2024-25 Regular Season, Game 4 Preview: Hurricanes at St. Louis Blues

It'll be a quick turnaround for the Carolina Hurricanes after beating the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-1 in the Steel City on Friday night. Aided by Jackson Blake's second goal in as many games, a pair of power-play goals from Martin Necas and Shayne Gostisbehere, the first Canes goal for Jack Roslovic, and a stellar goaltending performance by Frederik Andersen, the Hurricanes cruised to a victory in their first road contest. On top of excellent offensive output, the Canes held Malkin and Crosby without a shot. Joel Blomqvist did everything in his power to keep the Penguins in the game, but the Canes were too much for the rookie. Tonight, the Hurricanes will look to replicate this performance in the second half of a back-to-back in St. Louis.

The Opponent: St. Louis Blues (3-2-0, 6 Points This Season)
The Blues are riding a small rollercoaster early in their campaign. After opening with a pair of tight victories in Seattle and San Jose, St. Louis lost its next two games to Vegas and Minnesota before rebounding with a 1-0 overtime win over the Islanders on Thursday. Joel Hofer was outstanding, pitching a 34-save shutout and assisting on Jake Neighbours' winner in overtime. Hofer has been nearly unbeatable during his two starts, posting a 1.98 GAA and a .937 save percentage. Like the Hurricanes, the Blues have relied on a balanced attack from their entire lineup. Jordan Kyrou is at the head of it all, leading the way with six points and he's one of two players with multiple goals, along with Pavel Buchnevich's team-leading three. One of the more underrated moves of the offseason was their offer sheet signings of Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway from Edmonton. Broberg has paid immediate dividends, scoring five points in five games as they try to replace the production missing with Torey Krug out for the season. With the Central Division seemingly on its head right now, the Blues are looking to take advantage of early-season chaos to nestle into a comfortable spot. 

Last Season's Meetings- The road team won each meeting in the cross-conference series between the Hurricanes and the Blues last season. They first met in Raleigh in early January, with Jordan Binnington playing out of his mind as the two sides played to a draw through 65 minutes. In the shootout, Jake Neighbours answered Sebastian Aho's goal to extend the game before Brayden Schenn won it to steal it 2-1. The Canes returned the favor at the end of the season in St. Louis. Through two periods, it was another tight contest at 2-2. Jaccob Slavin broke the tie in the third period and Jake Guentzel added a pair of empty-net goals to secure a 5-2 win for the Canes. Frederik Andersen made 29 saves in the win, including a Save of the Year candidate on Zach Deen. 

Stories of the Night
1. Carolina's First Back-to-Back of the Season
Last weekend against the Lightning was supposed to be the first back-to-back of the season, but it was pushed back a weekend. Back-to-backs can be tough, so the Hurricanes' start on Saturday could clue us in on what type of game we can expect. The Hurricanes played 14 sets of back-to-backs last season, going 8-2-4 during the second half. They averaged almost four goals per game in those 14 contests and with their conditioning, I expect more of the same from them this season. 

2. Was Pittsburgh a One-off for the Canes' Power Play?
The power play finally found a winning strategy on Friday night, converting twice on four power plays, with both goals coming in the second period. Now, the question is whether they can repeat this success? Even if it doesn't end with two more goals in St. Louis, can they move the puck with the same precision and urgency? The Blues have allowed three goals on 12 power plays in their five games, including a pair of goals in their loss to Minnesota earlier in the week. It would be unrealistic to expect two goals on the power play every night, but Pittsburgh could be a launching point for the Canes' man advantage.

3. Kochetkov Looks to Build Off His Tuesday Win
I was gushing over Pyotr Kochetkov's performance after he beat the Devils on Tuesday, only for Frederik Andersen to turn around and play a great game against Pittsburgh last night. In this friendly tug-of-war battle in the net, it's Kochetkov's turn to respond. His start is a near-certainty in the second half of the back-to-back, so he should be more than prepared mentally. This will be Kochetkov's first start against the Blues after relieving Antti Raanta two seasons ago on the night Jordan Martinook recorded a hat trick in St. Louis.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2023-24 Regular Season, Game 29: Hurricanes at Detroit Red Wings (Postgame)

After picking up their first win on the road trip on Tuesday night in Ottawa, the Hurricanes looked to finish the road journey with a win in Detroit to build some momentum before heading home. With the Red Wings dealing with injuries and suspensions, the Canes tried to build on their excellent game against the Senators. Meanwhile, Detroit hoped to stay afloat with key contributors out of the lineup.  Scoring Summary 1st Period CAR (4:48)- Jack Drury (4) (assisted by Stefan Noesen (9) & Martin Necas (14)) 2nd Period DET (5:20)- Michael Rasmussen (7) (assisted by Andrew Copp (9) & Jonathan Berggren (2)) CAR (11:49)- Jordan Staal (4) (assisted by Jesper Fast (5) & Brett Pesce (3)) 3rd Period None My Thoughts It's almost unfathomable to look at the Canes' 2-4-0 record on this trip and acknowledge that it's the same mark they had on their first long trip of the season after Opening Night. If you'd told me the Canes had identical records on those two trips without...
Read more

"Old Habits Die Hard:" 2024-25 Regular Season, Game 37: Hurricanes at Columbus Blue Jackets

For the final time in 2024, the Hurricanes hit the ice. For their New Year's Eve battle, they traveled to Columbus for their third meeting of the campaign against the Blue Jackets. With a split through two meetings, the goal was to keep Kirill Marchenko and Zach Werenski in check to earn two big points before the end of the year. Using Saturday's win over the Devils as a launching point, Sebastian Aho and the top line might have something special in store to ring in the New Year. Scoring Summary 1st Period CBJ (4:48)- Kirill Marchenko (15) (Sean Monahan (21) & Denton Mateychuk (1)) CAR (9:59)- Ty Smith (1) PP (Sebastian Aho (27) & Martin Necas (31)) CBJ (15:43)- Kirill Marchenko (16) (Dmitri Voronkov (11) & Sean Monahan (22)) 2nd Period CAR (5:47)- Jack Roslovic (17) (Seth Jarvis (16) & Sebastian Aho (28)) CAR (8:18)- Jesperi Kotkaniemi (6) (Eric Robinson (11)) 3rd Period CBJ (4:58)- Dmitri Voronkov (13) PP (Sean Monahan (23) & Zach Werenski (29)) Overtime N...
Read more

2024-25 Regular Season, Game 3 Preview: Hurricanes at Pittsburgh Penguins

The Hurricanes found their way into the win column on Tuesday night, beating the Devils 4-2 for their first victory of the season. After allowing a goal to Jack Hughes early in the second period, the Hurricanes scored three unanswered. Seth Jarvis and Shayne Gostisbehere put the Canes ahead through 40 minutes before Jackson Blake redirected a shot midway through the third period for his first NHL goal. Nico Hischier scored during a 5-on-3, but Sebastian Aho iced the game late into the empty net to secure the victory. Pyotr Kochetkov earned the win, outdueling Jacob Markstrom by making 24 stops. The Hurricanes now embark on a six-game journey as the State Fair rolls into town. The first stop on the trip will be their lone meeting with a conference opponent. The Opponent: Pittsburgh Penguins (3-2-0, 6 Points This Season) Not much about the Pittsburgh Penguins changed during the offseason. Reilly Smith is the most notable addition to the team, but they are largely the same team they have ...
Read more