2024-25 Regular Season, Games 23 & 24 Preview: Hurricanes-Panthers Home-and-Home

The Carolina Hurricanes entered Thanksgiving by earning a hard-fought victory against the New York Rangers. Jack Drury got the ball rolling by banking a shot off the side of Igor Shesterkin's mask from just above the goal line during the first five minutes. Jonny Brodzinski leveled the score after Jackson Blake's clearing attempt was kept in the zone. The Canes' power play regained the lead early in the second period after Martin Necas made his second incredible pass of the night as he found Seth Jarvis on the backdoor. The Rangers took advantage of poor puck management, scoring twice in transition to take the lead in the second. Brett Berard buried a 2-on-1 for his first NHL goal, catching Spencer Martin guessing. Late in the period, Reilly Smith won a race to the puck against Dmitry Orlov before finding Adam Edstrom as he crashed the net. The Canes came out in the third period and created their own luck. Jacob Trouba hit the post, keeping the game at 3-2. Jesperi Kotkaniemi caught Shesterkin napping, beating him with a wrap-around midway through the period to tie it up. Another power play for the Hurricanes led to the game-winner. The second unit, who hadn't scored a goal this season, chose the perfect time to get their first. Drury made an incredible pass to Blake in the slot, allowing the Canes' rookie to snap one home. Martin and the Canes' defense shut the door on the Rangers, winning 4-3 to earn a small measure of revenge.

The Opponent: Florida Panthers (13-9-1, 27 Points, 2nd in the Atlantic Division)

For the first time in franchise history, the Florida Panthers reached the pinnacle of the sport, winning the Stanley Cup in a thrilling seven-game series with the Edmonton Oilers. Sergei Bobrovsky carried his performance from the 2023 postseason into the regular season, finishing third in Vezina voting while playing in an excellent tandem with Anthony Stolarz. Along with Selke winner Aleksander Barkov, the Panthers looked poised to repeat this season. The Panthers started the season on fire, going 11-3-1 through their first 15 games, including a seven-game win streak, but they've hit a rough patch lately. Florida has won just twice over their last eight games, being outscored 31-22 during that time. They did bounce back with an impressive 5-1 win over the Maple Leafs on Wednesday night. The Panthers haven't had any problems scoring, entering play in the Top 10 in goals per game. Sam Reinhart has followed up his 57-goal performance last season by starting this year with 17 goals in 23 games. Like the Hurricanes, they have ten players with double-digit points, led by Reinhart's 32. Their problem has been goaltending. Bobrovsky has underperformed despite winning ten of his 16 starts, posting a .889 save percentage. Spencer Knight has been slightly better in limited action but has lost his last three starts due to a lack of goal support. The Panthers will figure things out, so there is no reason to be concerned about them.

Last Season's Meetings: The Hurricanes beat the eventual champs twice in three meetings last season. The home team won all three games. Florida hosted the Canes early in the season in Sunrise. Jesperi Kotkaniemi scored 80 seconds into the game before the Panthers rattled off three straight goals. Sebastian Aho cut into the Panthers' lead late in the second period, but the Panthers scored twice in the third to cement their 5-2 victory. Four Panthers had multi-point nights and Sergei Bobrovsky made 28 saves for Florida. Bobrovsky and Pyotr Kochetkov went to war in late February, going save for save in Raleigh. With a hero needing to emerge, Aho took control, spinning and firing a shot from the slot with 18.6 seconds left to earn one of the team's best victories of the season. Kochetkov finished with 45 saves to outduel the two-time Vezina winner. During the Panthers' return trip to Raleigh, the Canes dominated. Seth Jarvis got it started during the final minute of the first period. Martin Necas added another early in the second by driving one past Bobrovsky, and Evgeny Kuznetsov added his first with the Hurricanes late in the frame. Andrei Svechnikov finished the scoring with the empty-netter as Frederik Andersen made 21 stops to shut out the Panthers. 

Stories of the Weekend

1. Is Kochetkov Good to Go?

Earlier this week, we received positive news regarding Pyotr Kochetkov's journey through concussion protocol. It was suggested that Kochetkov might be available this weekend for the back-to-back. That is the best-case scenario for the team. Spencer Martin has done a good job navigating the team through the start of the week and is certain to get one of the two games against the Panthers. The question is who will get the other? Yaniv Perets has been backing up Martin. Assuming Kochetkov can't go, I would let him get one under his belt. The team flirted with Martin going back-to-back games a few weekends ago after Martin shut out the Senators, but I don't see that as a viable option this weekend.

2. Leading Goal Scorer vs. Leading Point Scorer

Just as we all predicted, Martin Necas leads the league in points, while Sam Reinhart currently leads the race for the Rocket Richard. They'll go head-to-head this weekend, attempting to add to their incredible starts. Necas enters the weekend on a four-game points streak, including multi-point outings in his last three. Reinhart has goals in 11 of his last 14 contests, including six goals on special teams. They have two of the brightest stars through the first two months of the season and they'll get their first chance to battle on Friday.

3. Finishing November Strongly

Accounting for travel and the quality of opponents, November might be the Hurricanes' toughest month of the season. They begin the weekend 9-3-1 this month with a +16 goal differential. They own the best record in the Eastern Conference, the second-best record in the NHL, and they occupy the top spot in the Metropolitan Division. They've also done it with both goalies missing time and without one of their best offensive weapons for a stretch. None of it truly matters right now, but even a split against the defending champions would be the icing on an incredible month of hockey.