A ‘special’ win for Carolina: Hurricanes power play, penalty kill too much for Habs
The Carolina Hurricanes had to wonder if their next hockey game might be in 2022.
The NHL keeps adding new names to the league’s COVID protocol list, and games continue to be postponed. The Canes were scheduled to host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday, but the Habs had 13 players in the COVID protocol and others injured or sick, leading to some uncertainty about the game being played at PNC Arena.
But the game was played and the Canes had all the answers and certainly more skill and experience, winning 4-0 behind goalie Antti Raanta. Teuvo Teravainen had a power-play goal and also scored shorthanded, Nino Niederreiter and Seth Jarvis added power-play scores and Raanta took care of things around the crease in the Canes’ first game since Dec. 18.
“It was kind of what I thought it would look like. It wasn’t pretty,” Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “We were certainly rusty with our decision-making and how quick we were making plays. Lot of turnovers. But obviously our penalty kill was great and our goaltender made some big saves early to keep us in the game, and the power play obviously connected. Definitely a good win.”
Raanta, who had 26 saves, notched his first shutout of the season and the 14th of his career in being named the game’s first star. He had Canes fans chanting his name by game’s end.
“The start of the game was pretty slow as a goalie, with not much happening,” said Raanta, who made his first start since Dec. 12. “The last couple of minutes in the first period they started to put the pucks to the net and a couple of chaos situations there. But we managed to handle those and I thought the second period ... I was on top of my game.
“I was fortunate enough to get the shutout and it’s pretty special, especially playing at home and getting the win.”
It might have been the biggest mismatch the Canes have had in years, all because of the pandemic and Montreal injuries. Carolina (22-7-1), with eight players returning from COVID protocol, had a nearly intact lineup — goalie Frederik Andersen, coming off the protocol list, served as the backup Thursday.
The Canes, tentative at first, did not get a shot on net for the first six minutes of the game. But they used their special teams to crank up the pace and intensity against the Habs, who lost forward Brendan Gallagher to a lower-body injury in the game.
“I knew we’d struggle, just the five-on-five play, because we’ve been out so long,” Brind’Amour said.
Niederreiter scored his fifth goal in the past eight games on a first-period power play. Getting position in front of the net, he banged in a rebound after a Jaccob Slavin shot from the point that Jesperi Kotkaniemi deflected.
Then, it was Tervainen’s turn on the penalty kill. Sebastian Aho and Teravainen, dangerous when paired shorthanded, were off on a two-on-one after a Slavin breakout pass, Aho finding Teravainen for the one-timer for a 2-0 lead in the first.
“You don’t have to tell them to look to score, because that’s in their nature,” Brind’Amour said.
It was the Canes’ second shorthanded goal of the season, both by Teravainen, who had the first “shorty” Dec. 4 against Buffalo.
The Habs (7-22-4), beaten in overtime by Tampa Bay on Tuesday, tested Raanta and had their power-play chances. But the Canes killed off penalties with precision as Montreal was 0-5 on the power play, sealing Raanta’s shutout bid by killing off a late Tony DeAngelo penalty in the third.
Teravainen’s power-play goal in the second period came after a Jake Evans hooking penalty that negated a Montreal power play. Teravainen was stopped once as Habs goalie Sam Montembault made a sliding save, but Teravainen was given a second chance and did not miss — the winger now has nine goals this season.
It was the first time in Teravainen’s career that he had power-play and shorthanded goals in the same game.
Jarvis’ power-play score came in the third period as Slavin earned his third assist of the game, matching a career high. Aho had a pair of assists, and Kotkaniemi a point and a career-high six hits against the team that failed to match the Canes’ offer sheet to him in late August.
Next stop for the Canes: Columbus, on New Year’s Day. That will be a different kind of test.
This story was originally published December 30, 2021 at 9:39 PM.
