Starting a long road trip in Sin City, the Hurricanes continued finding a way to win even on less than stellar nights. The Hurricanes played two good periods and one bad one which was enough to win by a 4-2 margin.
My notes follow:
1) Antti Raanta
Because the shot volume was modest, Raanta’s game maybe will not stand out, but after being beaten twice early in the second period, he did well as the last line of defense for the rest of the second period when the Canes were struggling defensively. Thus far Raanta has done exactly what one would want from a backup goalie being able to step in after long layoffs and play well enough to give his team a chance to win, which it has in both of his starts.
2) Horrid second period
Sometime shortly into the second period, the Canes seemed to switch to off. Whereas the 0-4 first period against Florida was mostly just taking and then not being able to kill penalties, the second period in Las Vegas was more of a broad-based break down. The Hurricanes had a run of mismanaging the puck int eir own end and compounding it by missing on defensive zone coverage. The result was two goals against that could have been four or five. Bear had a pass on the wall that Svechnikov was soft on that led quickly to a turnover and goal against when the defenders could not sort out the front of the net. Bear also figured in two missed coverages in front of the net for point blank chances. On the penalty kill, the Hurricanes gave up an odd man rush somehow and left another player uncovered at the side of the net. Brendan Smith was outmuscled for a puck one-on-one for a goal against.
More generally, the Hurricanes played probably their worst period of the season despite giving up only two goals.
3) Better on the book ends
Other than the struggle with attention to detail in the second period, the Hurricanes played a good road game. The Canes had the advantage throughout in terms of puck possession, shots and scoring chances, especially in the first period.
4) Just reward for Seth Jarvis
After unfortunate luck having goals waved off in consecutive games, Jarvis caught a break when a Bear shot caromed straight to him like a pass for a grade A scoring chance and goal.
5) Teuvo Teravainen
Teuvo Teravainen’s smarts were on full display on Tuesday night. He made his usual number of smaller plays taking away passing lanes and angles defensively, but also factored heavily in the Canes scoring when he twice got pucks quickly to the net on a moving goalie with teammates in front. On cue, both shots resulted in juicy rebounds that were quickly banged home by teammates.
6) Just win baby
Staring at a long six-game road trip, the Hurricanes just kept doing what they have been, which is winning.
Next up for the Hurricanes is another late game in Anaheim on Thursday.
Go Canes!
Yes, 40 minutes was enough this time. Raanta made some very good saves. He actually kept the game from being a runaway. The team was somewhere else in the second period. Smith really got pushed out of the play. I was hoping for better defense on that one. He was not Pesce. The thing about Jarvis is he was in the right place for that rebound. He is very sharp and his defense is very good also. He is very impressive. Turbo is scary good.
TonyD is very impressive also, a sniper like a forward and incredible passes. A few misplays defensively but way positive for both sides. Man I am glad he is with us. He is pretty close to replacing Hamilton, probably is. Sure hated loosing Hamilton.
This team does not get down, they keep on going even when they mess up a period.
Matt, the next blogs and all the rest don’t show up (for me), and I have no idea why ? I don’t ignore the fact that my tablet has other issues, soooo I have a reason that could explain the situation… however can you please try to find out what could have happened? Thanks for your time and effort!