The
Carolina Hurricanes fell 2-1 in overtime last night to the
Columbus Blue Jackets in a defensive chess match. While the game did have a few exciting offensive opportunities, much of it was a tight game that showcased D play and goaltending.
The Hurricanes started strong in the first period and appeared to set the pace. Many of their scoring chances throughout the game came in the first frame.
One chance that stuck out notably was early in the first period.
Teuvo Teräväinen got a “two-on-one” on a transitional play, but
Sergei Bobrovsky stopped his low shot. This chance was a pivotal save early to keep the game tied and not swing momentum to a buzzing Hurricanes team early.
Looking further into the first period, the fourth line had some solid shifts cycling the puck and controlling possession.
Joakim Nordstrom showed a lot of confidence and won some battles below the goal-line that created good scoring chances. He won one battle around the seven-minute mark and found
Marcus Kruger for an in-close one-timer that Bobrovsky stopped on his blocker side with his pad.
The best scoring chance belonged to the Blue Jackets as Darling made a dazzling glove save with around seven minutes in the period on
Markus Hännikäinen. Sonny Milano was on
Scott Darling’s glove side when he found Hännikäinen wide open on Darling’s blocker side. Ultimately, Darling was able to read the play and make an incredible glove save going against his momentum.
Despite both sides getting some good scoring chances in the first period, both goalies were dialed in early and kept the score tied.
The momentum appeared to change in the second period and tilt to the Blue Jackets. It was apparent that Blue Jackets’ head coach
John Tortorella wanted them to slow down the Hurricanes in the neutral zone and be more physical.
The physical game especially stood out as the Blue Jackets had sixteen hits in the second, as opposed to only six in the first period. Also, the blocks and giveaways indicated that the Blue Jackets were playing conservative defense and focusing on smart hockey – they had eleven blocks and only two giveaways at the end of the second. In comparison, the Hurricanes had five blocks, eleven hits, and eight giveaways.
Despite the Blue Jackets playing tighter in the second period, the Hurricanes still found a few prime chances that Bobrovsky handled. Around the eleven minute mark into the period
Jeff Skinner put a shot on net that was blocked by
Brandon Dubinsky and landed backdoor on
Janne Kuokkanen’s stick for a prime opportunity. Bobrovsky slide across making an excellent pad save on his glove side and also fought off a rebound chance too.
Skinner found Kuokkanen again in the period with around four minutes remaining with a pass in the high slot. Kuokkanen had a lot of space and let off a shot that Bobrovsky was able to challenge and eat up easily though.
The third period was similar to the second, and the Blue Jackets continued to try to impose their physical game on the Hurricanes. They had a few early chances that Darling handled well, but the first half of the third was relatively a stalemate.
It wasn’t until a draw in the Hurricanes defensive zone that the scoreless game was broken. The Blue Jackets won the faceoff and shot the puck wide of the net on the near side. Milano picked the puck off the backboards and wrapped the puck around on Darling’s glove side for the goal at 9:59 into the third. It appeared to take an unfortunate bounce off of Darling’s pad as the puck barely squeaked through.
Milano, a rookie, has been an offensive bright spot this season for the Blue Jackets. The goal was his third on the season and extended his scoring streak to three games.
The Hurricanes rebounded well though and began to create quality scoring chances in the last six minutes of play.
Jordan Staal had a prime scoring opportunity as the Blue Jackets misplayed the puck behind their net and it landed six feet in front of the net on Staal’s stick. Bobrovsky came up big again as he was able to make the glove save and cover the puck.
The Hurricanes had a few other chances by Teräväinen,
Victor Rask, and
Sebastian Aho but still couldn’t beat Bobrovsky.
It took an errant clear by Columbus that Skinner picked out of the air with his glove to tie the game. Once Skinner grabbed the puck out of the air, he was alone in the slot to walk-in to score his first goal of the season on a nearside shot that beat Bobrovsky with 1:25 remaining.
The overtime started off slowly as a puck possession battle. Columbus kept the puck for the almost the entire first minute until TT created a turnover that ultimately led to a backdoor opportunity that Panarin took a slash on to prevent Staal’s chance.
The powerplay created some tremendous one-timer chances, but Bobrovsky continued to stand tall. He made two very confident gloves saves on Aho and Skinner on chances in tight. By the end of the powerplay, the Hurricanes had established a large shot advantage.
Once the Blue Jackets returned to full-strength the game opened up a lot. The Blue Jackets missed a great chance, and it resulted in a Hurricanes “three-on-one” that saw Aho riffle a one-timer wide on what appeared to be a relatively open net. The puck bounced around the boards and out of the offensive zone landing on Milano’s stick who went on to score on the breakaway. The shots in the OT period were seven to one.
Milano’s fourth of the season was probably his prettiest, as he did a forehand-backhand move that appeared to catch Darling off-guard. The move was similar to the one that
Jaccob Slavin used on
Alex Stalock in the shootout on Saturday against the Wild.
The game was one of many defensive battles the Hurricanes will most likely play in a tough Metro division. Overall, Darling had a strong game and finished with 27 saves on 29 shots. Bobrovsky was a wall all night and stopped 38 of 39 shots.
The Hurricanes fly to Winnipeg on Friday and are set to play them Saturday at 7:00 pm ET.
Carolina Hurricanes Blogger • 
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