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The Carolina Hurricanes managed to escape with a win in their final game before the holiday break, defeating the Philadelphia Flyers 6-5 yesterday.
Antti Raanta made his second start in a row, with Pyotr Kochetkov not at 100 percent. Sebastian Aho returned to the lineup after missing the last seven games, centering Teuvo Teravainen and Seth Jarvis. Jesperi Kotkaniemi moved down to the fourth line as a result, while Jack Drury came out of the lineup. Meanwhile, Brady Skjei returned after a one-game absence, replacing Dylan Coghlan.
Carolina was a bit slow to start, with Raanta being forced to make a couple good stops in the first few minutes. It paid off, because only four minutes into the game, Jesper Fast beat Samuel Ersson (who was making his first NHL start), to open the scoring. The Flyers did end up responding a bit later though, with Travis Sanheim entering Carolina’s zone and getting to a good position, before putting a well-placed shot past Raanta to tie the game.
Carolina dominated a lot of the frame though, and ended up outshooting the Flyers 14-5. They got back ahead shortly after on a power play, as Martin Necas ripped a powerful wrist shot from long-range to score (that was later credited to Stefan Noesen off a tip). The Hurricanes weren’t done there, and with under a minute left, Jordan Martinook made a great pass to Fast, who buried his second of the game, to put Carolina ahead 3-1 after 20 minutes.
Ex-Hurricane Tony DeAngelo scored in his first game back to Carolina though, taking a pass on a rush after just about everyone was caught up ice and beat Raanta only a minute into the second. Once again though, Carolina responded shortly after, with Martin Necas putting a nice drop pass to Andrei Svechnikov, who ripped a shot past Ersson to reinstate the two-goal lead. That’s Svechnikov’s 18th of the season, now on pace for 43 goals.
The Hurricanes just continued to pile on after that, as Jordan Martinook tipped in a point shot from Brett Pesce a couple minutes later, making it a 5-2 game. That was it for Ersson, being pulled in his first NHL start, as the Flyers brought in Carter Hart. You have to feel a bit bad for Ersson though, getting into his first NHL action on the road against a division-leading team who’s been red hot lately. He wasn’t necessarily set up for success.
Hart remained in the game for about eight minutes, but on a Carolina power play later, Rasmus Ristolainen pushed Seth Jarvis into him and as Hart was falling into the net, Jesperi Kotkaniemi scored to make it a 6-2 game. There was nothing Jarvis could’ve done about it, but Hart had to exit the game from there and Ersson came right back into action for the end of the second frame.
The Flyers did get one back in the third period, as Antti Raanta got spun around after some contact in front and Nick Seeler’s point shot found its way in. Then only 42 seconds later, Scott Laughton ended up getting a chance off a shorthanded rush and he managed to beat Raanta and all of a sudden, it was a two-goal game. The Flyers weren’t done there, and only a few minutes later, the Hurricanes were once again caught up ice on a power play and Travis Konecny ended up on what was yet another shorthanded breakaway for Philadelphia, beating Raanta with a nice shot. It went from a completely dominant performance for the Hurricanes, to being up in the air as to whether they’d be able to hold off Philadelphia for the rest of regulation.
Then right afterwards, Paul Stastny took a tripping penalty and while the Flyers couldn’t convert, they pressured the Hurricanes afterwards with some chances to tie it. However, the Hurricanes managed to hang on and survived the late surge, taking the 6-5 win.
Obviously, the game didn’t end as expected, and the Hurricanes came dangerously close to blowing a huge lead.
They were lacking a sense of urgency (and even focus) in the final frame, and it seemed like they were prepared to just cruise to the win. Giving up two shorthanded goals in the same period is brutal.
But again, they got the win. Carolina dominated the majority of the first two periods and so while yeah, it might have been more of a feel-good win if Carolina hadn’t come so close to disaster, a win’s a win. They now enter the break on an eight-game winning streak, along with a 14-game point streak.
It was also important to see the Hurricanes’ power play actually convert, not just once, but twice. It’s arguably been the team’s one major weakness to this point, ranking 27th overall so far this season.
Another quick note though: I’ve been a big fan of Antti Raanta since before the Hurricanes brought him in, and last season, he was about as good of a backup goalie as you could ask for. This year though, it’s becoming pretty difficult to feel confident with him in net. It’s not like he’s allowing bad goals, but he just can’t seem to consistently come up with important saves. He certainly did hold strong in the final few minutes, but that was also after giving up five goals already. He just hasn’t been the same goalie this season, posting an .886 save percentage.
Regardless, the Hurricanes enter the holiday break with a franchise-record 14-game point streak. The concern is that maybe Carolina can’t sustain their momentum after the break but at the same time, they looked to be out of gas in the third period last night, so a bit of time off may do some good.
Carolina will be back in action on Tuesday, when they host the Chicago Blackhawks.
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
Hurricanes continue to build momentum following successful road trip
Hurricanes beat Penguins in key Metropolitan clash for fifth straight win
Hurricanes take down Devils for top spot in Metropolitan Division
Stefan Noesen proving to be important piece for Hurricanes
Canes earn another victory over Penguins, extend win streak to seven games 
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