The Carolina Hurricanes have spent a lot of time on the road, this season. However, they have been undefeated at home. After they went 2-1 in the California portion of their first road trip, they went winless in the remainder of it. On Oct. 19th, they went to Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Washington and were defeated by the Seattle Kraken, 7-4. On Oct. 21st, they went to Ball Arena in Denver, CO and were defeated by the Colorado Avalanche, 6-4. On Oct. 24th, they went to Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida and were defeated by the Tampa Bay Lightning in a 3-goal shutout.
Things turned around, when the Hurricanes returned to PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina.
On Oct. 26th, they avenged their loss to the Kraken by defeating them 3-2 in overtime. The very next night, they had a 3-goal shutout against the San Jose Sharks. On Oct. 30th, the Hurricanes went back on the road, as they went to Wells Fargo Centerto defeat the Philadelphia Flyers, 3-2. Last Thursday, the Hurricanes went to Madison Square Garden in New York, NY, but they were defeated by the New York Rangers, 2-1. Saturday, they went to Long Island as they visited UBS Arena in Elmont, NY. After trailing 3-0, the Hurricanes defeated the New York Islanders, 4-3 in overtime. Tuesday, the Hurricanes returned home to defeat the Buffalo Sabres, 3-2 in overtime.
During this stretch of games, the Hurricanes had contributions from 18 different players. Leading the way was (center) Jesperi Kotkaniemi, with a team-high 8 points in this stretch (and a team high 12 points on the season). He had 4 goals (including a power play goal against the Islanders) & 4 assists. Scoring 7 points each were (centers) Seth Jarvis, Martin Nečas, & (alternate captain) Sebastian Aho. Jarvis & Nečas each had 3 goals & 4 assists. Jarvis, who leads the team in power play goals (4), had 2…one in the road game against the Kraken & one against the Rangers. Nečas had overtime winners against the Kraken in the home game & against the Sabres.
Aho’s lone goal was the overtime goal against the Islanders, but his 6 assists were the most among the team in this trip. Scoring 6 points is (right winger) Stefan Noesen. He had 1 goal (against the Flyers) & 5 assists. The highest scoring defenseman for the Hurricanes was Dmitry Orlov with 5 points. He scored his first goal as a Hurricane against the Islanders & throughout this strech, contributed 4 assists. Several players had 4 points: (defensemen) Brady Skjei & Jaccob Slavin and (left wingers) Michael Bunting & Teuvo Teravainen. Skjei & (alternate captain) Slavin each had 1 goal & 3 assists.
Slavin’s goal came against the Avalanche, while Skjei’s goal came against the Sabres. Skjei is tied with Aho with the team lead in assists (8). Bunting had 2 goals (including a power play goal against the Flyers) & 2 assists. Teravainen (who leads the team with 8 goals) tied Kotkaniemi with 4 goals in this stretch (his hat trick against the Sharks & the winning goal against the Flyers). Scoring 3 points were (center/captain) Jordan Staal, (defensemen) Tony DeAngelo & (right winger) Andrei Svechnikov. Staal & Svechnikov each had 3 assists.
DeAngelo scored his 1st goal of the season with a power play goal against the Sabres & during the stretch, contributed 2 assists. Scoring 2 points was (defenseman) Jalen Chatfield. He scored his 1st goal of the season against the Islanders & 1 assist. the final 4 people each scored 1 point: (defenseman) Brent Burns, (right winger) Jesper Fast, (left winger/alternate captain) Jordan Martinook, & (center) Jack Drury. Burns scored a power play goal against the Avalanche. Fast scored a goal in the road game against the Kraken. Martinook & Drury each had an assist.
Let’s not forget the goalies & the job goaltending performances that they have had. Antti Raanta was 3-0 in his 4 starts (including the Sharks shutout). Out of 84 shots on goal, he was only scored on 9 times. Frederik Andersen was 2-1. Out of 80 shots, he only gave up 6 goals. Pyotr Kochetkov was 0-3 in 2 starts (he relieved Raanta in the road game against the Kraken & surrendered the winning goal). Out of 67 shots, he surrendered 11 goals. With the guidance of (Head Coach) Rod Brind’Amour, it’s easy to see why the Hurricanes have been among the league’s best team for the past 5 seasons, as well as this current season.
