Carolina Hurricanes, behind goalie Frederik Andersen, shut down Florida Panthers
The last time the Carolina Hurricanes and Florida Panthers had been on the ice together, it was as much a 60-minute war as it was a hockey game.
Not a goal was scored until the last 20 seconds, the Canes prevailing on a Sebastian Aho score.
It figured to be more of the same Thursday as two of the best teams in the Eastern Conference again tangled at PNC Arena. No niceties, again. No backing off.
The Hurricanes prevailed again, winning 4-0 as goalie Frederik Andersen earned his first shutout of the season with 21 saves in outplaying the Panthers’ Sergei Bobrovsky.
There was something new and different this game: the first “Birdman” celebration at PNC Arena.
Evgeny Kuznetsov scored his first goal with the Hurricanes in the second period. Taking a pass from Jalen Chatfield in the left circle, the center quickly eyed his options, heard his teammates shouting “shoot!’” and did, beating Bobrovsky to the short side.
Talk about loud. It was very loud in the arena as Kuznetsov broke into his arm-flapping “bird celly,” seen for years by Washington Capitals fans.
“It’s been a long time,” Kuznetsov said. “I didn’t want to do it, but I felt like the fans would like it probably. I had fun tonight and I hope everybody in the building had fun.”
The newly formed Kuznetsov line seemingly was dangerous every shift on the ice. Winger Jake Guentzel, in his second game since the trade with Pittsburgh, was involved and engaged. Martin Necas was doing Necas things, scoring in the second period and flying around the offensive zone.
“They were the difference tonight,” Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said.
Guentzel notched his first point with the Canes, assisting on the Necas goal. He also hit the post with an assist.
“I understand why I’m here,” Kuznetsov said. “Not just to be the funny guy and smile. They need us to perform and eventually get the points and goals so we can help the team. It felt like today was the day we had to step up.”
Seth Jarvis had the all-important first goal of the game and got it with 49 seconds left in the first period. His 21st of the season came after Jordan Staal brought the puck into the zone after a stretch pass from Jaccob Slavin, Jarvis whistling a high-shelf shot over Bobrovsky’s blocker.
The Staal line with Jarvis and Jordan Martinook also did the heavy lifting defensively, containing the Aleksander Barkov line. Barkov, Sam Reinhart and Vladimir Tarasenko combined for three shots.
“I’m super proud of our line,” Jarvis said. “Especially in the second period we just gave it to them, grinding real hard.”
The Panthers pulled Bobrovsky for an extra attacker with five minutes left in regulation, only to have Andrei Svechnikov quickly score for the Canes for a 4-0 lead.
Andersen was making his third start since returning from a blood-clotting issue that sidelined him much of the season. After stopping 42 of 45 shots in his first two starts, both wins, he was sharp again against a team that entered the game with 94 points and had won eight of its last nine.
“It feels good,” Andersen said. “I thought we had a really good game today. We had really good defense in our zone.”
The Canes (40-20-6) ended one streak that has been frustrating. For the first time in 18 games, they had more power plays than their opponent — Carolina had five and the Panthers three — although they did not score.
With the trade deadline passed, lineup additions made and the Stanley Cup playoffs approaching, it’s a proper time for the top teams to start measuring up with each other.
The Panthers were the talk of the 2023 playoffs, a wild-card team that swept the Canes in the Eastern Conference final before losing to Vegas in the Stanley Cup Final.
The Panthers (45-18-4) made a splash by adding Vladimir Tarasenko before the trade deadline this month, then picking up veteran Kyle Okposo. They came into Thursday’s game on a heater, winning 14 of 16, but were missing forwards Sam Bennett and Evan Rodrigues.
“Everyone played well and that’s what you have to do against a team like that,” Brind’Amour said.
This story was originally published March 14, 2024 at 9:47 PM.
