Thoughts From My Couch

The Hurricanes looked to end the West Coast swing with a tough test against the Colorado Avalanche. Not only were they playing without Sebastian Aho, Frederik Andersen, and Andrei Svechnikov, but it was announced before the game that Brett Pesce wouldn't be available to play either. This made the team return to the 12/6 format, with Callahan Burke making his Hurricanes debut against his former team. Teuvo Teravainen skated in his 600th game in the NHL in Denver, looking to finish this portion of the trip right.  Scoring Summary 1st Period CAR (16:09)- Jesperi Kotkaniemi (3) (assisted by Stefan Noesen (4) & Jack Drury (1)) COL (19:54)- Ryan Johansen (2) PP (assisted by Nathan MacKinnon (3) & Artturi Lehkonen (2)) 2nd Period COL (1:07)- Logan O'Connor (3) SH (assisted by Andrew Cogliano (3))  CAR (9:17) Brent Burns (2) PP (assisted by Dmitry Orlov (2) & Stefan Noesen (5)) CAR (10:42)- Michael Bunting (2) (assisted by Martin Necas (4) & Jaccob Slavin (4)) COL (12:...

The Hurricanes are playing the final leg of their western road trip. After taking two of three games in California, the Canes fell behind early in Seattle and never recovered. Seattle opened the scoring, but Jesper Fast responded 19 seconds later to tie the game early. The Kraken finished the period with goals on the power play and short-handed, taking a 3-1 lead after 20 minutes. Vince Dunn would clap a shot past Antti Raanta on the power play early in the second period, ending Raanta's night as Pyotr Kochetkov came in to make his season debut. Kochetkov kept Seattle out of the net for the rest of the period, allowing the Canes to get back in the game. Stefan Noesen would set up Seth Jarvis and Jesperi Kotkaniemi in the first 5:55 of the third period. Unfortunately, Seattle struck twice in 21 seconds to regain the three-goal advantage. Jarvis scored his second of the period on the power play late, but an empty-net goal would ice the win for Seattle.  The Opponent: Colorado Avalanc...

The Hurricanes returned to form on Tuesday night with a big 6-3 victory in San Jose. Four goals in the third period, including two on the power play, propelled them to victory, despite Sebastian Aho not playing and Frederik Andersen leaving early in the first period. The Canes have left California for the Pacific Northwest and a date with the Seattle Kraken in their third season as a franchise. The Kraken have started slow this season, but a breakout feels inevitable.  Scoring Summary 1st Period SEA (7:16)- Yanni Gourde (1) (assisted by Andre Burakovsky (1) & Eeli Tolvanen (1)) CAR (7:35)- Jesper Fast (1) (assisted by Jaccob Slavin (2) & Jordan Staal (2)) SEA (12:18)- Jaden Schwartz (2) PP (assisted by Kailer Yamamoto (1) & Vince Dunn (3)) SEA (19:22)- Pierre-Edouard Bellemare (1) SH (assisted by Vince Dunn (4)) 2nd Period SEA (2:38)- Vince Dunn (1) PP (assisted by Andre Burakovsky (2) & Oliver Bjorkstrand (2)) 3rd Period CAR (1:08)- Seth Jarvis (3) (assisted by Ste...

The Hurricanes used three goals from the power play and four unanswered goals in the third period to storm past the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday night. Seth Jarvis answered an early San Jose goal on the power play for his first of the season. Jaccob Slavin notched the team's fourth short-handed goal of the season to give the Canes a 2-1 lead in the second period, but two goals on the power play gave the Sharks a 3-2 advantage heading into the third, despite the Canes controlling most of the play. In the third, the Canes finally got what they deserved. Stefan Noesen tied the game on the power play. Jarvis got his second of the night on the power play. Martin Necas scored a beautiful wrap-around. Brett Pesce finished the scoring, benefitting from a redirection off a Shark to make it a 6-3 win for the Hurricanes. The win in San Jose makes the Canes 2-1-0 on the road trip with two stops remaining.  The Opponent: Seattle Kraken (0-3-1- 8th in the Pacific Division) Seattle was one of the b...

After suffering their first loss of the season in Anaheim, the Carolina Hurricanes needed to rebound. Unfortunately, they'd have to do it without Sebastian Aho. Shortly before puck drop, the team announced that Aho wouldn't play in the game due to an upper-body injury. This meant the team would roll an 11/7 lineup like on Opening Night. The Sharks are a rebuilding team, but the Canes have struggled against non-playoff teams. Without their superstar, this could be a challenging game.  Scoring Summary 1st Period SJ (3:15)- Fabian Zetterlund (1) (assisted by Tomas Hertl (1)) CAR (4:06)- Seth Jarvis (1) PP (assisted by Michael Bunting (2) & Teuvo Teravainen (1)) 2nd Period CAR (8:04)- Jaccob Slavin (2) SH (unassisted) SJ (9:11)- Filip Zadina (2) PP (assisted by Fabian Zetterlund (1)) SJ (16:06)- William Eklund (1) PP (assisted by Henry Thrun (2) & Tomas Hertl (2)) 3rd Period CAR (9:07)- Stefan Noesen (1) PP (assisted by Jesperi Kotkaniemi (2) & Brady Skjei (4)) CAR (11:...

The road trip took an unexpected turn for the Hurricanes in Anaheim. After escaping Los Angeles with a 6-5 shootout victory, the Canes found themselves on the wrong side of a 3-0 game after the first period on Sunday. Teuvo Teravainen broke the shutout near the end of the second period, scoring his third goal in as many games. The Ducks abruptly snatched away the momentum with a late goal to make it 4-1 through two periods. The power play finally came alive for the Canes in the third period. Teravainen scored his second of the night on a shot from the point, and Martin Necas added his first of the season late in the game to pull within a goal. Unfortunately, two empty-net goals, including the goal to complete Frank Vatrano's hat trick, would put the game out of reach late, handing the Canes a 6-3 loss, their first of the season.  The Opponent: San Jose Sharks (22-44-16, 60 Points- 7th in the Pacific Division last season) Much like Anaheim, the Sharks aren't in a place to compet...

Hockey season is back! The 2023-24 campaign kicked off with three games on Tuesday night, kickstarting a new season. The week was full of debuts, first goals, and hat tricks as all 32 teams got their seasons started. Here are the headlines and highlights from the first week of the new year.  Daily Headlines Tuesday 10/10 Nikita Kucherov scores the first goal of the season as he and Nick Paul score twice in a 5-3 win over Nashville. Connor Bedard makes his NHL debut and records an assist as the Blackhawks score 4 unanswered to beat Pittsburgh 4-2. Vgeas lifts their Stanley Cup banner, then beat Seattle 4-1 to close the night. Wednesday 10/11 Connor Bedard scores his first NHL goal against Boston, but Chicago loses 3-1 Brock Boeser scores 4 times, JT Miller records 5 points, and Elias Pettersson gets 4 as Vancouver routs Edmonton 8-1. Auston Matthews records a hat trick, including two in the final 5 minutes to force overtime in a 6-5 SO win for Toronto over Montreal. Owen Power signs...