Hurricanes take down defending champ Vegas as Andrei Svechnikov returns to the lineup
Andrei Svechnikov was back.
For the Carolina Hurricanes, so was that winning feeling.
Svechnikov got the Canes started Tuesday with a power-play goal in the first period, providing a quick jolt of energy, and they ignited for three goals in the second in picking up a decisive 6-3 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights.
Yes, those guys, the reigning Stanley Cup champions. Vegas also has the best record in the league this season and came to PNC Arena having scored 29 goals in their past six games.
As Canes center Sebastian Aho said before the game: “To be the best you have to beat the best.”
The Canes (17-12-3) could not do that last season, losing both times to the Knights. But goalie Pyotr Kochetkov patrolled the crease with confidence, making 30 saves, and those in front of him were more than stout enough, getting a lot of sticks on pucks.
Michael Bunting had a goal and two assists for the Canes, who had 11 players on the scoresheet. Aho finished with three assists, defenseman Brady Skjei had a goal and assist, and Jordan Staal and Jesperi Kotkaniemi each had even-strength scores.
The Canes scored three times on the power play after going 0-for-5 in the shootout loss Sunday to the Washington Capitals while killing off all four penalties — a perfect night on special teams. Bunting had a second-period power-play strike and Seth Jarvis poked in a loose puck early in the third for a 5-1 lead.
Skjei added a sixth goal to further liven a festive crowd.
“It was nice to see us get rewarded,” Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “All year, pucks haven’t been going in and tonight they did.
“I think it’s good for the guys to (feel), ‘All right, I got rewarded tonight for what we’ve been doing.’ We’ve been playing, I think, really well here lately. It’s just tough finding the net.”
Svechnikov, after missing six games with a lower-body injury, put a big hit on Alex Pietrangelo in the first period along the boards. The power forward had five hits in the game, most of the crunching variety.
“I wasn’t sure how he’d look because he hasn’t played, but he was impactful,” Brind’Amour said. “That’s what we were missing.”
William Carrier scored twice for Vegas (21-7-5) and Jack Eichel added one in the third. Goalie Logan Thompson started but was lifted in the third period for Jiri Patera.
Takeaways from the game:
Back and playing: No. 37
Svechnikov was back in the lineup and back making a difference for the Canes. His power-play goal in the first period, on a shot from the right circle, had the sellout crowd thundering.
“Whenever you score you have that confidence,” Svechnikov said. “You feel easier on the ice. I had some juice and tried to make some plays and hit some guys.”
Svechnikov was out for 15 days after taking a cross check in the lower back from Winnipeg’s Logan Stanley in the Dec. 4 road game. He played the next game, in Edmonton, but then needed time to heal.
Before Tuesday’s game, Brind’Amour said Svechnikov was “chomping at the bit” to play.
“He’s one of our best players and we’ve been missing him,” Brind’Amour said. “All these games where it has been tight all the way, that’s the kind of guy you need out there a guy who can be a game-changer. ... His physical presence, all the stuff he brings, is what we’ve been missing.”
Svechnikov suffered an ACL injury — against Vegas — in March and missed the first eight games of this season. It took him 12 games to get his first goal.
Unexpected matchup in net
The 2023 Stanley Cup champions rolled into Raleigh to face a team some believed was the Cup favorite this season, and the starting goalies were … Pyotr Kochetkov and Logan Thompson?
Such is the goaltending situation that is problematic for both teams. The Canes’ Frederik Andersen is out with a blood-clotting issue and Antti Raanta now in the AHL with Chicago, winning his first start Tuesday with the Wolves.
It’s Kochetkov’s net and he had the Canes fans loudly letting out “K-ooch” cheers with some scrambling stops around the net.
“Koochie has been great for us. He was solid, composed,” Bunting said. “Every game he plays, he’s gaining confidence.”
The Golden Knights are again without Adin Hill, he of the Stanley Cup run. Hill, who has played 15 games this season and is a league leader in goals-against average (1.93), is said to have a lower-body injury.
Thompson, playing for the eighth time in nine games, allowed the Svechnikov goal in the first, then had the Canes buzzing around him in the second after some long shifts in the Vegas zone. Jesper Fast found Staal open on the backdoor for one goal, Kotkaniemi cashed in for the second and Bunting on the power play.
Kotkaniemi, after a solid start to the season, had gone 10 games without a point but picked up his ninth goal. He said his grandparents had never seen him play in the NHL but were at PNC Arena.
Power play powerful
The Knights had the fifth-best penalty kill in the league but could not deny the Canes this day.
The puck movement was good and there were finishers, starting with Svechnikov. Aho figured into all three power-play goals with his assists and Bunting has the primary assist on Jarvis’ goal.
“We built momentum off the power play and obviously that’s huge,” Bunting said. “You keep rolling off it.
“Any time the power play goes out there, even if you don’t score, you want to gain momentum and create chances. Obviously we did well.”
This story was originally published December 19, 2023 at 9:46 PM.
