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The Carolina Hurricanes won their fourth game in a row last night, picking up a 5-4 overtime victory against the Dallas Stars.
The Hurricanes were coming off two wins this week already, wrapping up their impressive six-game road trip with a 1-0 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday, before opening their homestand with a 3-2 win against the Seattle Kraken on Thursday.
The Hurricanes ended up having a pretty even matchup against the Red Wings on Tuesday. They put together a solid opening frame and capitalized on a power play before the end of the first period, with Brady Skjei scoring his fifth goal of the season. While Carolina took a lot of penalties in the second period and were outshot pretty badly, but Pyotr Kochetkov was steady and after the Hurricanes completely limited Detroit’s chances in the third period, Kochetkov picked up his second straight shutout, in a 1-0 win.
It was huge to see the Hurricanes put together such a dominant road trip, going 5-0-1 over their six road games, dating back to their win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Nov. 29.
Then in the first game of their four-game homestand on Thursday, the Hurricanes put together a dominant performance against the Seattle Kraken, despite coming away with just a 3-2 win. They came out strong and struck midway through the first period off a goal from Andrei Svechnikov, after dominating the first half of the frame. Then as Carolina continued to completely control the period, Derek Stepan ended up scoring off a nice shot off a rush, putting the Hurricanes up by two. Stefan Noesen made it 3-0 early in the second period off a penalty shot, but Seattle did get back into the game a bit after that, with Ryan Donato getting one back for the Kraken later in the frame. Despite Carolina still controlling the play after that and generating a ton of good chances, Daniel Sprong ended up making it a one-goal game in the third period, off a tough goal for Pyotr Kochetkov to give up. The Hurricanes held on from there though, picking up a 3-2 win after outshooting the Kraken by a massive 39-17 margin and putting together a great game.
The Hurricanes then faced another tough test last night against the Dallas Stars. Carolina once again got off to a good start though, with Stefan Noesen opened the scoring on a power play about six minutes into the game, tipping in a shot from Teuvo Teravainen. It was a pretty balanced frame overall, but with about three minutes to go in the period, Andrei Svechnikov took a pass coming out of the box and managed to make a zone entry, before beating Scott Wedgewood with a well-placed shot coming down the wing making it a 2-0 game. Dallas did manage to get one back before the end of the frame though, as Joe Pavelski tipped in a shot from Jason Robertson, cutting the lead to one after 20 minutes.
The Hurricanes then got into some penalty trouble early in the second period and Jamie Benn managed to tip in a shot on a power play, tying the game at 2-2 early in the frame. However, Carolina completely took over the frame after that and drew some penalties to end up with multiple power play chances of their own. Then with about six minutes remaining in the period, Martin Necas made a nice pass to Teuvo Teravainen down low, who banked the puck off Wedgewood and in to put Carolina back ahead.
Then in the final frame, Seth Jarvis made a great individual effort to drive to the net with the puck and tucked it past Wedgewood, extending Carolina’s lead early in the period. However, the Stars did get one back midway through the frame, as Tyler Seguin tipped in a point shot from Colin Miller. Then under two minutes later, the Hurricanes got caught in their end and Jason Robertson managed to find Jani Hakanpaa in the slot, who slid the puck through Antti Raanta to tie the game. Neither team could capitalize again in regulation, as the game continued to overtime.
In the extra frame, the Hurricanes struggled for the first stretch, with players being caught on ice for a good while before a whistle. However, after getting new bodies on the ice after a stoppage, Andrei Svechnikov and Martin Necas ended up with a 2-on-1, and while they couldn’t convert on the initial attempt, Svechnikov followed up to get the puck out from behind the net to an open Necas, who gave Carolina the win.
It’s another big win for the Hurricanes against a tough opponent, after a hard-fought game. Carolina did let Dallas back into the game twice, giving up two separate two-goal leads, but there was a lot to like about the performance.
Making the wins even more impressive is the fact the Hurricanes have been without Sebastian Aho for their entire four-game winning streak, going back to their game against the New York Islanders last Saturday. Carolina has had issues in terms of not getting offense outside of their top three forwards this season, so it’s really positive to see his absence hasn’t had a huge impact on their success.
Contributing to the success is the fact that through the first three games of their winning streak (vs. NYI, CAR and SEA), the Hurricanes allowed a combined two goals. Even if they’re not scoring a ton, if Carolina is able to limit offense in the way they have, it’s going to be a lot easier to win games.
As of now, the Hurricanes have won eight of their last nine games and haven’t suffered a regulation loss in almost a month (Nov. 23 against the Arizona Coyotes).
The Hurricanes will be back in action this afternoon for the third game of their current homestand, when they host the Pittsburgh Penguins, who are in the midst of their own seven-game winning streak.
OTHER ARTICLES FROM DECEMBER
Jordan Martinook scores hat trick, Canes down Blues for third straight win
Hurricanes beat Kings for fourth straight win
Hurricanes’ four-game winning streak snapped in overtime loss to Ducks
Hurricanes continue impressive road trip with shutout win over Islanders
Pyotr Kochetkov looks like Hurricanes' long-term solution in net 
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