The Carolina Hurricanes hosted the Vegas Golden Knights after their six-game, 12-day road trip on Tuesday night. It was the final game of the season series between the two teams, as the Golden Knights won the first game 4-1 on Oct. 20 in Las Vegas. Both teams were looking for a win as the visitors had lost two straight, while the Hurricanes lost on Saturday, Oct. 25, to the Dallas Stars. As the final horn sounded, the Golden Knight completed the season sweep, winning 6-3 over the Hurricanes.
Game Recap
The Hurricanes seemed to be in control of the game early, at one point outshooting the Golden Knights 3-0. It was even more evident that on their first power play of the game, it only took one second on the man-advantage to get out front early. After going pointless through the first eight games of the season, Andrei Svechnikov was able to get the puck in the net after Akira Schmid got a piece of it with his glove. They don’t ask how; only how many. Sebastian Aho was able to keep his point streak alive, now at nine games, with the assist. The Hurricanes’ power play going into the game was 2-for-29 (6.9%), and after one period, it was 1-for-1.
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However, the Golden Knights struck for two of their own goals, including one on the power play. Both came from Pavel Dorofeyev, and he now has nine goals on the season. Following the first five minutes of the game, where it was all Hurricanes, the final 10 or so minutes of the game were all Vegas. The Hurricanes outshot the Golden Knights 8-6 through the first 20 minutes; however, the visitors had a 2-1 lead after one period.
The second period only saw one goal, but it was a huge one for the Hurricanes. Jordan Martinook, with individual effort, stripped Jack Eichel of the puck, got a breakaway, and scored to make it a 2-2 game. He was a one-man wrecking crew during the period, with two huge blocked shots, and even some needed clearing on some penalty kill chances. His effort paid off with his first goal of the season. Frederik Andersen made some key saves in the period with some help from his defensemen to keep this game 2-2.
Joel Nystrom left during the period after his mouth got busted open, following a shot from Brayen McNabb. That put the Hurricanes down to four defensemen, as Shayne Gostisbehere (lower-body injury) left during the first period and was ruled out for the rest of the game. Despite being outshot 17-8 in the period, it was 2-2 after 40 minutes.
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The Hurricanes were able to grab their first lead of the game since the first period. The goal came after a great sequence from Taylor Hall to Jackson Blake to Logan Stankoven, who buried his third of the season. It looked like the Hurricanes might sustain a lead; unfortunately, the Golden Knights had other ideas. Eichel scored two in the third period in the middle of a four-goal run from the visitors as Brett Howden and Tomas Hertl bookended the onslaught.
The Hurricanes took their first home loss of the season and are now on a two-game losing streak. They take on the New York Islanders on Thursday, Oct. 30. The Golden Knights will face the Colorado Avalanche at home on Oct. 31.
