Star- Jaccob Slavin- 1 assist, 4 hits

Picking three players for his was nearly impossible. There weren't many guys who had good games. Slavin didn't play a perfect game, but he made up for his early mistake with a solid assist and some good defensive plays. He led the team with four hits and six shots. 

2nd Star- Jordan Staal- 1 goal

If Staal hadn't scored, I wouldn't have picked three stars. Alas, the captain scored and gave me something to cheer about for a few seconds. Staal's goal prevented everyone on the team from finishing with minuses tonight. Staal and Noesen each finished even, while the rest of the team were in the negative. 

1st Star- Antti Raanta- 25 saves

He didn't get a win, but he also didn't get the loss. Raanta relieved Kochetkov early enough that he practically played an entire game. He did some good work, too. He finished with 25 stops on 28 shots, providing some of his best work of the season. He was given little to no help all night, remaining one of the lone bright spots from this lopsided affair. 

Up Next- The road trip continues in less than 24 hours as the Hurricanes travel to Calgary to battle the Flames. They better have a better effort there because I'm not sure I can handle another loss like this one. The Vancouver Canucks will be waiting on Saturday night to complete the western swing. The Canes finally move back east to face the Senators on Tuesday and will finish the road trip in Detroit on Thursday.