After splitting the Southern California games versus the Los Angeles Kings and the Anaheim Ducks, the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday, Oct. 17, and Thursday, Oct. 19, finished the West Coast part of their road trip in San Jose and Seattle. The Hurricanes took on the Sharks on Tuesday and the Kraken on Thursday. By taking a high above look at both games, there is much to take from the Carolina side. How did the team do to finish the last two games on the West Coast? Let us dive in.
Hurricanes Survive Shark Attack in San Jose
For Carolina going into the Sharks game on Tuesday, Oct. 17, the Hurricanes were coming off a tough loss to the Anaheim Ducks. Losing 6-3 to a team who swept them in the regular season series in 2023-24 was not something Carolina needed to start the season. Nonetheless, they were looking for a bounceback game, but it seemed like it would not be easy.
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Much like how it was in the Kings game back on Oct. 14, there were many penalties called on both teams in this game. In total, there were 13 penalties called with six being called on Carolina alone. Special teams in this game proved pivotal, especially for the Hurricanes, as they scored three power-play goals on the night. Two of those came from 21-year-old Seth Jarvis. Over his previous two seasons, Jarvis only had two power-play goals for his young career (both back during the 2021-22 season). In the game versus the Sharks, he scored one during the first period to tie the game. His second came during the third period, in which the Hurricanes scored four in that frame.
However, despite the power-play units going 3-for-7 in the game, the team’s penalty kill did let in two goals on six attempts for the Sharks. Both of San Jose’s power-play goals came during the second period on back-to-back attempts. At the time, those two goals gave the Sharks a 3-2 lead going into the second intermission.
Although, there is credit to be given to the Hurricanes’ penalty kill as Jaccob Slavin scored the team’s fourth shorthanded goal of the season before both of the Sharks power-play goals earlier in the second period.
The other power-play goal that Carolina received in the game was from Stefan Noesen, who tied the game in the third period. His third-period power-play goal sparked a four-goal final frame for the Hurricanes. As mentioned before, Jarvis would score his second goal of the game a couple of minutes later, followed by goals from Martin Necas and Brett Pesce. Carolina, in the end, beat the Sharks 6-3 to avenge their 6-3 loss against Anaheim. However, it did come with a cost.
One of the other major storylines coming into the Sharks game was that the Hurricanes would be without superstar Sebastian Aho, as he was a last-minute scratch due to an upper-body injury. That forced Carolina to play with 11 forwards and seven defensemen. Furthermore, they had to jumble the lineup up to include Teuvo Teravainen to become the team’s first-line center, along with swapping Jarvis and Necas on the right wing. There was a fair amount of roster shuffling from the loss of Aho right away.
However, it would not be any easier as just over five minutes into the game, goaltender Frederik Andersen had to be taken out of the game after taking a puck to the mask. On the replay, it showed the puck hitting the front of his mask and jerking his head backward. While getting checked out by the Hurricanes; medical staff, they took him out to get checked on. He did not come back in the game due to precautionary reasons, and Antti Raanta came in for relief.
Raanta ended up stopping 12 of 14 shots in his 54:12 of relief but did give up two power-play goals in the process. Despite the two power-play goals that were given up, Raanta played well coming in cold and after playing in the Anaheim game two nights before. Carolina did win the game, as mentioned before, but now they were probably without Andrei Svechnikov, Aho, and Andersen going into the Seattle Kraken game. Not having those three and how many games this team played since Oct. 14 played a factor in the next game.
Seattle Released the Kraken on Carolina
The Hurricanes coming into the Kraken game were looking to string back-to-back wins on their road trip after leaving California 2-1-0. However, the team would be going into the game without Aho for the second-straight game and Andersen due to his removal from the Sharks game. On Wednesday, Oct. 18, the Hurricanes would recall goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov from his American Hockey League (AHL) loan stint with the Syracuse Crunch.
The move indicated that Carolina wanted to give Andersen time to rest after taking the puck to the mask on Oct. 17 in San Jose. Without Aho back on the roster again, the team had to run with the same lineup from the Sharks game. It was clear from the start of the game that the Hurricanes were sluggish versus the Kraken. The team was coming into their fourth game in six days, and they looked gassed.
Seattle scored three goals in the first period with two of them being special teams goals. One of them was a power-play goal scored by Jayden Schwartz and a shorthanded marker scored by Pierre-Edouard Bellemare with under a minute left. However, Carolina did score a goal 19 seconds for a quick response after the Kraken’s first goal. Jesper Fast helped captain Jordan Staal win the faceoff in the Seattle zone and passed it to Slavin, who ended up throwing it on the net. The puck managed to bounce off of Fast and into the net to tie the game.
At the time, that was a great sign for the Hurricanes to get one back right away for a fast response. However, as mentioned earlier, Seattle would score two more to take a 3-1 lead into the first intermission.
The Kraken, in the second period, scored early and forced the Hurricanes to replace starter Antti Raanta for backup goalie Kochetkov. Raanta ended the night saving 14 of 18 shots faced before getting pulled. Kochetkov went on stopping 15 of 17 shots that he faced along with claiming the loss on the night.
Despite losing in the end 7-4 to the Kraken, there were some bright spots in the game. Just like in the Sharks game, Jarvis scored two more goals in this game to bring his total to four in the early 2023-24 season. Both of his goals came in the third period, with his second being a power-play goal. After five games, Jarvis has four goals and six points on the season. He is playing phenomenal hockey to start the 2023-24 season in a contract year. He will be a restricted free agent (RFA) after the season, but he is playing well to get a sizeable extension with the team. Maybe a three or four-year extension in the $5 million to $6 million range?
Related: Hurricanes’ Jarvis Aims for Breakout 2023-24 Season
Just looking at the special teams play alone, he has scored three power-play goals in the last two games, which is more than he did in the last two seasons combined. Three power-play goals in five games is a really great pace for any special team in the league, but more so for Carolina, who made that a priority in the offseason. He has certainly been the X-Factor for the Hurricanes on the special teams.
While it was the special teams that sank the Hurricanes in the Seattle game, it also produced for them as well to an extent. Carolina’s power-play went 1-for-2 on the night after going 3-for-7 versus the Sharks in the previous game. However, the penalty kill did give up another two goals for the second straight game. The Hurricanes are known for their strong penalty kill, but it seemed like it is struggling to start the season.
Head Coach Rod Brind’Amour after the game stated “We got back in the game, give the guys credit for that. But again, it’s the same things. We’re not sharp defensively right now. We’re just taking little breathers. It’s just killing us. Strange, because we’ve been doing this for a long time and doing it really well. This five-game segment, we don’t have it figured out. We’ve got to get better at it. We’re scoring enough and we’re getting enough changes. We’re going to create enough offense, but we’re definitely giving up way too much.”
Right now the defense on even strength and the penalty kill are struggling and they hope to turn it around soon. Seth Jarvis said it best after the game too “We sucked the first period and a half, basically. You can’t spot a team 3-0 or 3-1 and expect to come back in this league. We’ve got a lot of stuff to figure out and it starts in our own end.”. For a young player like Jarvis to come out and say that shows some leadership and accountability from the 21-year-old.
The way Jarvis took the approach in the offseason to get stronger, faster, and better along with his accountability of how things have been for the Hurricanes, there might need to be a discussion for him to get a letter on his jersey in the future. The 21-year-old forward from Winnipeg already five games into the 2023-24 season is maturing quickly and showing great leadership from a younger guy on a team with leaders like Slavin, Aho, Jordan Staal, and Jordan Martinook. This will be something to keep an eye on as the season moves forward.
What is next for Carolina?
Despite how the West Coast portion of the trip went, the Hurricanes leave 2-2-0 and are heading to Colorado to face the Avalanche on Saturday, Oct. 21 at Ball Arena. Right now, it is not clear if Andersen or Aho will be available for the game. If those two are not available for Carolina, it might be another tough battle for the team going into their fifth game in seven days, including a back-to-back to start the trip.
Colorado just came off a 4-0 win over the Chicago Blackhawks. The Avalanche do not have to travel with having Friday, Oct. 20 off, as well, so they will be more rested than Carolina coming into the game. When it comes to who will start in the net for the Hurricanes, the best case is to go with Kochetkov to give Raanta a rest after playing in three games already this week between Anaheim, San Jose, and Seattle. If they do not have Aho for the third-straight game, expect another 11-7 configuration, once again.
The hope is to see a bounce-back game for the Hurricanes, it all depends on if the legs are going, and if they can limit penalties and defensive mistakes. There is no question that the team can score goals. It only comes down to them limiting the goals they’ve been allowing after five games into the season. Saturday’s game versus the Avalanche will certainly be an interesting one for the Hurricanes. Will they be able to come away with a win while down players and the defense struggling?
