For the last time in January, the Carolina Hurricanes played a game, and this one was against the Chicago Blackhawks for the second time in 10 days. Their last meeting was back on Jan. 20 which saw the Hurricanes win 4-3 in overtime in Chicago. On Thursday night (Jan. 30), they hosted the last meeting between the two sides for the regular season. The Hurricanes were riding a six-game point streak going into the game while the Blackhawks were looking to carry the momentum from their 4-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning. In the end, it was Carolina that came out on top 3-2 to complete the season sweep in 10 days.
Game Recap
The first goal of the game came from none other than Seth Jarvis who has been having a stellar January for the Hurricanes. His 20th of the season came while on the penalty kill after a great odd-man rush give-and-go with Juha Jaaska. It was Jarvis’ third shorthanded goal of the season, which is only two behind Sam Reinhart for the league lead. An interesting stat: When Jarvis scores a goal, the Hurricanes are 62-5-5. Talk about the good luck charm for the Hurricanes when their star player from Winnipeg scores. The Blackhawks, however, did tie the game after Ilya Mikheyev scored on a breakaway to beat netminder Pyotr Kochetkov. The first period ended tied 1-1 with the Hurricanes outshooting the Blackhawks 7-3.
Related: Hurricanes Change the NHL Season Landscape With Rantanen & Hall Blockbuster Trade
The second period belonged to the Hurricanes as they added two more within 67 seconds of each other. Mikko Rantanen, in his first home game for the Hurricanes, got the Lenovo Center rocking as he netted his first with the team. After a great play from Jack Roslovic to get the puck in the Hurricanes’ zone, which saw him get three Blackhawks to bite and rush to him. Once he saw that, he just dropped the puck off to Rantanen who snapped it between the legs of Arvid Soderblom to make it a 2-1 Hurricanes lead.
It did not take long for the Hurricanes to add another as Jaccob Slavin was in the right place at the right time for the clutch game-winning goal. An initial shot by Jackson Blake went off the post and fell into the Blackhawks’ crease where Slavin was able to shovel it in to make it a 3-1 lead. That goal was 67 seconds after the Rantanen goal, which saw the Hurricanes double their lead in quick succession. However, Connor Bedard scored his 15th of the season to cut the lead in half. He flipped the puck short side and beat Kochertkov to make it a 3-2 game.
Related: Hurricanes’ Pyotr Kochetkov Having an Underrated Season Despite the Team “Needing” Goalies
The Hurricanes would hold off the last few minutes to close out the win to end January with a seven-game point streak. Carolina finished the month of January with a 10-3-2 record (22 points) after a 15-game gauntlet.
Moving on to February
All eyes move to February as the Hurricanes (32-16-4) take on the Los Angeles Kings (26-16-6) on Saturday, Feb. 1 for the first time during the 2024-25 season. The game is set to start for a 7 p.m. Eastern puck drop. Regarding the Blackhawks (16-30-5), they are set to take on the Florida Panthers on Saturday, Feb. 1 for a 1 p.m. Eastern start time.
