For Hurricanes faithful that needed evidence that a playoff push was even possible, they got what they needed on Tuesday night.
And for Hurricanes faithful who needed a reminder that the future looks incredibly bright, they got what they needed from a tremendous game and hat trick from Sebastian Aho.
And for the many who (with good reason) called Tuesday’s game a ‘must win’, the Hurricanes rose up and responded.
Recap of the Carolina Hurricanes 5-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers
The Hurricanes started strong and controlled play early. Teuvo Teravainen fed Brock McGinn for a good scoring chance 2-on-1 early in the game. Teravainen also received a decent scoring chance on a Victor Rask pass.
Derek Ryan was sprung for a breakaway chance by a stretch pass from Noah Hanifin, and his line with Jeff Skinner and Lee Stempniak had another early shift that saw Brett Pesce fire into traffic 3 separate times on a hard working shift.
And the fourth line had a strong cycling and forechecking shift playing almost of the entirety of it in the offensive zone.
But the story of the game was Sebastian Aho’s ability to finish repeatedly in a huge hockey game. Hist first goal came when Jordan Staal’s persistence took 3 tries but eventually won a puck on the forecheck. Staal fed Aho coming off the bench and into the play where Aho made a deft skating and stickhandling move to freeze the goalie and make the far side finish look easy. Aho’s second goal when he stole the puck just inside the offensive blue line and fed Elias Lindholm and found the right open spot with a passing lane behind Staal who headed to the front of the net. Aho received the puck and finished to stake the Hurricanes to a 2-0 lead which is how the first period ended. The shot total was 8 to 2 in favor of the Hurricanes.
The second period was more of the same. The Hurricanes continued to stymie and stifle the Flyers who mustered incredibly little offensively all night. And along the way the Hurricanes continued to build their lead. In the second period Aho sniped a finish into the corner of the net for a finish and an early hat trick. Skinner then got into the act when he made a powerful rush to the front of the net and was eventually rewarded in the chaos that ensued when Stempniak fed him for a finish from in front.
By the time the Flyers mustered any kind of a push in the third period, the game was all but over. Justin Faulk scored on a blast from between the circles on a 5-on-3 power play, and the Flyers finally got on the scoreboard more or less after the game was over.
The game had the scoring theme common to the recent 4-game winning streak, but much more significantly, through 2 periods for sure (when the game was still in question), the game was the best that the Hurricanes have played defensively. Ward did make a couple good saves early, but in total the first 2 periods were as close as a goalie can get to a night off in an NHL game. By the time the Hurricanes left even a few openings for the Flyers the game was already over.
‘What I’m watching’ check in
In case you missed it, the game preview is HERE.
1) Jump and intensity out of the gate
The Canes started on time in a big way. Significantly, the Hurricanes carried the intensity level and strong play through the game unlike a few recent losses that saw strong but very short-lived starts subside and give way to lackluster efforts.
2) Who leads and carries?
The team in total played well, but my preview was dead on when I finished by saying, “I will take Sebastian Aho as a dark horse.” Of all the words used in the preview, that was obviously the most prophetic. In talking to another Canes fan after the game, I referred to this game as the “second pillar” for Aho following a huge game in early January that prompted this Sebastian Aho rant for a Daily Cup of Joe.
3) Cam Ward
I grade Ward as an N/A in this game. He did make a couple key saves early but then had very little to do until the game was mostly over in the third period. Half full would be to say that Ward handled the workload presented to him, but the bigger test likely comes this weekend.
4) Tidying up the defense and attention to detail
This was the story of the game and for me by far and away the most significant development team-wise. As I have said in multiple ways in multiple posts, better defensive play is an absolutely critical component to building a sustainable winning run both home and away.
Other notes
The power play: Even before the 2 goals the power play looked better. The first power play which did not score had 4 decent chances and set the stage for a productive night.
Elias Lindholm: In a quieter fashion, Lindholm had another strong game which is becoming a repeated theme of late.
Sebastian Aho: For many elite players, becoming great is not so much a progression or a development schedule. Becoming great is about recognizing and seizing opportunities oftentimes far ahead of any logical schedule. That describes perfectly what Aho did in a huge game that many termed a “must win” for his team.
The defense: As much as Aho’s performance deserves the headlines, I think the stifling game played defensively is actually the most significant development on Tuesday. As I have written about ad nauseam, the Hurricanes’ recent struggles have been rooted in the decreased level of play defensively of late. Tuesday was absolutely exceptional in that regard.
Next up for the Hurricanes is another 3-day break before a big Friday and Saturday back-to-back set first against Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers on Friday and then a road game against the New York Islanders on Saturday.
Go Canes!
It was great to see a full team effort. The intensity was there all game. Ward made key saves when they needed him too. Fun game to watch.
Huge win. Just what the team, and the fans, needed. It might’ve been our best team effort of the season. Putting Aho’s big night aside for the moment, Matt makes a good point to emphasize the play of the defense. The entire defensive core stood tall in all areas of the ice, especially the crucial neutral zone. It never seemed like the Flyers had any momentum when they crossed the blue line. And now to Aho… his natural talent is really starting to bubble to the surface as he gains valuable confidence through playing experience. Yeah, he’s not the biggest guy in the world (and he WILL get bigger), but neither was a certain Edmonton player back in the day. And dare I say that there are some pretty amazing similarities between Aho and Gretzky, besides their size… but I may be getting ahead of myself – it’s just a very good feeling to see a young player starting to bloom, especially after a five game losing skid.
I think Ray Whitney is a very favorable comparison, both in size, and in a relatively slow start to their rookie seasons, but we just saw last night how good he, and the Hurricanes, can be when the light is on. Like any young team, the real key is trying to get that effort consistently, night in and night out. But if anyone questioned the talent and ceiling of this team, this game was absolutely not a fluke. Once these guys put it all together to build that consistent effort and performance, along with the addition of yet more talent, this Hurricanes team could be SCARY good, in the very near future.
Great write up as always… however, I believe that Cam’s save just after we scored our first goal (and his other early saves) were key in this game. If he had not stopped that shot after our goal, it could have brought back all the memories of the past 5 games and could have deflated the team. That was huge as it let the team continue to build on it’s good play.
All six of them hahahahah. Go Canes defense!
A minor correction, Matt – Skinner’s goal came between Aho’s 2nd and 3rd. It helped fire up Skinner and make a huge difference in his play.
I have to agree with ptblespaul – Cam’s bigtime pad save right after Aho’s first goals was a game-saver. The tide could just have easily turned. He actually had two huge saves in the first.
I don’t think there is any historical comparison to Aho – and I think he is going to prove to be one-of-a-kind for the franchise. He had to get comfortable with the NHL game – both the smaller rink and the speed. He has stopped doing his entry into the offensive with the puck, then a 360 looking for a passing lane and a target (although it will be nifty when he rolls that out again from time to time). He has his preferred location – on the corner off the post where he collects passes or rebounds. Every warmup he is practicing his shots from that location. He is out of the heavy traffic area in front of the crease but has a great angle on the net and works on lifting the puck off the ice with that shot. It is all by intent for him. Plus he is running the power play from the boards – he and Lindholm (behind the net) were excellent last night and revived the Canes power play.
Absolutely agree on the defensive improvement – the only real breakdown I saw was on the PK when we were concentrated on the boards and no one picked up Schenn.
But we were quick to the puck and solid at winning the 50-50 battles for it.
This is back to “Canes’ identity”.