"Spin Cycle": 2025-26 Regular Season, Game 17: Carolina Hurricanes vs. Vancouver Canucks

Seeking a new winning streak after theirs was snapped on Tuesday, the Carolina Hurricanes skated into Friday night's contest hungry to start another back-to-back. Last weekend went so well, earning four points with a pair of regulation victories against Buffalo and Toronto. This weekend, they're up against two teams from a little further west. The Canes are starting to get healthier at the right time, but they still miss Jaccob Slavin and Jalen Chatfield. Pyotr Kochetkov, who has been excellent in his two starts since returning from a preseason injury, tried to make it three in a row against a Vancouver team with plenty of weapons, but also with a massive question mark on the back end, especially with Quinn Hughes' availability uncertain ahead of tonight's contest.

Scoring Summary

1st Period

VAN (2:45)- Max Sasson (4) (Mackenzie MacEachern (2) & Linus Karlsson (4))

CAR (4:20)- Andrei Svechnikov (5) (Sebastian Aho (11) & Seth Jarvis (6))

CAR (5:14-PP)- Andrei Svechnikov (6) (Shayne Gostisbehere (8) & Nikolaj Ehlers (8))

VAN (9:14-SH)- Elias Pettersson (4) (unassisted)

2nd Period

VAN (3:13-PP)- Connor Garland (5) (Brock Boeser (5) & Elias Petterson (11))

3rd Period

CAR (6:26)- Taylor Hall (4) (Shayne Gostisbehere (9) & Andrei Svechnikov (4)

Overtime

CAR (4:29)- Sebastian Aho (7) (Shayne Gostisbehere (10))

My Thoughts

Boy, that sure was harder than it needed to be. Just look at all three goals the Canes allowed tonight. The opener was the resulf of a bad pinch and an unfortunate collision, making way for Max Sasson to score on the breakaway. The second goal was a generationally bad turnover by Sean Walker, who had a really rough night, giving the puck right to Elias Pettersson in the slot for a short-handed snipe. Then, Walker took an unnecessary penalty early in the second, leading to Conor Garland's goal. The first 25 minutes of this game were mistake after mistake after mistake from the Hurricanes. They were fortunate that goals 54 seconds apart by Andrei Svechnikov kept them in the fight while this was going on. As the night progressed, the Hurricanes played better, getting to what we'd been accustomed to seeing. They didn't need to make it as nail-biting as it was. 

This game really comes down to three players for the Hurricanes offensively. I've already touched on Svechnikov, who scored both goals in the first period within a minute. After eight scoreless games to begin the season, Svechnikov has six goals, including three on the power play, and ten points in nine games. He now trails just Seth Jarvis and Sebastian Aho for goals this season. Speaking of Aho, he had a multi-point night, setting up Svechnikov's first goal before sending the Canucks to Florida unhappy with the overtime winner late in the game. While he had a four-game point streak snapped on Tuesday, Aho has points in 14 of the team's 17 games. Shayne Gostisbehere notched the primary assist on the final three Hurricanes goals tonight, including the only helper on Aho's OT winner. He has four points in the two games since his return, and points in six of his eight games, one of which was the Vegas game in which he left early. Only Seth Jarvis, who exited early in the game, Nikolaj Ehlers, who now has points in six straight, and Taylor Hall, who scored the tying goal in the third, also contributed to the scoresheet.

Let's talk about that game-tying goal from the birthday boy. There appear to be two dominant camps surrounding Evander Kane. You either dislike him, or you REALLY dislike him. Sure, most people might not care, but those who do are very vocal about it. K'Andre Miller won a race to a loose puck, knocking down Kane in the process. Kane, known for being a very level-headed person, tried to get Miller to drop the gloves, which would've been dumb since the Canes were already down two players. As he continues to egg him on, Joel Nystrom comes out of nowhere and inserts himself into the situation. While all of this is going on, the Canes remained focused on getting the tying goal, and they did. I bring this all up as a lesson to anyone who might come across this. Don't be like Evander Kane. Be more like K'Andre Miller.

Given that Vancouver was playing without their captain and best player and the Canes were playing the first half of a back-to-back with the Oilers looming tomorrow night, there was no excuse for the Hurricanes not to come away with two points. Sure, they didn't get it in a conventional or heart-healthy way, but they got it. Considering there will likely be lineup changes tomorrow night, you'll take what you can get against the Oilers. Tonight became a must-win the second Quinn Hughes wasn't able to go. It might be a little too early in the season for those kind of games, but it sure did seem like it. It's good that the Canes got what they rightfully deserved against the Canucks and can move into tomorrow night with a chance to earn another weekend sweep.

First Star of the Game: Andrei Svechnikov

We can talk until we're blue in the face about what Andrei Svechnikov did by scoring the two goals in the opening period, but his best play of the night might've been the one that set up Taylor Hall's goal. Svechnikov worked his tail off on the forecheck to get the puck away from Tyler Myers before making an incredible cross-seam pass to Shayne Gostisbehere. He has really returned to form over the last three weeks, and he's being paid handsomely for it.

Next Up: The Canes will host the Oilers tomorrow night to conclude their weekend back-to-back. They'll start a four-game road trip on Monday night by playing their third game in four nights when they travel to Boston for the second, and final, time this season. They'll make a quick trip up north to face Minnesota and Winnipeg before finishing the road trip next Sunday afternoon in Buffalo.