On Tuesday, April 30, the Carolina Hurricanes eliminated the New York Islanders 4-1 after winning Game 5 6-3. They did it to a loud PNC Arena with it being packed to the rafters of Caniacs who were excited to see their team advance to the second round of the 2024 NHL Playoffs. It is the sixth straight season of the Hurricanes winning the first round to advance in the playoffs. Head coach Rod Brind’Amour is the second coach in NHL history to win a playoff series in the first six years of his coaching career joining Pat Burns. In terms of the players, what three guys stood out in helping Carolina win the series?
There Is no Stopping Seth Jarvis
If there is someone who had himself a playoff round, look no further than 22-year-old Seth Jarvis. The third-year pro from Winnipeg had himself a regular season posting career highs in goals (33), assists (34), and points (67) and he is showing no signs of slowing down in the playoffs. In five games against the Islanders, he had three goals, seven points, and was a plus-4. He led the Hurricanes in points while being tied in goals with Stefan Noesen and is only one point behind Brady Skjei in assists (five). The way he made his presence felt in the series was evident from Game 1. He threw a massive hit on the sidewall on Islanders defenseman Noah Dobson and it got the crowd in Carolina going which saw the team win 3-1.
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Seeing the growth in Jarvis’ game to where he has the impact he does now is something that the team and fans can appreciate. The former 13th overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft has blossomed over his three seasons with the Hurricanes. His rookie season where he scored 17 goals and tallied 40 points as a 19-year-old showed some promise. However, seeing where it is now with 33 goals and 67 points and leading the team that drafted him in the first round is even better.
Over the first five games in the series, he started on the top line with Jake Guentzel and Sebastian Aho. By the time Game 4 rolled around, he was swapped with Andrei Svechnikov and played on the third line once again with Jordan Staal. Just like in the regular season, Jarvis made an impact on both lines. No matter where Brind’Amour put him in the lineup, he made that line much better and the production picked up for everyone. Jarvis was put into all situations by the coaching staff and he was able to make it work for the Hurricanes in the long run. For him to make that much impact on special teams and even strength at 22 years old shows the maturity and growth he has already in his very young career.
A lot of the credit goes to the Hurricanes’ amateur scouts for seeing the promise in the former Portland Winterhawk of the Western Hockey League (WHL). Jarvis is someone that Carolina will need to lock up long-term no matter how the rest of the playoffs go. As long as he keeps this pace up in a long playoff run for the team, there is no argument for him getting potentially a seven or eight-year deal this summer. Going into Round 2 versus the New York Rangers, the hope is to keep his scoring touch going because if so, he could see six or more points to keep his upward trend into the Conn Smythe talks going.
Mr. Andersen
Coming into the playoffs, it was not clear what the Hurricanes would do with their goaltender situation. On the one hand, the constant swapping of Frederik Andersen and Pyotr Kochetkov was paying off over the last 20 games of the regular season. However, there was a case to be made for riding the hot hand in the playoffs like teams have done in the postseason. Andersen got the nod in Game 1 back on April 22 and never looked back.
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He started all five games for the Hurricanes during the series versus the Islanders. In Games 1 and 3 he had some huge saves on Noah Dobson to preserve leads and keep Carolina in those games. Furthermore, he made a massive stop on Alexander Romanov after getting tangled with Islanders captain Anders Lee. He was able to stick with the play and made a Dominik Hasek-like save to help the Hurricanes win that game and take a 3-0 series lead at the time. For the series as a whole, Andersen finished the first round with a 4-1 record and a 2.25 goals-against average (GAA) along with a .912 save percentage (SV%). It will be interesting if Brind’Amour will keep riding Andersen in the second round versus the Rangers or will fans finally get to see Kochetkov in the net? The Russian netminder, or nyetminder, has not played in a game since April 14 against the Chicago Blackhawks. It could be three weeks since he saw the net so it wouldn’t be a surprise if Kochetkov gets a start at some point against the Rangers.
Overall, it is great to see Andersen keep up his play after a stellar return from his blood clot issues that kept him out for over four months. Also, he was named a finalist for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy on Thursday, May 2 which is greatly deserved after all he went through. To come back from that health issue and have a run he is on now, especially in the playoffs, is amazing to see.
The Eagle Has Landed in the Playoffs
The playoffs always have electric moments and Game 5 most definitely had some. In back-to-back postseasons, the Hurricanes scored a penalty shot goal. The first one came in 2023 in Round 2 when Jordan Martinook scored on the New Jersey Devils. The second penalty shot goal? It came from none other than Evgeny Kuznetsov.
The Hurricanes got the penalty shot opportunity in the first period when Romanov played the puck in the crease with his hand. That is a huge no-no and Carolina was able to pick who they wanted to take the shot. Of course, they went with their penalty shootout specialist Kuznetsov. From the whistle to the goal, it took him 12.36 seconds to skate, crawl, wait out Seymon Varlamov, and put it in the net. It was his second goal of the series after kicking off the scoring for the Hurricanes in Game 1.
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Over the five-game series, Kuznetsov had two goals and four points with a plus-2. He also had a 33.3 shooting percentage (S%). While other guys had a great series as well, he had an impactful five games himself with only shooting the puck six times. His playmaking ability is next level, especially for someone who is the team’s fourth-line center who also plays on the power play. Kuznetsov has made the impact that the Hurricanes and their fans hoped for when he was acquired from the Washington Capitals, and so far it’s working out. He is already a fan favorite and it seems that everyone in the locker room loves him as well.
Round 2 Starts Soon
There is no word on when the second round will start for the Hurricanes and the Rangers. It will hopefully be announced soon and could see Game 1 starting as early as Sunday. Either way, it is a huge series for Carolina who are looking to get back to the Eastern Conference Final for the second straight postseason. They just have to get past the Presidents’ Trophy and Metro Division winner in the Rangers. It’s going to be a wild series that could go at least six games with it possibly going the distance for the full seven games. This will be one to keep a really close eye on.