Lightning shut out Hurricanes in Tampa, 3-0, handing Carolina its third straight loss

Tampa Bay didn’t have all-world goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy between the pipes Tuesday to face one of the NHL’s top-scoring offenses.

Jonas Johansson did his best impression, though, stopping all 32 Carolina shots to help the Lightning hold off the Hurricanes 3-0 at Amelie Arena, bringing to a close one of the Canes’ worst stretches of road games in Rod Brind’Amour’s tenure as head coach.

The Hurricanes — a preseason betting favorite to reach the Stanley Cup Final — are 3-4 through seven games, the past six of those played away from Raleigh while the North Carolina State Fair occupied the fairgrounds and adjacent parking lots at PNC Arena.

And while the Canes, prior to Tuesday’s tilt, had scored more goals per game than any team in the NHL other than Detroit, they’d also allowed the most by a wide margin.

The Lightning, meanwhile, also boast one of the league’s top offenses. Contrary to those statistics, Tuesday’s games was a tight-checking, physical affair that saw the deciding goals scored on long-range, tip-in markers.

Only the final goal — a slick one-timer from Nicholas Paul from the left faceoff circle — was a straight shot on goal. Paul’s goal came at the end of more than five straight minutes played without a whistle, including one of four fruitless Canes power plays.

Hurricanes trailed early

The Canes’ woes on the penalty kill — and on defense in general — continued in the first. After nearly escaping the period without a goal against, the Tampa Bay power play struck for the first goal of the game when Brayden Point redirected a Victor Hedman shot past Kochetkov with just 54 seconds to play.

The goal was Point’s first of the year.

Alex Barré-Boulet doubled the Lightning lead late in the second when he redirected a slap-pass from Darren Raddysh at the left post. Barré-Boulet started the play from behind the Canes’ net, lofted a pass back to the point through three Carolina players and repositioned himself at the post, behind the Canes’ defense for the easy tap in.

The Canes will finally play a home game — two of them — this week. Carolina hosts Seattle on Thursday, and turns around to play San Jose on Friday.

The following are recaps and updates from the Hurricanes’ road trip during the North Carolina State Fair:

Canes fall to Avs in Denver

The high-scoring Hurricanes — among the NHL leaders in goals scored through the first full week of the season — have also become a punching bag for opposing offenses, a stunning turn for a team that was among the league’s stingiest a year ago.

For the second consecutive game — and for the fourth time in six games this season — the Canes allowed five or more goals Saturday, and it only took the Colorado Avalanche two periods to cross that threshold.

Six different Colorado skaters scored in the first 40 minutes as the Avalanche skated off with a 6-4 win over the Hurricanes in Denver. The team’s (30) goals allowed and 5.00 goals against per game are a league worst by a significant margin, despite also leading the NHL in goals for (27).

Ryan Johansen, Fredrik Olofsson, Logan O’Connor, Nathan MacKinnon, Artturi Lehkonen and Mikko Rantanen scored for the unbeaten Avs. Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Brent Burns, Michael Bunting and Jaccob Slavin scored for the Canes, while Pyotr Kochetkov took the loss in net, stopping only 22 of the 28 shots he faced.

The team will return home to Raleigh before playing one more road game, in Tampa on Tuesday. After that, the Canes will play a pair at home, Thursday against Seattle and Friday against San Jose.

Injury bug biting early

Andrei Svechnikov was not going to play on the Hurricanes’ season-opening road trip anyway, but his was the only planned absence among the already growing number of Canes walking wounded.

Frederik Andersen left a game against the San Jose Sharks after taking a hard shot from the point off the facemask, forcing the club to recall Pyotr Kochetkov. Also missing has been Sebastian Aho. With his absence, the Canes went and dressed seven defenders and 11 forwards.

Then, in advance of Saturday’s game, Carolina recalled Callahan Burke from the Colorado Eagles of the American Hockey League on an emergency basis. The corresponding roster move internally revealed the reason for the call-up: Brett Pesce missed Saturday’s game with what the team called a lower body injury, leaving the Canes with six defenders.

Hurricanes fall to Kraken

The Carolina Hurricanes continued to score goals at a solid clip Thursday in Seattle, but an uncharacteristic inability to prevent them on the other end came back to bite them for a second time this season.

After the Canes clawed to within a goal of the Kraken in the third period, Seattle put the game away with a pair of quick strikes 21 seconds apart with about eight minutes remaining to cement its first win of the season, a 7-4 victory over Carolina at Climate Pledge Arena.

The loss is the Canes’ second of the season in five games played, and second in three games.

Jesper Fast got his first goal of the season for Carolina, Seth Jarvis added his third and fourth, and Jesperi Kotkaniemi netted his second, but those four goals only dented the Kraken’s total. Seven different players scored for Seattle, and Joey Daccord stopped 32 shots to earn the win.

Here are three takeaways from the Canes’ loss in Seattle:

Goalie situation still fluid

All three goalies were on the ice for practice Thursday morning in Seattle, but Frederik Andersen, as expected, was a scratch Thursday night, leaving Pyotr Kochetkov to back up Antti Raanta.

That lasted about 23 minutes.

Early in the second period, Kochetkov relieved Raanta in net after the Finnish keeper surrendered his fourth goal of the game on just 18 shots.

It was hard to truly fault Raanta for any of the first three Seattle goals. The first came on a masterful tip in front by Yanni Gourde, who reached to his left and redirected a shot from the point that was going well wide just inside the glove-side post. The second was an in-tight redirect by Jaden Schwartz, and the third came on a 2-on-1 shorthanded fast break after a terrible turnover by Dmitry Orlov in the neutral zone.

The fourth one, though — the one that got him pulled, Raanta probably wanted back. With Seattle on its second power play of the game, trailing defenseman Vince Dunn stepped into a slap shot from the high slot in transition. The puck was well-struck, but only about midway up the cage on Raanta’s glove side with no screen in front, yet it eluded the keeper to put the Kraken ahead by three.

Kochetkov came in for Raanta after that fourth Seattle goals and steadied the ship, stopping all six shots he saw in the frame. That Seattle tacked on three goals in the third against Kochetkov is misleading, as well. One of those was into an empty net, and one was on a power play off a set faceoff play through traffic.

Hurricanes still generating shots

Aside from the anomaly that was the Hurricanes’ second game of the season — during which the Canes shot the puck just 19 times but earned a shootout win — Carolina is back to its shooting way this season.

In 2022-23, the Hurricanes were third overall in the NHL in shots per game, averaging 34.8 per contest. Only Florida (36.8) and Calgary (36.0) had more.

Thursday night, the Canes, despite being behind 3-1 after the first period, had 21 shots to Seattle’s 14, well on their way to 37 in the game. Through six games this season, Carolina is on a similar pace. Prior to Thursday night’s game, the Canes were operating at a 34.5 shots-per-game pace, an average that went up slightly against Seattle.

The difference? This season, the Canes are also scoring better than 4.5 goals per game through five games, while last season the extra shots rarely meant extra goals. In 2022-23, Carolina averaged 3.2 goals per game.

Physical play

One of the critiques of the Hurricanes last season was a lack of toughness. The team’s management apparently thought so, as well. The Canes brought back power-play specialist and noted agitator Tony DeAngelo on the blue line. They brought in a tough-as-nails defender in Orlov. They added sandpaper in scoring forward Michael Bunting, and Brendan Lemieux’s reputation as tough player preceded him.

The results have been mixed.

You can point to the fight Lemieux had Thursday night — answering the bell after he ran over Jared McCann, a transgression for which he was penalized — as a sign of a positive trend. Lemieux will answer that bell every time. But overall, the hits haven’t been there.

Thursday, the Canes recorded only 10 official hits. The team’s average per game this season is about 12, which puts them in the bottom third of the NHL in the early going.

Jarvis bulked up, added muscle and is playing with a needed edge, and the team’s defenders continue to lock things down on the walls in the defensive zone. But the sandpaper the team expected to show after its remodel this offseason has yet to statistically materialize.

Hurricanes recall Kochetkov

The Carolina Hurricanes announced a roster move Wednesday after starting goalie Frederik Andersen left Tuesday night’s game in San Jose when he was stuck by the puck on a shot from the point in the first period.

The Canes recalled Pyotr Kochetkov from the Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey League. Kochetkov played 24 games for Carolina a year ago while spelling both Andersen and Antti Raanta, who both suffered injuries during the 2022-23 regular season.

Kochetkov, 24, made 31 saves on 34 shots to register a win in his lone AHL appearance with the Crunch this season. In 27 career NHL games with the Hurricanes, Kochetkov has earned a 15-7-5 record, 2.43 goals-against average, .908 save percentage and four shutouts.

In 2022-23, he posted a 12-7-5 record, 2.44 goals-against average, .909 save percentage and four shutouts. He ranked tied for fifth in the NHL in shutouts and tied the franchise single-season rookie record in that category.

The Penza, Russia, native was selected by the Hurricanes in the second round, 36th overall, of the 2019 NHL Draft, and is in the first year of a four-year, $8 million contract.

The Hurricanes next play Thursday night at 10 p.m., on the road against the Seattle Kraken.

Carolina Hurricanes stop San Jose Sharks

The Carolina Hurricanes’ special teams were special in San Jose on Tuesday night, leading the team to a 6-3 come-from-behind win over the Sharks at SAP Center.

The Canes, coming off their first loss of the season Sunday in Anaheim, scored three times on the power play and added another short-handed goal — that’s four this season — to earn their third win in four tries to start the 2023-24 NHL season.

But while the result was positive in the points column, concerns arose about the health of some key players. Before the game, the team announced that top center Sebastian Aho was out with an upper-body injury.

Then, in the first period, starting goalie Frederik Andersen took a shot from the point off the center of the facemask. The blow sent him staggering to the ice, and Carolina officials sent him to the locker room for what the team called precautionary reasons. Antti Raanta came on in relief and stopped 12 of the 14 shots he saw the rest of the way to pick up the win, his first of the season.

Seth Jarvis comes alive

Many have wondered if Jarvis might blossom in this, his third NHL season after regressing in points a year ago. After a couple of games adjusting to new lines, Jarvis showed some offensive skill Tuesday. Twice on the power play, Jarvis found the back of the net, including on a quick riser from the bumper position in the high slot, when he dropped to a knee and roofed the puck past San Jose keeper Mackenzie Blackwood.

Canes’ defense makes its point

Last year, the Hurricanes’ defensive group was among the best in the NHL at scoring goals. This season has started in much the same way. Jaccob Slavin has now scored twice this season — both times shorthanded — and collectively the Canes’ defensmen hd two goals and five points Tuesday.

The Carolina blue line also peppered Blackwood with rubber, sending 19 shots on target, nearly half of the Canes’ 42 shots for the game.

Hurricanes fall in Anaheim

The Carolina Hurricanes dug themselves too big of a hole on Sunday night, and by the time it looked like they might climb out of it, it was too late.

Cam Fowler and Frank Vatrano scored for the Anaheim Ducks in the final two minutes of regulation to salt away a 6-3 win over the Hurricanes in the second game of back-to-back contests for both clubs.

Vatrano’s game-clincher, with 1:19 to play, capped a hat trick for the gritty forward.

The Canes’ Teuvo Teravainen, who was the only Carolina skater to have scored multiple goals through the team’s first two games, scored two more Sunday to bring his season total to four. He’s still the only Cane with multiple goals.

Martin Necas had the third Carolina tally Sunday, a tip-in with 4:31 to play in regulation that momentarily brought the Canes to within one at 4-3.

But Fowler struck at even strength at 18:03 of the third, and Vatrano capped his hat trick at 18:41 to finish the scoring.

Carolina’s early deficit

Before the Canes could really get a handle on the game, the Ducks were on top 3-0. Sam Carrick started the scoring at 6:52 of the first frame on a snap shot that beat starter Antti Raanta clean. Vatrano followed at 8:31 with a wrister, and Pavel Mintyukov netted his first career NHL goal in his second game to push the home team’s advantage to 3-0.

Teravainen netted his first of the game and third of the season just past the midway point of the second period, but Vatrano answered at 16:44 to reestablish the Ducks’ three-goal edge.

Canes’ third period rally

In the third, Teravainen finished on a power play just three minutes into the frame to make it 4-2, and Necas tipped a Michael Bunting shot past Anaheim keeper Lukas Dostal to make it 4-3. Dostal finished with 32 saves on 35 shots and earned the game’s second star.

Carolina pressed more as the third period went along, but couldn’t get another past the young goalie. Fowler and Vatrano ended the Canes’ hopes of a comeback.

Carolina has a day off Monday before facing the San Jose Sharks in the third game of the team’s six-game road trip Tuesday night in San Jose.

Hurricanes edge Kings

In the first game of a six-game road trip as the Hurricanes escape the bustle of the North Carolina State Fair, the Canes also escaped with a shootout win over the L.A. Kings.

Jordan Martinook ended a nine-round shootout when he beat Pheonix Copley with a nifty deke to the backhand.

The Canes started quickly in Saturday’s game, jumping on the Kings for two goals in the first seven minutes and three in the first 14 to take a commanding lead.

Brent Burns had the first, Aho the second, and Jesperi Kotkaniemi the third.

Defender Drew Doughty got one back for Los Angeles before the opening period ended.

Brendan Lemieux scored his first as a Hurricane in his first game of the season, and it came against one of his former teams. His snapper at 3:03 of the second period came as Jack Drury ran some interference in front of Copley.

Anze Kopitar and Trevor Moore sandwiched a pair of power play goals around Teuvo Teravainen’s second strike of the season to close out the second period with the Canes on top 5-3.

Carolina scoring depth

The Hurricanes last season didn’t have a single player among the NHL leaders in scoring — none in the top 50. But the Canes still finished in the middle of the pack in scoring as a team, netting 262 regular-season goals, good for 15th in the league.

That scoring-by-committee worked in the regular season, but caused some consternation in the playoffs, when Carolina struggled to score in crucial moments. Some argued that was an extension of a similar problem from a year before, though also a symptom of missing Andrei Svechnikov and Max Pacioretty to injuries.

So what did the Canes do? They added two defenders and gritty forwards in the offseason, though one of those forwards — Michael Bunting — is known to score in addition to providing sandpaper.

The result?

Through two games, the Canes scored 10 goals — off the sticks of nine different skaters.

Teravainen is the lone Carolina skater with two goals this season, earning his second Saturday on a shorthanded strike.

Penalties galore

If it feels like there have been an inordinate amount of penalties already this season, it’s not your imagination. The Hurricanes have now taken 26 minutes in penalties through two games — 16 Saturday alone — a 13-minute per-game average.

Across the league, the number of penalties early in the season is typically higher earlier in the season as officials attempt to establish the season’s parameters, and often point of emphasis in the beginning part of the campaign.

Saturday, those penalties offered a mixed bag for the Canes, who gave up a pair of power play goals against, but also scored a pair shorthanded, coming out a net-even while skating shorthanded.

The biggest impact of the Kings’ seven power plays, though, may have come after the sixth power play finished. The Kings, with all the momentum even after the Canes killed off a call on Seth Jarvis, completed a broken play into an empty net as Carolina struggled to find its footing in the defensive zone. Vladislav Gavrikov was the beneficiary on that one, pulling the Kings to within a goal at 5-4.

Two games, two wins for Andersen

No one will look at Andersen’s stats through two games of this young NHL season and immediately anoint him a Vezina Trophy candidate.

Two games, eight goals allowed. Factoring in overtime, Andersen’s goals-against average is a shade under 4.00. His save percentage is well under .900.

And yet: The Canes are 2-0.

A year ago, Andersen battled through multiple injuries in the regular season and played in just 34 games, registering 21 wins against 11 losses. His 2.48 GAA and .903 save percentage were mid- to lower-pack in the NHL in the regular season, as well.

But in the playoffs, Andersen was stellar, even in the series loss to Florida. His 1.83 GAA was second-best in the playoffs among goalies with more than one game played (he played nine), and his save percentage of .927 was fifth with the same parameters.

The Hurricanes offense had trouble generating chances against Copley on Saturday, and the overall defense has been leakier than usual, allowing 60 shots through two games. But Andersen, despite giving up five goals, was solid when he needed to be Saturday to post the win.

This story was originally published October 15, 2023 at 1:53 AM.