Despite picking up overtime points, Canes continue struggling in December

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Returning to home ice has to be good for the Carolina Hurricanes, right?

They’re playing in front of that raucous crowd, which amplifies come Stanley Cup Playoffs time. Chants of “Let’s Go Canes” break out, following air horns designed to get the fans amped up.

Since a 2-game win streak, with road wins at the Ottawa Senators and Detroit Red Wings, Carolina’s won just once in four tries.

The Canes returned home last Friday to host their regional rival Nashville Predators on Friday, Dec. 16, only to see a 5-3 lead turn into a 6-5, overtime defeat. Nashville star Filip Forsberg only needed 33 seconds to score the game-winner, wristing an uncontested shot past former Carolina goalie Antti Raanta.

It’s sad to think that Raanta – who was heroic between the pipes during the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs run – got sent down because of yet another bad game. He’s playing with the Chicago Wolves, formerly the Canes’ AHL affiliate, which opted to go independent this year. However, Raanta is still under contract with Carolina, should it decide to need goalie reinforcements.

Two days later on Sunday, Dec. 17, the Canes lost again in overtime – this time via a 2-1 shootout decision to their archrival Washington Capitals. Carolina picked up a point again and Pyotr Kochetkov played well, saving 20 of 21 shots in regulation and overtime, but a second-consecutive loss is not encouraging. He currently owns a 2.53 goals against average, the 10th-best mark in the NHL.

The Canes have struggled past regulation in the past, but Sunday’s loss was early in the season.

Carolina nabbed one of its more shocking victories on Tuesday, Dec. 19, dominating the reigning Stanley Cup Champion Vegas Golden Knights, by a 6-3 mark. Six different Canes scored goals, including Seth Jarvis with his 11th, while offseason acquisition Michael Bunting added on two assists for a 3-point game.

We enter Thursday, Dec. 21, with Carolina traveling up to Pittsburgh. The Canes hung with a historically-tough Penguins team, but future Hall-of-Famer Sidney Crosby scored the winning shootout goal in a 2-1 Pittsburgh win. Carolina has a 6-game point streak, but only half of those games are victories.