-Gabriel Dorris-
The Recap
The Overview
1st Period: Carolina came out slow, and a couple of mistakes had Antti Raanta working hard to start the game. He made some nice saves early on, including this one just four minutes in;
But after that save, the Canes turned the jets up to turbo mode. Luke Kunin would high-stick Brady Skjei, giving the Canes a powerplay chance just five minutes in, and they would convert for the early lead. Martin Necas would deliver the puck to Sebastian Aho, who would rifle it on net. That shot wouldn’t get through, but it would bounce off San Jose goalie Kaapo Kahkonen and to Seth Jarvis, who then mailed it to Teuvo Teravainen for a goal on a basically empty net.
The Canes weren’t done putting on the pressure, and they would continue throwing on chances for the rest of the period, including a post-ringing by Jordan Staal. Carolina was dominating play, leading shots 12-6 and expected goals roughly 1.8-1, and then they struck again. In the offensive zone, Jalen Chatfield passed the puck to Dmitry Orlov, who through it cross-ice on a T to Turbo for a one-timer that would wind up being his second goal of the game.
The Hurricanes threw on a couple more shots in the last few minutes of the period, but they did not manage to find twine again. Still, neither did the Sharks, and the Canes entered the second period up 2-nill.
2nd Period: The Sharks had a nice start to the second frame, getting five of the first seven shots and ringing the crossbar on a two-on-one opportunity. But when they failed to score, The Canes took the momentum right back. They had multiple chances, including but not limited to a Bunting breakaway, a Necas wraparound that jumped up and almost allowed for a Bunting tap-in, and a Svechnikov backhand off the pads. But Carolina almost let a solid period turn into a bad one, as they gave up this chance which Raanta made a great stop on.
Raanta kept it out, though, and the Canes entered the third period with momentum on their side, leading shots 26-16 and goals by a pair.
Third Period: The third inning had a similar start to the second, including another dinging of the post for the Sharks, but it was still no cigar for San Jose. In the intermission between the period, the Canes broadcasters had commentated that Carolina needed an early goal to put away the game, and despite the post, the Canes would still get just that. It was Jarvis to Aho against the boards, Aho back to Jarvis to Teravainen, and his hat trick goal gave the Canes a 3-0 lead and essentially ended the game.
Both sides had a couple more good chances after that, including yet another robbing of Bunting with the glove, who could’ve had a hat trick of his own if Kahkonen didn’t seem to have his number all night. Shots ended 39-20, goals 3-0, and it was a great night for the Canes as a whole but a pretty miserable night for San Jose, who went to 0-7-1 on the season (As of writing this, they lost yet again to the Washington Capitals and are now 0-8-1). Raanta had the shutout, Teravainen the hatty, and the fans went home happy.
The Postgame
The Canes dominated, and as much as you can try to say that it didn’t mean much against the San Jose Sharks with how badly they’ve played this year, the shutout for Raanta after his poor start, the hat trick for Teravainen after his down year last season, and getting back to a positive record all have to be big confidence boosters that should hopefully help going forward.
After the game, Raanta said that there were still areas for him to improve, and that “[He] doesn’t think [he] was close [to] what [he] can be,” along with noting “There’s still some things [he] can do better, but you take what you can get.” He credited the defense for a good shutdown game. Rod Brind’Amour praised Teravainen’s shot and said that Raanta “allowed [the team] to just kinda cruise”, even if they did get some lucky breaks. He also commented that Svechnikov looked good in his first game back.
Standout Players
Teuvo Teravainen easily qualifies with the hat trick, and the same can be said for Antti Raanta with his shutout. Andrei Svechnikov had or set up multiple good chances, and he looked to have already shaken off most of his rust by the end of the first period. Michael Bunting was getting chance after chance all night, but just couldn’t find a way to break through, and Sebastian Aho notched two apples. Seth Jarvis also had a pair of assists, both of them primary, and led the team with four hits. Dmitry Orlov had an assist and was tied with Svechnikov for second in hits at three, playing easily his best game of the season. Jalen Chatfield was the only other player to get a point, with the secondary helper on Turbo’s second goal.
Oh, and Pyotr Kochetkov had a shutout in the A!
In order, my three stars would be Andrei Svechnikov (***), Antti Raanta (**), and Teuvo Teravainen (*).
The Preview
The Overview
Tonight at 7 pm EST, the Canes will be flying into yet another road trip, this one three games long with the first in Philadelphia. Carolina is 5-4-0 with a two-game winning streak, while the Flyers have had a surprisingly good start, currently holding a 4-3-1 record. They are technically out of a playoff spot right now, standing at 10th in the East and 5th in the Metro, and their last game was a high-scoring 7-4 defeat in the hands of the also surprisingly good-looking Anaheim Ducks. Carter Hart is expected to start for the Flyers, while Andersen is poised to start his second match back from injury. Hart is 4-2-0 with a .924 save percentage and a 2.18 GAA, while “Fredzilla” is 3-0-0 with a 3.38 GAA and a .875 save percentage.
Philadelphia, as said above, has had a shockingly decent start to this year of play. They’ve scored 28 goals, 20 at 5v5, 4 on the powerplay, and 4 shorthanded. They’ve given up 25 on the other end. Their best players have been Carter Hart with the stats listed above, and Travis Konecny who has 11 points and 8 goals in 8 games played. They have a terrible 14.8% powerplay and a mediocre 79.2% penalty kill, as their strengths have come at 5 on 5 this season.
The Canes have shown significant improvement in the defensive end in their last three games, allowing just 5 goals as compared to 30 in the 6 games before. Their scoring has also gone down, as they’ve lit the lamp 6 times in their last 3 outings as compared to 27 in their 6 previous tries. Still, they’ve looked more cohesive as a unit and better overall. They have a below-average 71.4% penalty kill and a solid 23.1% powerplay. If the Canes want to beat Philadelphia, they’ll need to expose their weaknesses on special teams and find a way to beat Carter Hart.
Things to Watch
Andrei Svechnikov will be playing in his second game back and looking for his first point of the season. Seth Jarvis, Martin Necas, and Jesperi Kotkaniemi are all young players showing potential signs of big breakout seasons to come and make up three of the only four point-per-game players still left on the team. Two of them are also playing contract years (Seth Jarvis and Martin Necas), although the importance of this is slightly lessened by the fact that they are both also going to be restricted free agents. Dmitry Orlov is continuing to improve every game, and Jalen Chatfield and Tony DeAngelo are duking it out for who gets to hold the 6th defensemen spot when Brett Pesce returns from injury. The Penalty Kill is also showing signs of improvement, on a six-attempt success streak.
Prediction
The Canes have momentum on their side, and will also have one extra day of rest, but the benefit of this will be partially offset by the fact that Carolina has to travel and the Flyers don’t. Still, they’ve looked solid the past few games, and I see it continuing. The Flyers haven’t looked like a piece of cake to beat, though, and this matchup will likely be a close one.
Prediction: 3-2 Canes
Record: 6 (correct winner) – 3 (incorrect winner) – 0 (predicted OT/shootout loss and lost in regulation, or vice versa.)
Canes Express 
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