The Carolina Hurricanes are riding a two-game winning streak, after sweeping the Alberta section of their road trip with victories over both the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames this week.
On Tuesday, the Hurricanes fell behind early, then ended up in a two-goal hole early in the second frame, with both Oilers’ goals coming off the stick of Connor McDavid. However, the Hurricanes showed a lot of resilience, battling back in the third period to tie the game, off goals from Shayne Gostisbehere and Eric Robinson. Then after forcing overtime, Sebastian Aho managed to beat Stuart Skinner off a one-timer pass from Martin Necas, with just seconds to go in the extra frame, giving the Hurricanes the extra point.
Then last night in Calgary, the Flames came out strong in the first few minutes, but Carolina quickly took over to carry the play in the opening frame. The Hurricanes opened the scoring on a power play in the back half of the second period, with Seth Jarvis beating Dan Vladar from a good spot, and ended up outshooting Calgary 14-7 in the frame.
A goal from Jack Roslovic extended the lead under a minute into the second period, before Martin Necas struck only a minute after that with a great shot, quickly making it a 3-0 game. Calgary did get one back from ex-Hurricane Jake Bean with seven minutes to go in the second period, but the Hurricanes retained their two-goal lead through 40 minutes.
Calgary did press in the third period, and a goal from Jonathan Huberdeau cut the lead to one with seven minutes to go. However, the Hurricanes fended off the attack, and Eric Robinson buried an empty netter with only a little over a minute remaining, securing a 4-2 win for Carolina.
So after a poor season opener, the Hurricanes have generally looked very good ever since. They’ve won four of their last five games, with all but one of those wins coming on the road as well.
Of those five games, the Hurricanes have allowed two goals or less in four of them. I think there was some cause for concern that losing Brady Skjei and Brett Pesce could really hurt the team’s defensive stability, but so far, Carolina’s blue line has looked perfectly fine. Shayne Gostisbehere continues to be an excellent add, with four goals and six points in his first six games of the season. Especially for just a $3.2 million cap hit, Gostisbehere has been an absolute steal.
They’ve also been getting the goaltending, with both Frederik Andersen and Pyotr Kochetkov playing well in Alberta. Andersen in particular has been extremely steady, posting a .939 save percentage in the three games he’s played.
Up front, Rod Brind’Amour shows time and time again that he’s not afraid to mix up lines, and so far, it’s worked fairly well. While the Hurricanes’ offense may not be as explosive as last season, they’re also getting scoring by committee across their forward group. They’ve managed at least three goals in each of the last five games, with Sebastian Aho and Martin Necas leading the way.
Eric Robinson also deserves some praise. While I was a little skeptical of how Robinson would work out as a regular member of the lineup coming into the year, he’s been a great fit so far. Robinson has a goal and three points, and is consistently effective on the forecheck and in battles.
Meanwhile, Carolina’s power play has been clicking early. They’ve scored five goals on the man advantage over the last four games, and it’s been a huge key to their offense.
So through two-thirds of their six-game road trip, Carolina has looked like they haven’t really missed a step to start the season, despite the offseason losses. The Hurricanes will be back in action tomorrow night, when they face the Seattle Kraken.
OTHER ARTICLES FROM OCTOBER
- Canes could regress this season, but remain set up for long-term success
- Hurricanes open season with 4-1 loss to Lightning
- Hurricanes bounce back to beat Devils for first win of season
- Hurricanes split weekend back-to-back with win over Penguins, loss to Blues
Carolina Hurricanes Blogger • 
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