[email protected]
The Carolina Hurricanes entered Saturday’s matinee against the Utah Hockey Club in a rare position: on a 3-game losing streak.
Carolina’s losing streak started on Saturday, Feb. 2 with a 4-2 loss to the Los Angeles Kings. Three days later, the Canes failed to score a goal in a 3-0 defeat against the Winnipeg Jets. On Thursday, Carolina scored just one goal in a 2-1 road loss against the Minnesota Wild.
On Feb. 8, though, the Canes responded in dominant fashion.
Entering the second period deadlocked in a 1-1 tie with Utah, Carolina exploded for four second period goals en route to a 7-3 blowout.
The Canes now head into a 2-week break for the Four Nations Face-Off, which takes the place of NHL All-Star Weekend this year.
How was Carolina able to win Saturday? Keep reading below, as we’ll take a deeper dive into our game recap.
Canes explode for seven goals in blowout victory over Utah Hockey Club
The Canes desperately needed a win against Utah on Saturday afternoon, facing one last chance to generate positive momentum heading into their 2-week break.
Carolina didn’t just beat Utah, but instead obliterated the NHL’s newest franchise.
The Canes won, 7-3, breaking a 1-1 deadlock after the first period. Carolina scored four goals in the second period, then added two more in the third.
Seth Jarvis, who leads the Canes with 22 goals, gave his team the lead for good with a second period powerplay tally. Just over two minutes later, Sebastian Aho scored his 19th goal of the year.
Clayton Keller responded with a goal at the 10-minute mark, closing Utah’s deficit to 3-2, then Aho and Jarvis scored again to, essentially, put the game out of reach. Keller scored again in the third period, but Jordan Martinook and Jack Roslovic added tallies for the game’s final two goals.
Carolina runs into a hot goalie, loses by one goal in Minnesota
For whatever unknown reason, the Canes are susceptible to facing goalies on hot streaks. We witness it in the Stanley Cup Playoffs more often than not: Andrei Vasilevsky, Igor Shesterkin and Sergei Bobrovsky, to name a few.
On Thursday, Feb. 6, Carolina ran into a buzzsaw named Filip Gustavsson, who stopped 37 shots in the Minnesota Wild’s 2-1 victory.
Canes goalie Frederik Andersen played a solid game in net himself, saving 22 of Minnesota’s 24 shots, but that wasn’t enough.
Minnesota started the sparse scoring party early, with Yakov Trenin poking a puck past Andersen on a backhand, just three minutes into the game. Just 49 seconds into the third period, Vinnie Hinostroza scored his first goal of the year and extended the Wild’s lead.
Aho closed Carolina’s deficit with a goal in the final three minutes, but that was the only time Carolina found the back of the net.
Canes held scoreless in 3-0 defeat at Winnipeg
Carolina faced yet another former player on Tuesday, Feb. 4, this time in the form of winger Nino Neiderreiter, who played in Raleigh from 2019-2022.
Neiderreiter made the Canes pay, scoring a goal and dishing out an assist, in the Winnipeg Jets’ 3-0 win.
Neiderreiter scored his 14th goal of the season on a powerplay, sending a puck past Pyotr Kochetkov with 42 seconds left in the first period. Just three minutes into the second frame, with Winnipeg on another man advantage opportunity, Neal Pionk converted and extended his team’s lead to 2-0.
The Jets weren’t finished, as Rasmus Kupari scored the game’s third goal, with just under four minutes left in the game.
Carolina stole the puck 15 times from the Jets, but also gave the puck away 16 times.
What is the Four Nations Face-Off?
The Canes are off until Saturday, Feb. 22 when they play the Toronto Maple Leafs in Canada at 7 p.m.
Carolina normally enters the NHL All-Star Break at this time, but all teams will break for the New Four Nations Face-Off. The United States, Canada, Sweden and Finland will battle in a round-robin tournament, with a 1-game final to follow between the two top-placed teams.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login