2025-26 Regular Season, Game 5 Preview: Carolina Hurricanes at Los Angeles Kings

Last Game: The Carolina Hurricanes continued their trip through California, making their second stop in Anaheim. The Ducks had a solid opening to the game, but Shayne Gostisbehere read a pass perefectly to help kickstart the opening goal. While his chance was stopped, Lukas Dostal was unable to play it cleanly. The puck slid to Seth Jarvis, who potted the 100th goal of his career to open the scoring late in the first period. The Canes doubled their lead midway through the second on the power play. All five members of the top unit touched the puck before Jarvis buried his second of the night. Leo Carlsson cut the Canes' lead in half by finishing a 2-on-1. That's all they'd get against Frederik Andersen. The former Duck shut the door the rest of the way. The Canes added two insurance goals in the third period, beginning with the first NHL goal for Alexander Nikishin early in the frame. To close it out, Sebastian Aho scored his first of the season, capping a 4-1 victory for the Canes. Jarvis and Gostisbehere finished with three points each, while Aho added two.

Injury Report
Jaccob Slavin: He's still not on the trip, and I'm counting on seeing him before the team returns home after the trip.
Pyotr Kochetkov: He also hasn't joined the team, but I'm a little more oprimistic that we'll see him at some point next week. 

The Opponent: Los Angeles Kings (1-3-1, 3 Points; 105 Points, 2nd in the Pacific last season)
Last Season's Meetings: The Los Angeles Kings beat the Hurricanes twice last season by multiple goals, beginning with their meeting in early February at the Lenovo Center. Jesperi Kotkaniemi opened the scoring, but the Kings rattled off three unanswered goals to lead 3-1 after 40 minutes. Eric Robinson brought them within one, but Kevin Fiala's second goal of the game put the Canes to bed with a 4-2 defeat. When the Canes visited Los Angeles over a month later, they entered on an eight-game winning streak. The Kings didn't care, running over the Canes in dominant fashion. They scored six times before the Canes even touched the board, ending the afternoon with a 7-2 win. All seven goals were scored by different players, and six Kings had multiple points. 

Since We Last Met: It was a bitter end to last season for the Kings. They finished the season with 105 points and earned home ice, only to run into the Edmonton Oilers once again. For the fourth season in a row, the Kings were eliminated by the Oilers. I didn't love their offseason moves. Corey Perry has incredible experience, but he's 40. Brian Dumoulin and Cody Ceci feel like downgrades from Vladislav Gavrikov and Jordan Spence. Adding Anton Forsberg behind Darcy Kuemper was the one move that I did like. Everything they have done has gotten them off to a very slow start. Their schedule hasn't been easy, facing several of the west's best teams, and beating Vegas in a shootout, but a loss to the Penguins on Thursday on home ice isn't ideal. They played without their starting goalie, Darcy Kuemper, and Anze Kopitar is week-to-week, taking a big piece of their offense out of the equation. 

Stories to Watch
1. The gauntlet begins for Carolina
As I've mentioned a few times already, this is the toughest part of the Hurricanes' schedule, beginning a five-game stretch against Western Conference playoff teams. The Canes handled business by beating the Sharks and the Ducks to begin the trip. Now, they contend with their biggest test of the new year. It doesn't help that the Kings are a team they couldn't beat last season who are struggling mightily to start the year. They will be desperate to win this game. The Canes must match it.

2. Can Ehlers and Svechnikov find the scoresheet?
The offense has been rolling through four games, but two players who've yet to make their mark are Nikolaj Ehlers and Andrei Svechnikov. Ehlers has looked the part, forming great chemistry with his linemates, but he doesn't have a point to show for it. Svechnikov had a rough couple of games, leading to his placement on the 4th line in a swap with Taylor Hall. Both players are in desperate need of some offensive confidence. This won't be an easy opponent to do it against, but I have confidence they can get it done.

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