By AIDAN JENSEN
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The Carolina Hurricanes have been dominating the Eastern Conference and, the entire National Hockey League, as a whole this year.
As of Thursday, March 30, they carry a record of 47 wins, 18 losses and 10 overtime/shootout losses. This equates to a total of 103 points – better than any team in the Western Conference (the Vegas Golden Knights (98 points) lead with a 46-22-6 mark), and second in the East behind the Boston Bruins (57-12-5, 119 points).
The Canes reached the 100-point mark in just 69 games, the fastest in franchise history.
This type of success is not unheard of for them, who have made the Stanley Cup Playoffs every season since 2018-2019, the same year they hired former center Rod Brind’Amour as head coach and snapped a 9-year playoff drought.
There’s just something a little extra-special about this team.
The Canes have 24 wins by more than one goal, six of those coming via the shutout variety. 18 of the Canes’ 47 wins have come against teams with winning records, including one against the Bruins and two against the New Jersey Devils (46-20-8, 100 points), a team chasing the Canes for second place. Those numbers are no doubt amazing, but how the Canes have achieved them, with all the roster uncertainty they’ve faced, tells more of the story.
The Canes are this good with, seemingly, a new goalie in net every week. They entered the season with Frederik Andersen and Antti Raanta in between the pipes, lost Andersen in mid-November and called up Pyotr Kochetkov from the Chicago Wolves, their AHL affiliate.
Raanta and Kochetkov held their own, with Kochetkov outperforming expectations (5-4-1 in first 10 starts) and even earning himself a 4-year, $8 million contract in late November. When Andersen returned from injured reserve (lower-body injury) in early January, the Canes decided to send Kochetkov back down to Chicago.
Regardless of who’s in-between the pipes, the Canes have three reliable, starting-caliber goalies.
Raanta has arguably the best stat line out of the three – 16-2-3 with a 2.32 goals against average and a .907 save percentage. Kochetkov is still learning the NHL ropes – he’s 12-7-5 with a 2.44 GAA, but he leads the team with a .909 save percentage. Andersen has 29 appearances to his name – most on the team, while holding a 19-8-1 record, 2.45 GAA and a .904 save percentage.
The Canes lost three of their leading point-getters from a season ago to free agency – center Vincent Trocheck (21 goals, 30 assists) to the New York Rangers, an Eastern Conference rival, Nino Niederreiter (24 goals, 20 assists) to the Nashville Predators, and Tony DeAngelo (10 goals, 41 assists) to the Philadelphia Flyers. They also lost their lone All-Star, Andrei Svechnikov, for the season to a knee injury.
To try and replace their production, the Canes signed a couple free agents and scoured the trade market.
Their marquee free agent signing, defenseman Brent Burns, brings 10+ years of playoff experience and is fourth on the team in points with 54 (13 goals, 41 assists). Paul Stastny, another veteran with several years of postseason play, only has eight goals and 12 assists through 66 games.
Shayne Gostisbehere and Jesse Puljujarvi have only combined for seven goals and 14 assists. Max Pacioretty, a proven top-line winger who’s hit the 30-goal mark five times in his NHL career, tore his achilles soon after being signed.
It’s the team veterans, however, who are largely behind the Canes’ stellar season. Martin Necas leads the team in points (68) and is tied with Burns in assists. Sebastian Aho continues to be this team’s go-to contributor, leading the Canes with 33 goals and second in points (62). Jesperi Kotkaniemi has turned into a budding star (14 goals, 22 assists). Jordan Martinook, an alternate captain and third/fourth-line center, is one of 10 players with 30 points.
Wherever you look, the Canes are contributing.
Even with losses in their past three games, including a tough-luck, 3-2 defeat at Detroit Thursday night in the closing seconds, the boys from Raleigh should be a playoff force this year if guys keep stepping up.
The Canes have eight more regular-season games left, starting with a Saturday night trip to Montréal, then their quest for a second Stanley Cup begins on Monday, April 17.
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