"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

None

Shootout

CAR- Andrei Svechnikov

CBJ- Kent Johnson

CBJ- Adam Fantili

My Thoughts

Do you remember when we used to feel confident about the Hurricanes going into shootouts? I don't either. It's starting to feel like the second overtime ends, you can turn the game off because the result is inevitable. Tonight was no different. As the clock counted down for 2024, the Canes played one last trick on us by making everyone think they were about to do the unthinkable. The win was right there. Andrei Svechnikov scored, meaning they needed one save to win the game. Instead, Pyotr Kochetkov allows two goals to the same spot and the Canes fail to answer. I'd like to formally request that any Canes game that isn't resolved by overtime reverts to the pre-2005 lockout rules and ends in a tie. It would only apply to the Canes, saving us from having to live through this every time we get to a shootout.

I would like to officially congratulate Kirill Marchenko for reaching Canes Killer status tonight. He'd been teetering on the edge after scoring twice the last time the Canes were in Columbus, but tonight cemented his entry. In nine games against Carolina in his short career, Marchenko has eight goals and ten points, including the pair he scored tonight. He has four goals and five points in three games this season. He should've had a hat trick tonight, missing a wide-open net with the game tied at two in the second period. It's not one that he's going to miss often, so the Canes got lucky. Still, he has become a pain to play against, making him the newest entrant into this hallowed hall. 

It wasn't all bad for the Hurricanes. After weeks of relying on the third and fourth lines for support, the Canes' top line has found their game. They combined for a goal in the second period with all three forwards hitting the scoresheet for Jack Roslovic's 17th goal of the season. Aho added an assist on Ty Smith's power-play goal in the first period, giving him back-to-back multi-point games. Roslovic also has points in five straight with his goal tonight. The top line combined for 13 shots, led by Aho's six and Jarvis' five. 

While only earning one point in Columbus, the Hurricanes made up a little ground on the New Jersey Devils, who lost in regulation in Anaheim. The Canes remain third in the division, sitting five points behind the Devils for second with three games in hand, and six behind the Capitals in the same number of games. The team sputtered in December, finishing .500 overall, but getting help from the teams below them struggling, too. With his two points tonight, Aho has reached 40 points, putting him five behind Necas for the team lead, while Roslovic's lead in goals has expanded. 

The Canes are in a decent spot, though they could certainly be better. Four of their first six games in January are against current playoff teams, though Pittsburgh and Vancouver, their other two opponents to start the month, are currently one point out of the second Wild Card. The Canes have performed well against good teams this season, but they need to be better on the road if they have any hopes of overtaking New Jersey or Washington.

When We Meet Again- The season series concludes late in January as the Blue Jackets visit Raleigh on January 23. With each team securing four points in three meetings, the winner of that game will decide the winner of the season series.

#RaiseUp First Star of the Game- Seth Jarvis

Excluding the unfortunate bounce off his leg to tie the game in the third period and his miss in the shootout, Seth Jarvis played a good game. His assist to Jack Roslovic was out of this world, serving a silky smooth saucer pass on his backhand. Jarvis was second on the team with five shots, not including the post he hit in the first period. He added five hits, too, finishing second to William Carrier's seven. He's starting to click with Roslovic more, giving me hope that the top line has found its groove. 

The Road Ahead- The beginning of 2025 is anything but easy for the Carolina Hurricanes. It begins on Thursday night with a trip to Sunrise to finish the season set with the Florida Panthers. They'll follow that with a weekend back-to-back against Minnesota and Pittsburgh on Saturday and Sunday. After traveling back to Florida to face the Lightning next Tuesday, the Canes will have another back-to-back against Toronto and Vancouver.