2025-26 Regular Season, Game 70 Preview: Carolina Hurricanes at Pittsburgh Penguins

Last Game: The Carolina Hurricanes got their three-game road trip started in Toronto on Friday night. During a slow and uneventful opening 20 minutes, the Maple Leafs struck first, scoring on a Dakota Joshua rebound goal to get the party started. The second period was when things started to go the Hurricanes' way. After drawing a double-minor for high-sticking, the Canes' power play drew them even. Seth Jarvis threw a shot at the net that Jordan Staal tipped past Joseph Woll to tie it up. Eric Robinson, whose face drew the power play, also drew a penalty shot for himself, and he buried it past Woll's glove to put the Canes in front. John Tavares scored a soft goal to tie it at two, but the Canes ended the middle frame in front once more. K'Andre Miller brought pressure to Morgan Rielly and forced him to turn it over, creating a short-handed breakaway for himself. Miller made no mistake, freezing Woll and regaining the Canes' one-goal advantage. William Nylander scored late in regulation to secure a point for Toronto, sending the game to overtime. Staal won the opening draw, and the Canes never gave it back. Alexander Nikishin came off the bench and snapped it past Woll to get the job done. Along with multi-assist efforts from Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis, the Canes won, 4-3, to start the trip the right way.

Injury Report
Shayne Gostisbehere: The Canes didn't skate on Saturday, so we won't know his status until the head coach gives us an update before the contest.

The Opponent: Pittsburgh Penguins (2nd in the Metropolitan Division)
Last Meeting: Wednesday night in Raleigh was a fan's dream and a coach's nightmare. The Canes and the Penguins combined for 11 goals in the game, with the home team emerging victorious in overtime. Every time the Hurricanes scored, the Penguins had a response. Jordan Martinook scored short-handed in the first. Sidney Crosby responded in his return. Jackson Blake gave them the lead again. Erik Karlson got it back on the power play. Taylor Hall finished a beautiful passing play. Bryan Rust capitalized on a breakaway. Logan Stankoven scored on the power play. This is where we deviate. Karlsson scored his second of the game before Ben Kindel scored on a breakaway 23 seconds later to give Pittsburgh its first lead of the contest. This time, it was K'Andre Miller's turn to respond, getting a bounce late in regulation to tie it and send it to overtime. In the final minute, Sean Walker buried a one-timer from Sebastian Aho, earning Aho his 700th point and earning the Canes a big 6-5 win.

Since We Last Met: There hasn't been a lot going on for the Penguins since their second trip to Raleigh in eight days. They returned home on Saturday to face the Winnipeg Jets in the first half of a back-to-back. The two teams sparred for 60 minutes, trading the lead back and forth. Erik Karlsson had another strong game, scoring twice more after picking up a pair in Raleigh. His second goal tied the game at four, sending the Penguins to overtime for the millionth time this season. They couldn't solve Connor Hellebuyck in overtime, sending them to a shootout, where they'd only won once in 11 tries. This time around, they got the job done. They scored twice on the reigning Hart winner while Arturs Silovs made a pair of stops to secure two massive points for Pittsburgh. 

Stories to Watch
1. Hold onto your hats because this will be a fun one 
With familiarity grows discontent, and these two teams have played a couple of banger games over the last 12 days in Raleigh. The venue changes, but the disdain between these two certainly won't. Two valuable points are on the line for both teams, and I wouldn't be the slightest bit surprised if overtime is required for this one, too. The Penguins will be a little more tired after playing yesterday, but they should be all the more motivated to get the job done. The Canes already have one win on their road trip, and a win today would ensure another winning trip. Most importantly, a win for Carolima would mean extending the lead within the division, which is all that really matters.

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