2024-25 Regular Season, Game 40 Preview: Hurricanes vs. Pittsburgh Penguins
Saturday night will be one to forget after the Carolina Hurricanes were shut out 4-0 by the Minnesota Wild. Getting outplayed for almost the entire night, the Canes had no answer for the trio of Marco Rossi, Mats Zuccarello, and Matt Boldy. The three combined for three of Minnesota's four goals and ten total points. Zuccarello scored twice, Joel Eriksson Ek scored on the power play, and Boldy provided the dagger in the third period on a breakaway. Rossi had a career-high four assists as Filip Gustavsson made 21 stops in his shutout victory. Pyotr Kochetkov played well, but most of the guys in front of him provided little to no help. Jack Drury returned to the lineup after missing the last ten games.
The Opponent: Pittsburgh Penguins (17-17-6, 40 Points- 5th in the Metropolitan Division)
Last Meeting: Jordan Martinook scored 52 seconds into their previous clash in Raleigh on November 7th, setting the tone for a dominant Hurricanes' win. Jack Roslovic scored the next two goals and Jaccob Slavin clapped one past Alex Nedeljkovic to extend the lead to 4-0 after 40 minutes. Eric Robinson made it 5-0 early in the third before Blake Lizotte broke the shutout just over five minutes in. It would be the only blemish in Pyotr Kochetkov's game as he finished with 35 stops in a 5-1 victory. Jalen Chatfield had three assists, Jack Roslovic added an assist to his two goals, and Sebastian Aho contributed two helpers in the home win.
Since We Last Met: The Penguins are deeply entrenched in the ever-changing Wild Card battle in the Eastern Conference. They are tied with Ottawa, the current second Wild Card, and Columbus, the first team out, with 40 points. Sidney Crosby continues to re-write the history books, passing Mario Lemieux for the most assists in Penguins history after Christmas against the Islanders. He is the team's leader in points with 42, ten more than Rickard Rakell in second place. Rakell leads the team with 18 goals, while Bryan Rust isn't far behind with 15. Former Hurricane Michael Bunting has started to find his groove with the Penguins, scoring 15 points in his last 15 games. Goaltending remains an issue for Pittsburgh, who tied for the most goals allowed in the league with San Jose and Columbus. The Penguins might be without both Kris Letang and Philip Tomasino for the game.
Stories of the Night
1. It Can Only Get Better After Last Night
To call the Carolina Hurricanes "bad" on Saturday might be a major slight to the word because the Canes looked so much worse than "bad". Having reached rock bottom for the season, it seems there's only one direction for the team to go unless they really dig themselves deeper on Sunday. The Aho line was the only trio providing a legitimate threat against Minnesota. It's time for Martin Necas and Andrei Svechnikov to find consistency in their games because it has been too little for too long. The power play needs to find something too, likely costing the team with how poorly it produced last night. Against a division opponent, I'd imagine the team will be rearing to go for the second half of the back-to-back.
2. Dustin Tokarski Against His Former Team
Before making his Hurricanes debut in December, the last time Dustin Tokarski had suited up for a game was in 2023 with the Pittsburgh Penguins, a 38-save performance in a 5-2 loss to the Devils. On Sunday, Tokarski will get a chance to make his fourth start with the Canes against his former team. Tokarski has looked good in all three starts, especially his two in Raleigh. He's allowed just three goals on 51 shots at the Lenovo Center in a pair of victories. This will be Tokarski's sixth career start against the Penguins, tied for the second-most against any opponent in his career (Boston- 7, Washington- 6).
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