After a rough three-game skid during which they scored only five goals, the Carolina Hurricanes scored five against the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night (Dec. 5) to get back into the win column. The win was their 17th of the season and 10th victory at Lenovo Center, giving them a home record of 10-3-0. When it was all said and done, what did the players and head coach Rod Brind’Amour say to the media postgame, specifically The Hockey Writers during the media availabilities? Let’s sound off post-win from Thursday.
Andrei Svechnikov
One of the first people to speak with media was Russian forward Andrei Svechnikov, who finished the night with his first-career four-point game via one goal and three assists. When asked about the resistance of the Hurricanes to maintain the lead despite the Avalanche trying to come back into it, Svechnikov stated, “We are a great team, why we kind of won that game. Obviously, Colorado is a great team as well. It is I guess who was the better team tonight.”
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When it comes down to it, it was about which team played better and came out on top. Despite only having 19 shots all game, the Avalanche have star power and can turn it on when needed. However, the Hurricanes were able to hold them off and get the much-needed win to snap the three-game losing streak.
It also helps when the power play goes two for five on the night and the penalty kill goes for a perfect three for three even after a questionable tripping call on Jack Drury put the team down two men. A night like that for special teams goes a long way when trying to get wins against a tough opponent like the Avalanche.
Jordan Martinook
Speaking of special teams, we had the opportunity to ask alternate captain Jordan Martinook about the special teams and their contributions to the win. Timely kills, especially the aforementioned two-man disadvantage, played a huge role in a key moment for the Hurricanes to stave off the Avalanche who looked to capitalize. Martinook stated, “Timely kills. Especially, that five-on-three. Obviously, if they score then there are still 15 or 16 minutes left at that point. Then, yeah, our power play, that’s what you want. You want that killer instinct to go out and get that goal. It ended up being a huge goal.”
When you have a special team that can shut down a heavy power-play team like the Avalanche it goes a long way, especially when you are to capitalize on your as well. Power play goals by Seth Jarvis and Martin Necas were huge for the Hurricanes to grab the lead and then add to it later on.
In the end, it was what helped garner a Hurricanes victory where the team who won the special-teams battle was most likely to win the game. Guys like Martinook, Jordan Staal, and Jaccob Slavin are huge contributors to the penalty kill so to have them go out and do that is impressive. Overall, not a bad night for the power play and penalty kill units.
Rod Brind’Amour
Finally, during the availability with head coach Rod Brind’Amour, we got to reflect and connect back to the pre-game quotes about depth scoring, mainly Jack Roslovic and Eric Robinson, who connected for two of the five goals in the game. Brind’Amour stated, “We had a really good first period. Kind of almost fortunate to come out of it tied. We gave up that one [Artturi Lehkonen goal], kind of that weird one on the breakaway in the o-zone, which shouldn’t have happened. That was their chance of the period. What was great was the guys that it didn’t faze them, they just kept playing. With the way it’s gone the last few games, it could have gone a different direction. But they didn’t, they just kept playing and we got rewarded tonight.”
It does speak to the Hurricanes’ mentality to not let the Avalanche sow doubt in the team who was looking to get back in the win column. Instead of letting the Lehkonen goal derail them, they fought back and tied the game going into the first intermission. The middle frame saw the team score two goals and maintain the lead for the rest of the night.
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The second question to Brind’Amour was about Svechnikov getting four points on the night and Necas getting another multi-point game, giving him 41 points on the season and being the league leader. He stated, “Svech needed a game like that I think for himself. Like I said, I think he’s still got another level there that he can get too. Marty’s just continued on. I mean, there’s not much more that we can say. He’s just kind of taken it on his shoulders right now on the offensive side of things. He’s been our guy.”
What else is there to say about Necas who now has 41 points and is the fastest Hurricanes player to reach 40, beating out Eric Staal’s 25 games to 26 in that aspect? He also is the third-fastest Czechian player to reach 40 tying David Pastrnak of the Boston Bruins. The only player to do it quicker was Jaromir Jagr (18 games in 1995-96 and 21 in 1999-2000).
Hurricanes’ March Goes On
When it is all said and done, the journey to the 2025 NHL Playoffs continues for the Hurricanes as they travel for a one-game road trip to Long Island to play the New York Islanders. The puck drop will be at 5 p.m. EST and will be televised on FanDuel Sports Network South with Mike Maniscalco and Tripp Tracy. The radio feed will be on 99.9 The Fan.
After a 5-2 loss to the Seattle Kraken on Thursday night, the Islanders will look to grab a win of their own so the Hurricanes need to watch out for that. It’s division points on the line Carolina hopes to take both if before returning home for a four-game homestand.
