"Vejmelka's Law": 2024-25 Regular Season, Game 15: Hurricanes at Utah Hockey Club

The short three-game road trip concluded Wednesday night with the Hurricanes making their inaugural trip to Salt Lake City to face the Utah Hockey Club. The Canes were shooting for two more points to win the trip after splitting their games in Colorado and Vegas. Meanwhile, Utah is trying to find their groove after the high of their first week wore off. The Hockey Club has stumbled back to .500 and their offense has gone cold. For two teams going in opposite directions, the Canes hoped to remain on their trajectory before heading home.

Scoring Summary

1st Period

UHC (17:55)- Nick Bjugstad (1) (unassisted)

2nd Period

CAR (10:04)- Martin Necas (9) PP (Shayne Gostisbehere (6) & Sebastian Aho (11))

3rd Period

UHC (5:09)- Jack McBain (4) (Michael Kesselring (5))

UHC (7:11)- Mikhail Sergachev (3) (Dylan Guenther (6) & Mattias Maccelli (5))

UHC (7:28)- Nick Bjugstad (2) (Michael Kesselring (6) & Clayton Keller (8))

My Thoughts

Welcome to the first "Murphy's Law" game of the 2024-25 Carolina Hurricanes season. For those unfamiliar with this ever-present phenomenon, a "Murphy's Law" game happens when everything that could possibly go wrong for the Hurricanes does. Case and point, look at every goal Utah scored tonight. Nick Bjugstad's came after a bad bounce off the boards into the slot. Jack McBain's goal might've injured Pyotr Kochetkov. Even when they got a small moment of reprieve after Lawson Crouse's shot was determined to have hit the crossbar, Mikhail Sergachev scored right after Andrei Svechnikov lost a blade on what could've been a golden opportunity. Then, after Spencer Martin relieved Kochetkov, Dmitry Orlov immediately turned the puck over, preventing Martin from easing into action and allowing Bjugstad to score his second goal of the night. On top of it all, the offense simultaneously forgot how to score as the opposing goalie turned into the second coming of every Hall-of-Fame goalie in NHL history against the Canes. 

The biggest opportunity the Canes had to get back into the game while down 4-1 came when they were awarded a SEVEN-MINUTE power play after Michael Carcone lost his mind. Carcone had a hit on Tyson Jost that didn't look too hard, but Jack Drury didn't like it. He had some words for Carcone and a slight tap on his gloves, leading Carcone to go scorched earth. He threw his gloves off and attacked Drury, who barely had time to dispatch of his gloves before he was on the ice with his jersey over his head. Drury, who has always been an even keel player, was irate. Carcone, looking like a clown, saw this as an opportunity to keep the crowd going, waving his arms like he did something worth celebrating. He was leveled with 17 minutes in penalties, including a game misconduct for acting like a moron. Drury wasn't given a penalty, which surprised me since he did drop at least one glove. The Canes, in true Hurricanes fashion, didn't score during their extended power play. It was a feat that I didn't think possible, and I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it for myself. 

Outside of the abysmal power play in the third period, the other noteworthy story surrounds Pyotr Kochetkov leaving in the third period. He was in visible discomfort after attempting to stop McBain's go-ahead goal. I'm not sure whether it was him stretching his pad or whether the collision with Sean Walker is what caused the injury, but it was clear something was wrong. Kochetkov stayed in the game but was pulled after Sergachev scored two minutes later. If this injury is serious, this could be a turning point in the season for the Hurricanes. With Frederik Andersen already out without a clear timetable for his return, they'd be asking Spencer Martin to do a lot. Plus, it would mean bringing up one of their goalies from the AHL with little to no experience with the big club. My guess is that it would be Yaniv Perets. It could also mean Perets making his first career start this weekend during the back-to-back. Hopefully, Kochetkov's injury isn't serious and we're speculating the worst for nothing.

For as much as disastrous as the third period was, the Canes were the better team through two periods. That fact alone makes the events of the third tougher to swallow. It makes it harder to find the good moments in their game. One positive is that Martin Necas' point streak lived on after scoring a power-play goal. He has points in 11 straight games, tying him for the fifth-longest streak in Hurricanes history. The Hurricanes had their chances to score, but Karel Vejmelka was the star of the show. It wasn't the ideal way to end the trip.

When We Meet Again- Utah will make its "first" visit to Raleigh in early February, coming to the Lenovo Center on February 8th.  

#RaiseUp First Star of the Game- Karel Vejmelka

Seeing as I make the rules around these parts, I see no other player worthy of being the first star than Utah's Karel Vejmelka. He could do no wrong. He'd been a bad-luck loser to begin the season, so this only felt like a matter of time. His 49 stops set a new career-high, with many of his best coming with the Canes on the power play. He was perfect during the over eight minutes of power play time the Canes had in the third period and made an unreal pad stop on Jackson Blake in the second to keep the game tied. All of the good things that were said about his night, Vejmelka was that times 100.

If I had to pick a Hurricane, it would be Shayne Gostisbehere. Along with a few sterling defensive plays early in the game, Gostisbehere was a big part in the Canes' only goal. His shot fake caught the Utah penalty kill in a tough spot, allowing him to set up Martin Necas for the one-timer.

The Road Ahead- After three games on the road, the Canes will get to play in front of the home crowd twice this weekend. Saturday night, they'll face the Ottawa Senators for the first time. Sunday night, the Canes will conclude their season series with the St. Louis Blues, hoping to get some revenge after the Blues beat them in St. Louis in October.