Thoughts From My Couch

The Carolina Hurricanes were punched in the gut during their trip to Tampa Bay on Tuesday. The Canes had played a great road game, only to have a guaranteed point snatched from their grasp in the final minute. Brandon Hagel opened the scoring late in the first period, depositing a rebound past Pyotr Kochetkov after Darren Raddysh was stopped. Andrei Svechnikov was aided by a friendly bounce and an unfortunate mishandle to get the Canes on the board in the second period, getting his backhand past Andrei Vasilevskiy. The Bolts would get that bounce back on the power play a few minutes later. Raddysh shot was blocked but it landed perfectly on Nick Paul's stick with one second left on the power play to restore the Bolts' lead before the midway point in the contest. Jordan Staal would knot the game again midway through the third, redirecting Brent Burns' pass off his skate and into the net. With 51.8 seconds left, Nikita Kucherov found Brayden Point in front of the net, allowin...

For the second time this season, the Hurricanes battled the Lightning. This game was originally set for the night after they opened their seasons against one another in Raleigh, but Hurricane Milton changed their plans. They've had nearly three months apart, but I'm anticipating some bad blood between these two powers in the Eastern Conference. The Bolts are on a four-game skid after losing all three games during their visit to California. With a high-powered offense backed by a lethal power play, this could be a tough visit to Florida. Scoring Summary 1st Period TBL (16:38)- Brandon Hagel (18) (Darren Raddysh (12)) 2nd Period CAR (6:31)- Andrei Svechnikov (13) (Jordan Staal (13)) TBL (9:17)- Nick Paul (10) PP (Darren Raddysh (13) & Connor Geekie (6)) 3rd Period CAR (9:56)- Jordan Staal (5) (Brent Burns (10)) TBL (19:08)- Brayden Point (24) (Nikita Kucherov (39) & Jake Guentzel (19)) My Thoughts Having lived through the dark days of 2010-2018, my body has been condition...

The Carolina Hurricanes were on the winning side of a tough battle with the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday night to complete a back-to-back at the Lenovo Center. The Penguins struck twice less than 90 seconds apart in the first 5:08 of the game, getting goals from Kevin Hayes and Michael Bunting to paint the Canes into a tough corner after a one-sided loss to the Wild on Saturday night. The Canes came out in the second period on a mission. Seth Jarvis got the Canes on the board and Jalen Chatfield tied it, both goals assisted by Sebastian Aho, to bring some life to the building. Jarvis notched his second of the night late in the frame to give the Canes their first lead, but Erik Karlsson one-time blast early in the third drew the game back even. With overtime needed to settle this one, Aho stepped up and got it done, depositing Dmitry Orlov's rebound chance past Alex Nedeljkovic to record his third point of the game and his 600th career point. Jarvis added an assist to go with his t...

After an embarrassing start to the weekend in Raleigh, the Hurricanes aimed for a rebound against the Pittsburgh Penguins less than 24 hours later. The Minnesota Wild took something from the Canes by beating them 4-0 on Saturday night, holding them to 21 shots in an effort that is very uncharacteristic of this Carolina team. With a division opponent set to come into the Lenovo Center and Dustin Tokarski in the net, this better be a wake-up call for the Canes as they try to get back into the thick of the Metropolitan Division battle. Scoring Summary 1st Period PIT (3:47)- Kevin Hayes (5) (Drew O'Connor (8)) PIT (5:08)- Michael Bunting (12) (Erik Karlsson (24) & Bryan Rust (12)) 2nd Period CAR (4:15)- Seth Jarvis (10) (Sebastian Aho (29)) CAR (12:45)- Jalen Chatfield (4) (Sebastian Aho (30) & Seth Jarvis (18)) CAR (16:18)- Seth Jarvis (11) (Andrei Svechnikov (16) & Jordan Staal (12)) 3rd Period PIT (1:51)- Erik Karlsson (4) (Matt Grzelcyk (20) & Rikard Rakell (15) Ove...

Saturday night will be one to forget after the Carolina Hurricanes were shut out 4-0 by the Minnesota Wild. Getting outplayed for almost the entire night, the Canes had no answer for the trio of Marco Rossi, Mats Zuccarello, and Matt Boldy. The three combined for three of Minnesota's four goals and ten total points. Zuccarello scored twice, Joel Eriksson Ek scored on the power play, and Boldy provided the dagger in the third period on a breakaway. Rossi had a career-high four assists as Filip Gustavsson made 21 stops in his shutout victory. Pyotr Kochetkov played well, but most of the guys in front of him provided little to no help. Jack Drury returned to the lineup after missing the last ten games.  The Opponent: Pittsburgh Penguins (17-17-6, 40 Points- 5th in the Metropolitan Division) Last Meeting: Jordan Martinook scored 52 seconds into their previous clash in Raleigh on November 7th, setting the tone for a dominant Hurricanes' win. Jack Roslovic scored the next two goals a...

The Hurricanes will play several games at home over the next ten days, beginning on Saturday night to kick off a back-to-back. Their first visitor was the Minnesota Wild, who have been one of the best teams in the Western Conference and the best road team in the league to begin the season. Minus star Kirill Kaprizov and captain Jared Spurgeon, Minnesota tried to spoil the fun in Raleighwood. After ten games on the shelf, the Canes welcomed Jack Drury back to the lineup, bringing the forward group back to Opening Night strength. Scoring Summary 1st Period MIN (13:03)- Mats Zuccarello (9) (Marco Rossi (19) & Matt Boldy (19)) 2nd Period MIN (11:30)- Joel Eriksson Ek (6) PP (Mats Zuccarello (15) & Marco Rossi (20)) 3rd Period MIN (9:20)- Matt Boldy (14) (Marco Rossi (21) & Jonas Brodin (11)) MIN (17:14)- Mats Zuccarello (10) EN (Matt Boldy (20) & Marco Rossi (22)) My Thoughts This was the type of game that made you want to throw your television, laptop, or whatever device y...

The Carolina Hurricanes started 2025 with a thrilling, hard-fought victory against the defending champions on the road. The start was excellent for the visitors after Brent Burns' shot deflected off Aleksander Barkov's leg and past Sergei Bobrovsky 35 seconds into the game to get the Canes off to an early lead. They dominated the first period, but Bobrovsky wasn't giving the Canes anything. Pyotr Kochetkov was doing great on the other end. The Cats got their goal back early in the second period as Anton Lundell backhanded a chance over Kochetkov's shoulder to tie it. The go-ahead goal was chaotic. Matthew Tkachuk helped Jesperi Kotkaniemi collide with Bobrovsky. The Canes kept playing, forcing Bobrovsky to make a stop as Tkachuk kept Kotkaniemi pinned to the ice. Jaccob Slavin jumped on the loose puck, finding a sliver of daylight between the post and Bobrovsky to give the Canes the lead again. Kochetkov shut down the Panthers down the stretch as Martin Necas provided t...