This weekend, the Carolina Hurricanes had 3 games in 4 days. They had toplay road games on consecutive nights, then play the last game at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. It was appropriate that on Presidents’ Day weekend, the Hurricanes were commanders-in-chief in all 3 games.
It started on Friday night, when they played the Arizona Coyotes at Mullett Arena in Tempe, AZ. On January 27th, the Coyotes suffered a 3-1 defeat in Raleigh & were looking to avenge that loss, but the Hurricanes were looking to sweep the season series. Just 16 seconds into the game, (defenseman) Brady Skjei set up (left winger/alternate captain) Jordan Martinook for a goal against (Coyotes goalie) Karel Vejmelka. Over 4 1/2 minutes later, Vejmelka saved a shot from (Hurricanes center) Martin Nečas, but (defenseman) Jalen Chatfield was able to score a goal on the rebound.
With less than 5 1/2 minutes left in the first period, (Hurricanes defenseman) Dmitry Orlov poke checked the puck, but it went directly to (Coyotes right winger) Dylan Guenther, who scored a goal against (Hurricanes goalie) Pyotr Kochetkov.
In the second period, the Hurricanes would return the favor. About 6 1/2 minutes into the period, a puck deflected off of the skate of (Coyotes center/alternate captain) Nick Schmaltz & (Hurricanes center) Seth Jarvis immediately scored a goal against Vejmelka. Later in the period, a power play for the Coyotes would come to a premature end, as (center) Nick Bjugstad was called for roughing. When the 4-on-4 play turned into a Hurricanes power play, they took advantage of Bjugstad’s penalty. With less than 3 minutes remaining in the period, Vejmelka saved a shot by (center) Jack Drury, but (left winger) Teuvo Teravainen skated to the loose puck & put it in the net for a power play goal.
In the third period, the Hurricanes put an exclamation point on this game. Over 4 1/2 minutes into the period, Nečas took the puck away from (Coyotes left winger) Jason Zucker & set up (left winger) Michael Bunting to score the last goal. The Hurricanes earned a 5-1 victory over the Coyotes, but they had no time to rest in the Grand Canyon State, because they had a game the very next night.
On Saturday night, they played the (defending Stanley Cup Champion) Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. On December 19th, the Hurricanes had 6-3 victory in Raliegh against the Golden Knights & were looking for another sweep, but the reigning champions had other ideas. Some teamwork allowed the Golden Knights to score the only goal of the first period. After (center) Jonathan Marchessault poke checked the puck away from (Hurricanes center/alternate captain) Sebastian Aho, (right winger) Nicolas Roy had a 2-on-1 breakaway with (center) Ivan Barbashev.
Roy passed to Barbashev, but (Hurricanes goalie) Spencer Martin made a save on Barbashev’s shot. Roy tried to redirect the puck into the net, but it stopped in front of Martin. Thankfully, Marchessault was in the right place, at the right time to tip the puck under Martin, just over 10 minutes into the game.
In the second period, the Hurricanes needed 1:21 to tie the game. After a long puck battle, (defenseman) Brett Pesce managed to fire a pass to Jarvis. He quickly dropped it back to (right winger) Andrei Svechnikov, who scored against (Golden Knights goalie) Adin Hill for the only goal of the period. With 11 seconds remaining in the period, Svechnikov was called for high-sticking, meaning the Hurricanes would start the next period short-handed. That would be a factor in the outcome of the game.
In the third period, the Hurricanes stunned the Golden Knights in 19 seconds. A clear attempt by (center/captain) Jordan Staal deflected off of the stick of (Golden Knights defenseman) Daniil Miromanov to Jarvis. Despite being chased by (Golden Knights center/alternate captain) William Karlsson & Marchessault, Jarvis scored a short-handed goal. Subsequently, the Hurricanes prevented the Knights from tying the game with the remaining 1:31 left of power play time. Exactly 6 minutes after the Jarvis goal, the Hurricanes destroyed the armor of the Stanley Cup Champions.
After a Skjei clear went off of (Golden Knights right winger) Jonas Røndbjerg, Nečas skated the puck into Carolina’s offensive zone & passed to (center) Jesperi Kotkaniemi. His shot deflected off of Hill & into the air, where (right winger) Stefan Noesen tried to hit the puck into the net. Thankfully, he avoided playing the puck with a high stick & only hit the crossbar, while the puck landed behind Hill. Noesen reset himself & scored the last goal. The Hurricanes left Sin City with a 3-1 victory & a 2-game winning streak.
On Monday night, the Hurricanes were in PNC Arena to play the Blackhawks. This would be the first of 2 meetings between these teams, this season. Just 11:45 into the game, the Hurricanes would score the only goal of the first period. Drury would win a face-off, then pass to Orlov, who passed to Pesce. After Pesce wrapped a pass behind the net, Nečas & Drury exchanged the puck. Nečas nearly lost control of the puck, but was able to get it to Bunting, who scored against (Blackhawks goalie) Petr Mrázek.
In the second period, the Hurricanes went on an explosion. Nearly 2 minutes into the period, (Blackhawks left winger/alternate captain) Nick Foligno poke checked the puck away from (Hurricanes defenseman) Tony DeAngelo. Unfortunately, Foligno’s poke check went directly to Nečas, who scored a goal. About 6 1/2 minutes later, Mrázek would save one shot from Kotkaniemi, but after Teravainen & Orlov set him up for a 2nd chance, Kotkaniemi would score the goal.
Just 2 1/2 minutes later, (Blackhawks defenseman) Louis Crevier cleared the puck, which allowed Skjei to set up behind Martin. Skjei fed a long pass to (right winger) Jesper Fast, who quickly dropped the puck to Svehcnikov. Aho would take a pass from Svechnikov & score a goal on a delayed wrap-around. With less than 5 minutes left in the period, the Blackhawks finally managed to score. After (Hurricanes defenseman) Brent Burns failed to get the puck out of Chicago’s offensive zone, (Blackhawks center) Connor Bedard set up Foligno for a backhand goal against Martin.
In the third period, Burns would atone for his contribution to Foligno’s goal. Only 1 minute into the period, (Blackhawks defenseman) Alex Vlasic was called for tripping. With less than 30 seconds remaining in the power play, Aho’s shot was saved by Mrázek, but Burns would score a power play goal on the rebound. Nearly 2 minutes later, the Blackhawks thought they had a goal from Bedard, but the Hurricanes challenged the goal & the review showed that Crevier was offside. However, Bedard would get another chance, moments later.
After Drury was called for tripping, the Blackhawks would need only 40 seconds to make him pay for that penalty. After Pesce cleared the puck, Mrázek sent a long pass to (center) Tyler Johnson, while the Hurricanes were changing players. Johnson passed to (center) Philipp Kurashev, who set Bedard up for a power play goal. Over a minute after that goal, Kotkaniemi was called for tripping. It would take 1:05 for the Blackhawks to get their 2nd power play goal of the game. There was excellent puck movement from Kurashev, (defenseman/alternate captain) Seth Jones, Foligno, & Bedard to set Johnson up for the power play goal.
Unfortunately for the Blackhawks, that would be as close as they got. With 2:27 remaining in regulation, they pulled Mrázek from the net. Just 38 seconds later, the Hurricanes would win a face-off that led to Martinook scoring an empty net goal.
The Hurricanes would wrap up their Presidents’ Day weekend with a 6-3 victory over the Blackhawks, a 3-game winning streak, & Martin’s first “storm surge”.
