Canes race past LA Kings after quick start, despite several regulars out of the lineup

The Carolina Hurricanes played a hockey game Saturday.

When they will play the next one, it’s hard to say for sure. As Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour told his players, “I think we’re going day to day right now, so let’s make the most of this day.”

With the pandemic creating trepidation and havoc in the NHL, the Canes have had their next two scheduled games — against Nashville and Boston — postponed. Their scheduled game in Ottawa on Thursday could be in doubt. Then there’s the Christmas break.

But the Canes made the most of the moment Saturday. Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Jesper Fast scored goals in the first 96 seconds to charge up PNC Arena, Jack Drury scored again and the Canes surged to a 5-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings.

The Canes scored twice on the power play, their penalty killers were on point and goalie Frederik Andersen took it from there, coming up with his best stops at the right times and making 32 saves in picking up his 16th win of the season.

Fast and Teuvo Teravainen had the power-play goals, and defenseman Brett Pesce scored on a shot from the point as the Canes (21-7-1) earned their second win over the Kings (13-11-5) this season.

The one downside for the Canes was having forward Martin Necas leave the game at 10:34 of the first period after smashing hit from the Kings’ Sean Durzi, who was penalized for interference. Necas, woozy and knocked to the ice, was taken off to enter the concussion protocol.

“We get hit again when (Necas) goes down right away,” Brind’Amour said. “So there’s another top guy who’s out. But everyone just kind of figured it out. Like I said, next guy up. Just getting it done.

“Our D played really well and that’s a huge part of it. And our goalie was great tonight, which helps obviously, just keeping the game under control.”

With six players in the COVID-19 protocol, the Canes were required to play with 16 skaters Thursday in their home game against the Detroit Red Wings and won 5-4. They had a full 20-man roster, with two more emergency callups from the Chicago Wolves of the AHL, for Saturday’s game against the resurgent Kings.

“Coming into these two games if you had said we’d come out with two victories I would have been not surprised but I’d have said, ‘That’s big time,’ Brind’Amour said.

Kotkaniemi’s goal came 36 seconds into the game, the center wedging the puck out from below the pads of goalie Jonathan Quick to score. That came after Fast made a good play along the boards, knocking the puck down, then passing to Brady Skjei for the initial shot.

The Kings challenged the goal, claiming Fast had his stick above shoulder level in making the play on the boards. The ruling: good goal by Kotkaniemi and delay-of-game penalty on the Kings for a failed challenge.

Fast took it from there, redirecting a Jaccob Slavin shot in the slot past Quick at 1:36 for the power-play goal. The building was rumbling, the fans reacting as if they, too, wonder when the next game will be.

“The start was huge,” Brind’Amour said. “Get the goal, then get the power play and score, that does make it a lot easier.”

Pesce, in his second game since coming off the COVID list, scored on a shot from the right point -- the goal initially credited to Pesce, then Drury, then Pesce after another change. Drury would score the fifth goal on a top-shelf bullet -- make it two goals in his first two NHL games.

The Canes’ second-power score was marked by near-flawess puck movement and execution, Teravainen drilling a shot from the left circle that bet Quick to the short side -- Canes fans soon had the “Wave” rolling around the arena.

The Kings’ forecheck became more of a problem later in the second and resulted in a goal. After a Canes turnover just over their blue line, the Kings struck when Blake Lizotte beat Andersen to the far post.

The Canes were more efficient in their zone in the third, the Kings were limited to seven shots and Drury’s goal left Canes fans a happy bunch. He was also pretty happy, skating with his arms wide in celebration.

This story was originally published December 18, 2021 at 9:42 PM.

Chip Alexander

The News & Observer

919-829-8945

In more than 40 years at The N&O, Chip Alexander has covered the N.C. State, UNC, Duke and East Carolina beats, and now is in his 15th season on the Carolina Hurricanes beat. Alexander, who has won numerous writing awards at the state and national level, covered the Hurricanes’ move to North Carolina in 1997 and was a part of The N&O’s coverage of the Canes’ 2006 Stanley Cup run.