2023-24 Regular Season, Game 33: Hurricanes at Pittsburgh Penguins (Postgame)

As we inch closer to Christmas, the Hurricanes took their five-game point streak on the road for the final time before the break. Coming off a lopsided 6-3 win over Vegas on Tuesday night, the Canes traveled to Pittsburgh for the first time this season to meet the Penguins. The Canes won 4-2 when they met in Raleigh in mid-November, getting two goals from Seth Jarvis in the win. With the Penguins trying to climb back into the division picture, they needed a strong performance from former Hurricane Alex Nedeljkovic to kickstart their effort. 

Scoring Summary

1st Period

PIT (8:51)- Sidney Crosby (19) (assisted by Rikard Rakell (5) & Jake Guentzel (21))

2nd Period

CAR (14:52)- Teuvo Teravainen (12) (assisted by Jack Drury (8) & Jaccob Slavin (15))

3rd Period

None

Overtime

PIT- Sidney Crosby (PIT 1-0)

My Thoughts

How could I possibly be mad at the Hurricanes for this result? Sure, I'd have liked for them to score more than one goal, and getting one in the shootout would've been fun, but they went on the road and earned a point in a low-scoring game against a division opponent. I didn't think they were particularly good in the third period or overtime, but they did enough in the first 40 minutes to tie the game, thanks to a little puck luck. One could argue that the Canes didn't actually score a goal because Kris Letang's skate assisted Teuvo Teravainen's goal. Their point streak moved to six games, highlighting a noticeable shift from two weeks ago. 

Instead of taking the cordial route and pointing out the reasons the Hurricanes lost this game, I'd prefer to talk about how mystifying the officiating was in the second period and overtime. More often than not, the Canes receiving fewer chances on the power play is justified, if not a little frustrating. Tonight, it's blasphemous. Both teams took penalties in the first period, and both were clear penalties. The Canes proceeded to take THREE penalties in the second period to Pittsburgh's zero. This argument is less about the Penguins going unpenalized and more about the number of times the Canes were called for something. The tripping call on Stefan Noesen was clear-cut, and I'll concede the holding call on Jack Drury. The roughing penalty on Brett Pesce was bad. Maybe you could argue it's interference, but roughing was the wrong call. It turns out that wouldn't be the worst call, or non-call, involving Pesce in the game. In overtime, Pesce is hit from behind along the boards. No call. Martin Necas is tripped. No call. Andrei Svechnikov is held by Sidney Crosby, who scored both of Pittsburgh's goals tonight. Instead, Svechnikov is called for interference. Fortunately, the Canes' penalty kill has been so good recently (97.1% in December) that it didn't matter. 

Speaking of things that have been good recently, Pyotr Kochetkov was phenomenal once again. He's now gone 3-0-2 in his last five starts, stopping 120 of 127 shots. He got a lot of help from the iron tonight. I think I counted at least three shots that hit the post. Kochetkov made big stops in key situations. After both goals during regulation, he came up with a stop as the Penguins pushed. His best moments came late in overtime when the Canes had to kill a penalty. With Pittsburgh on a 4-on-3, Kochetkov made an incredible pad stop as Crosby tried to bury a rebound. He faced higher-quality shots than Alex Nedeljkovic did tonight in what turned out to be an incredible goalie battle. The difference was Crosby, which is something we've been saying for a long time. 

I understand the frustration from the fans who want to see the offense click more consistently. If I could, I'd like to provide a little optimism going into Saturday's game against the Islanders. Teams get two big breaks during the season. The first comes at Christmas, and the second is the All-Star Break. Last season, the Hurricanes beat the Flyers 6-5 at PNC Arena before Christmas. They led the game 6-2 before the Flyers made it close in the third period to extend their point streak to 14 games. Before the All-Star Break, they throttled the Buffalo Sabres 5-1 on the road. What this tells me is that the Canes will be ready to go against the Islanders. They'll empty the tank before getting a few days off to celebrate the holiday. At least, that's my hope. 

My Three Stars of the Game

3rd Star- Teuvo Teravainen- 1 goal

There are glamorous ways to break out of a scoring slump. Then, there's what Teravainen did to get the Canes on the board tonight. He hadn't scored a goal in nine games, and he wouldn't have scored tonight with a little help from a rogue skate. His line with Drury and Svechnikov was arguably the team's best tonight. 

2nd Star- Jaccob Slavin- 1 assist

While he found the scoresheet with an assist on the lone goal, Slavin's placement is largely as a tribute to the fantastic night the penalty kill had. Slavin was a big part of that, especially the late kill in overtime. He blocked a shot at the horn that easily could've won the game for the Penguins. 

1st Star- Pyotr Kochetkov- 24 saves

No player has been more consistent for the Canes over the last two weeks than Kochetkov, which is how it should be. He hasn't gotten a ton of goal support over the last few games, with the Vegas win being a big exception. He's finding ways to at least earn the team a point by playing lights out for as long as is needed. 

Up Next- The Canes will host the Islanders on Saturday before Christmas. Once they return from the break, they'll start with a back-to-back in Nashville and at home against Montreal. They'll finish 2023 on the road, playing in Toronto on the night before New Year's Eve.