The Carolina Hurricanes have spent the last 2 days in a state known for their fair share of hurricanes…Florida.
Playing both NHL teams that represent the Sunshine State, the Hurricanes had mixed results, during their Veterans’ Day weekend stay in Florida.
Friday, they visited Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise to play the Florida Panthers. There was some bad blood between these teams, as the Panthers swept the Hurricanes in the eastern conference finals, during last season’s Stanley Cup playoffs. The Hurricanes were looking for revenge in the Miami metropolitan area & they seemed like they would get it 1:20 into the game. A shot by (left winger/alternate captain) Jordan Martinook was saved by (Panthers goalie) Sergei Bobrovsky.
A rebound shot by (right winger) Jesper Fast, ultimately led to a goal by (center) Jesperi Kotkaniemi. Unfortunately, the man who was kryptonite for the Hurricanes in those east finals reared his head, to make Carolina’s lead a short-lived one. Just past the 3-minute mark, (Panthers center) Anton Lundell was taken down by (Hurricanes center) Jack Drury. Somehow, as Lundell is taken down, (center) Carter Verhaeghe gets a pass to (left winger/alternate captain) Matthew Tkachuk, who got ahead of (defenseman) Jalen Chatfield to score a goal against (Hurricanes goalie) Antti Raanta.
An interference call against (Panthers defenseman) Gustav Forsling led to a Hurricanes power play. However, it was the Panthers nearly score a short-handed goal, thanks to (center/captain) Aleksander Barkov. Late in the first period, the Panthers were on an odd-man rush & made the Hurrricanes pay for it. After (center) Eetu Luostarinen dropped the puck back to Tkachuk, he noticed (defenseman) Uvis Balinskis had Raanta out of position & passed to him. Balinskis scored his 1st career NHL goal & the Panthers took a 2-1 lead at the end of the period.
In the second period, both teams had shots on goal & blocked each other’s shots in the early portion of the period. Just past the 7-minute mark, (Panthers defenseman) Oliver Ekman-Larsson wrapped a pass around to (center) Sam Reinhart, who quickly passed to (center) Evan Rodrigues. After an off-angle shot from Rodrigues, Barkov fired the rebound past Raanta to give the Panthers a 2-goal lead. Late in the period, the Hurricanes would return the favor.
It started with some great work by (center) Martin Nečas, setting up (defenseman) Brady Skjei for a slapshot. The puck ricocheted off of Bobrovsky to Martinook, who set up (center/alternate captain) Sebastian Aho for a goal. Despite that, the Panthers had a 3-2 lead at the end of the period.
In the third period, the Hurricanes seemed like they were going to be in position to tie the game, when Rodrigues was called for roughing. However, not only did Forsling nearly score a short-handed goal, but Aho was called for tripping, which ended the power play. With less than 7 minutes remaining, a face-off play set up Forsling to blast a puck.
Verhaeghe’s stick deflected the puck past the Raanta to help the Panthers regain their 2-goal lead. With Raanta pulled, the Hurricanes desperately tried to tie this game. Exactly 3 minutes after Verhaeghe score, Barkov blocked Skjei’s shot, then passed to Reinhart who was on a breakaway. Reinhart missed the empty net, but (center) Kevin Stenlund didn’t. The Panthers won 5-2.
Saturday night, the Hurricanes went to Amalie Arena in Tampa, to play the Tampa Bay Lightning. The last time these played each other, the Lightning shut the Hurricanes out. This time, the Hurricanes would do the honors. In the first period, (Hurricanes) Michael Bunting & (Lightning left winger) Tanner Jeannot were fighting 1:41 into the game. Exactly 1:10 later, (Lightning center) Luke Glendening gets called for roughing. It took 19 seconds for the Hurricanes to make him pay, as Nečas (who was playing his 300th NHL game) passed to Aho, who set up Teravainen for his team-leading 9th goal of the season.
That power play goal was the only goal scored in the period. Over 4 1/2 minutes into the second period, Jarvis made a spinning pass to Slavin, who made a diving shot that ricochet off of (Lightning goalie) Jonas Johansson. Andrei Svechnikov passed to Aho, fired it into the net for Carolina’s 2nd goal. That was the only goal for that period, but the third period would be a different story. Over 9 minutes into the period, (Hurrricanes defenseman) Brent Burns was called for tripping.
After a failed power play from the Lightning, (defenseman) Nick Perbix was poke checked by Burns, as he came out of the penalty box. Skjei got control of the puck & found Burns for a tip-in goal. With a little over 2 minutes remaining in regulation, the Hurricanes added an exclamation point. Burns had a shot blocked by (Lightning defenseman) Darren Raddysh.
The puck came back to Burns, who passed to Bunting. His shot was redirected by (right winger) Stefan Noesen, who was also playing his 300th NHL game, for a goal. The Hurricanes won with a 4-goal shutout, as (goalie) Pyotr Kochetkov saved all 22 shots he faced from the Lightning.
