"Curtains, Part I": 2025-26 Regular Season, Game 82: Carolina Hurricanes at New York Islanders

Six months of work reach their end tonight for the Carolina Hurricanes. They have already done what they needed to do, so tonight doesn't mean a ton for the Canes, while the Islanders' season is done once the final horn sounds. While we wouldn't see Pyotr Kochetkov, as we had initially expected, because of a technicality, we did get the NHL debuts of Felix Unger Sorum and Ronan Seeley, as well as the return of Joel Nystrom. Honestly, as long as everyone stays healthy, I'm not very invested in how this one plays out.

Scoring Summary

1st Period

CAR (3:05)- Nikolaj Ehlers (26) (Felix Unger Sorum (1) & Logan Stankoven (23))

2nd Period

NYI (13:14)- Bo Horvat (31) (Mathew Barzal (53) & Victor Eklund (1))

3rd Period

CAR (14:38)- Mark Jankowski (11) (Joel Nystrom (9) & Alexander Nikishin (22))

My Thoughts

I think I can honestly say that this was one of the weirdest pre-game roller coaster rides that I can remember. All day, we'd anticipated seeing a pair of NHL debuts and the return of Pyotr Kochetkov. It's just about the only reason many people tuned into a game that otherwise meant very little. Then, after he took the ice for the warm-up, it was announced that Kochetkov wouldn't be eligible to play because of a roster technicality, which is about as vague as it gets. With Andersen not dressed, it meant that Brandon Bussi would get the call tonight. Still, we got a few debuts, so that was enough to keep me invested.

This will certainly go down as one of the games of all time. It wasn't a particularly fun game to watch, with only three goals in a battle between a playoff team resting some big players and a non-playoff team in their final game. There was only one goal during each period, and the Canes won two periods, which was enough to win tonight. The debuting Felix Unger Sorum earned his first point by tipping a puck into space for Nikolaj Ehlers to skate into, streak down the ice, and finish past David Rittich. It was a very cool moment for the young winger. After Bo Horvat scored in the second, Mark Jankowski provided the winner. Joel Nystrom and Alexander Nikishin added the helpers. The short-handed Canes were outshot 29-21, but the score is all that matters. 

Even after playing last night, Bussi showed no signs of rust and carried his solid effort against the Flyers into this one. He was even better in front of his mom as a Long Islander. He made big saves throughout the contest, but his best sequence came after the Islanders tied the game. Bussi made a good stop on Tony DeAngelo as he drove the middle lane, and followed it up with an explosive stop on Carson Soucy's one-timer a few minutes later. While his group was being outshot 13-6 in the third period, Bussi remained a brick wall. He finished the night with 28 saves to get his 31st win, moving him into solo 8th for the most in a season in franchise history. Honestly, that's about all that we need to talk about.

First Star of the Game: Brandon Bussi

Brandon Bussi wasn't supposed to be in the net tonight. Pyotr Kochetkov was. Still, despite the late notice, Bussi looked like he had before the Olympic break. He was outstanding tonight, standing tall behind a young squad. He was his usual sporadic self at times, but he made good decisions with the puck and helped ease any tough moments from the group in front of him.

Next Up: The playoffs are upon us. We'll know more about when the series begins, hopefully, by tomorrow, but we know that the Hurricanes will host the Ottawa Senators in the first round. I'm anticipating a Saturday start, likely in the early afternoon window at 2 pm.