2023-24 Regular Season, Game 36: Hurricanes vs. Montreal Canadiens (Postgame)

Riding a big 5-2 win in Nashville last night, the Hurricanes returned home to meet the Montreal Canadiens for the first time this season to complete the back-to-back. Sebastian Aho was the star of the night against the Predators, notching his 500th point on a goal in the first period before adding three assists to complete his four-point night. The power play struck three times as Pyotr Kochetkov stopped 35 shots to outduel Juuse Saros. Antti Raanta was in the net for the first time since being waived before Christmas, trying to hold off a Habs team still in the hunt. 

Scoring Summary

1st Period

CAR (1:35)- Andrei Svechnikov (4) (assisted by Brent Burns (11) & Sebastian Aho (22))

CAR (12:40)- Jesper Fast (3) (assisted by Sebastian Aho (23) & Brent Burns (12))

MTL (13:51)- Mitchell Stephens (2) (assisted by Michael Pezzetta (4) & Jayden Struble (2))

MTL (19:56)- Mike Matheson (6) PP (assisted by Sean Monahan (12) & Cayden Primeau (2))

2nd Period

CAR (1:29)- Jesper Fast (4) (assisted by Stefan Noesen (12) & Jack Drury (9))

3rd Period

MTL (0:25)- Josh Anderson (6) (unassisted)

CAR (16:51)- Andrei Svechnikov (5) (assisted by Brett Pesce (4) & Sebastian Aho (24))

CAR (19:41)- Andrei Svechnikov (6) EN-PP (assisted by Sebastian Aho (25) & Brent Burns (13))

My Thoughts

It doesn't matter what narrative you try to push about this game. The Canes might've barely won, but they remain undefeated against Montreal since they tried to offer sheet Sebastian Aho. It's made all the better when Aho puts up the numbers he did tonight. For a team that usually wins when the contributions come from the entire lineup, there were a handful of players who carried the Canes to victory tonight. It's not a formula I expect to see them deploy every night, but it's nice to see the big guys get the job done. I also appreciate that Andrei Svechnikov is able to record a hat trick against a team that isn't named the Edmonton Oilers. 

I do want to harp on a few issues I had with tonight's game. First, the Kotkaniemi line was abysmal. Tripp Tracy mentioned during the broadcast that it looked like Rod Brind'Amour shortened the bench in the third period and even took a slight jab at them during the game when talking to Hanna Yates. The entire line didn't record a shot in the game. Every other line played well tonight, but they struggled. Also, the officiating tonight was a bit tough. The Canes had one power play for most of the night, while Montreal had four. Granted, all but one of the penalties on Carolina was good because the slashing call on Michael Bunting in the third period was bad. Jayden Struble dove, and I won't be convinced otherwise. The calls evened up late, with Montreal taking two penalties in the final four minutes, so I can't complain too much. 

As for the good, there's a lot of it to go around. It obviously begins with the hat trick from Svechnikov. It's not just that he scored three times. Most of it is about when the second goal came. The Canes were in the midst of a dominant period in which they hadn't been able to score. Magically, Svechnikov steps into a one-timer and breaks the tie with just over six minutes left. The empty-net goal to seal the game was also impressive. Aho finished with another four-point game after doing the same thing less than 24 hours before in Nashville. Brent Burns had three more assists, giving him five points during the back-to-back. 

While the first line is going to get all of the glory, the fourth line was excellent, too. Jesper Fast scored twice, breaking his 17-game goalless drought. Jack Drury had his 1,000th goal wiped off the board for goalie interference, but he found the scoresheet with an assist in the second period. Stefan Noesen assisted on the same goal, but his big moment tonight was a thunderous hit he laid on Juraj Slafkovsky late in the third period. To me, the hit was clean, though I won't argue with Montreal fans who felt the hit was high. The common ground here is that Noesen wasn't aiming to injure Slafkovsky. I felt like Noesen finished through the body without ever launching into him. The hit sent him into concussion protocol, and my hope is that it isn't anything significant for Slafkovsky. 

Antti Raanta didn't play a phenomenal game, but he did just enough to allow the Canes to win. I didn't come into the game with high expectations for Raanta in his first start since being waived. When Mike Matheson scored in the final seconds of the first period on a wrap-around to tie the game, I started to get a little worried. In the second period, Raanta showed how good he can be when he's on. He also got a little lucky when a shot he didn't see ended up hitting him before he fell backward onto a loose puck late in the second. In the end, Raanta got the win, and that's all I could've asked for. It looks like the Canes are starting to find their stride, which could be dangerous for the rest of the division. 

My Three Stars of the Game

3rd Star- Sebastian Aho- 4 assists

Aho is in rarified air with four-point games on consecutive nights. He's the fifth player in franchise history to record eight points in two games and the first player this century to have four-point games on back-to-back nights. Aho has been nearly unstoppable over the last 24+ hours. His clean faceoff win leads to the eventual game-winner. 

2nd Star- Jesper Fast- 2 goals

It's nice when your fourth line continues to be one of your most consistent lines offensively. Fast has only been with Drury and Noesen for two games, but they've worked well together. His first goal was part of a partial line change, but the new trio connected to put the Canes ahead in the second period with Fast's second of the game. 

1st Star- Andrei Svechnikov- 3 goals (3rd Hat Trick)

Svechnikov bookended the fun tonight by scoring just over 90 seconds into the game before scoring twice in just over six minutes to break the tie and complete the hat trick. Svechnikov has four goals in two games. He's come back from his most recent injury with a vengeance. He's making it look easy right now, which is scary, considering how good he is. 

Up Next- The final game of the calendar year will be on Saturday night in Toronto. The Maple Leafs will be playing the second half of a back-to-back. The game is the first of three games on the road for the Canes, who'll face the Rangers and Capitals to start 2024. After that, the Canes play just one more road game before the All-Star Break, meaning we'll be getting a lot of hockey at PNC Arena in the next month.