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The Carolina Hurricanes picked up their second home win in a row last night, defeating the Edmonton Oilers 6-3.
Jalen Chatfield checked into action on the bottom pairing in place of Tony DeAngelo, while Antti Raanta got the start in net.
The majority of the first half of the opening period was pretty quiet, with the only true chances coming on a power play for Carolina. Teuvo Teravainen put a shot off the post, and while the Oilers went back down ice on a partial 2-on-0, they couldn’t get a shot on net.
However, Jesper Fast opened the scoring near the midway mark of the period, after Jalen Chatfield’s point shot dropped down right in front of him, for Fast to shovel it into open net. Then only 35 seconds later, Connor Brown turned the puck over for Jack Drury and Michael Bunting to go down ice on a 2-on-1, and Drury finished off a nice passing play, quickly making it a 2-0 game.
Not even two minutes after that, the top line created a turnover on the forecheck, and Sebastian Aho slid a pass over to Teravainen, who buried a third Hurricanes’ goal. Carolina wasn’t done there, and after a couple more chances, Seth Jarvis used his speed to take a pass coming down the win, and beat Skinner with a good shot, making it a 4-0 game.
Zach Hyman did get one back for the Oilers on a power play a couple minutes later, but the Hurricanes remained up 4-1 after an explosive first period.
Pyotr Kochetkov entered the game for the start of the second period, with Antti Raanta leaving exiting for what were described as precautionary reasons. Then early in the second frame, Martin Necas managed to reinstate the four-goal lead, taking a pass in front from Andrei Svechnikov and then burying the rebound from his own shot, only two minutes into the frame.
We saw a fairly quiet period from there though, with neither team getting a high volume of chances. Carolina did have a power play midway through the frame, before some time was spent on 4-on-4 a little later, and while it looked like Sebastian Aho made it 6-1, the goal was called back on an offside challenge. Then shortly after, Mattias Ekholm buried a shorthanded goal for the Oilers, quickly making it a three-goal game, rather than what could’ve been a five-goal game. Regardless, the Hurricanes remained up 5-2 through 40 minutes.
Zach Hyman cut the lead to two early in the third period though, redirecting a pass in-close. The Hurricanes let Edmonton back into the game a little bit from there, with the Oilers generating a lot of momentum as the period went on, and spending quite a bit of time in Carolina’s end. But with Edmonton on a power play with only a minute to go and their net empty, Brent Burns sent the puck down ice into the empty net, securing a 6-3 win for Carolina.
Obviously, the huge first period drove the Hurricanes to the win, looking maybe better than they have all season through much of the opening frame. They were creating turnovers everywhere, creating issues for defenders on the forecheck, and attacking them at the point for odd-man rushes the other way.
Each of the four lines also contributed at least a goal, which was great to see. The Hurricanes often relied on a few key players for the bulk of their goals last season, and seeing so many players generating chances and offense is a big step.
Seth Jarvis in particular had another big game, now with three goals and five points over his last two outings. After a pretty hot start, it was a question as to what kind of offense would be sustainable, but the winger is already at eight goals and 15 points in 18 games this season.
The bottom pairing of Dmitry Orlov and Jalen Chatfield also had a good night, with each defender posting an expected goals percentage of 62 percent at 5-on-5, according to NaturalStatTrick.com. Chatfield also had two assists, and we should expect him to stay in the lineup tomorrow.
Another defenseman who continues to deserve a ton of credit is Brady Skjei. He’s been great this season again, providing defensive stability even when without Brett Pesce for a stretch of games, and is currently leading the Hurricanes’ blue line in points, with 13 points in 18 games.
Perhaps the downside in the win was Raanta leaving the game after the first period. With Frederik Andersen already out, Raanta missing time would be pretty tough as well, even though Rod Brind’Amour reportedly said it isn’t anything serious, per Walt Ruff. Raanta has unfortunately been one of the more injury-prone goalies in the league for several years, and especially only a few days after Jaroslav Halak was released from his professional tryout, Pyotr Kochetkov would be really relied on if Raanta missed time.
But with the win, the Hurricanes improve to 6-1-0 at home this season, as part of their 11-7-0 record overall. The team is back on track, and while they did let their foot off the gas a little bit in the third period last night, there was a ton to like about the performance through much of the matchup.
Carolina will be back in action tomorrow, when they host the Tampa Bay Lightning.
OTHER ARTICLES FROM NOVEMBER
- Hurricanes battle back to beat Islanders in OT, split two-game New York set
- Frederik Andersen out indefinitely, Hurricanes sign Jaroslav Halak to PTO
- Hurricanes continue upward trend with overtime win against Sabres
- Hurricanes' homestand an opportunity to continue gaining ground in East
- Hurricanes open homestand with loss to Flyers
- Hurricanes take down Penguins in Metropolitan Division clash 
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