Carolina Hurricanes
Special Teams, Goaltending and Top Guys: Three Takeaways from Carolina Hurricanes 4-1 Win Over Ottawa Senators
The Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Ottawa Senators 4-1 Tuesday night at Canadian Tire Centre to snap their four-game losing streak.
It was a much-needed win for the Canes who had been dealt some tough news earlier in the day with Andrei Svechnikov's MRI revealing that he'll need to miss time due to an injury sustained from a cross check.
Here's my three takeaways from the game:
Special Teams
Any time you go perfect on special teams, chances are you're going to win.
That was the case for Carolina last night.
Not only did the penalty kill go a perfect 4-for-4, but the power play also finally looked competent again with the Canes scoring on both opportunities.
"Special teams was the difference obviously," said Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour. "That's what I'm talking about in this game. One little bounce one way or another and the game flips, or one save or not save.
Let's start with the penalty kill.
The Hurricanes have not surrendered a power play goal over the entirety of their road trip, which is perhaps the one positive that has come out of the trip.
They continued that trend on Tuesday and played exceptionally well.
Ottawa managed a combined four shots across four separate power plays as Carolina gave them simply nothing for most of the night with keys blocks and staunch blueline defense.
When the Senators got those few chances too, Pyotr Kochetkov was there to melt it down.
"Game could have gone the other way quickly," Brind'Amour said on the penalty kill. "That's where that comes in huge. We made some saves and blocked a lot of shots. That extra little 1% that we gave tonight in the first two periods was the difference."
On the power play, the units just looked way more confident than they have been looking.
They moved the puck with some authority and made some plays.
The first power play goal was a great keep in by Brent Burns and Jack Drury followed by two great passes. The sauce by Drury to Brady Skjei who then laced it across to Martin Necas' wheelhouse.
The second was just an elite shot by Sebastian Aho, although Seth Jarvis did provide a key screen in front.
Also, there's something to be said too about Tony DeAngelo coming back into the lineup and all of a sudden the power play clicks.
Goaltending
For the first time in a long time, we can say that goaltending stole a game for the Hurricanes.
Goaltending has been okay to flat out bad for Carolina this year and so for the Hurricanes to finally get a strong, 60-minute performance from one of their netminders and for them to actually be the difference for once is huge.
"He looked real confident," Brind'Amour said. "He is a confident kid, we know that, but he really looked like he was dialed in. Even the grade-As looked kind of normal. That's when you know a goalie's dialed in. They had a bunch of chances, especially in the third period, and he was on it."
On top of being electric in the crease with some of his saves, Kochetkov was making a lot of grade-As look routine as well. He was composed in the crease and, especially early, was the second biggest difference in the game.
His 31 saves are the most by any Carolina netminder this season and he continued to add to his own personal highlight reel.
"That flying poke check was sweet," said Seth Jarvis. "I loved that. He's crazy as you can tell from him jawing at Tkachuk after. Everyone loves that, we love him and he did a great job tonight.
"It's huge anytime you can get a big save. In pivotal moments. If that penalty shot goes in, who knows what could happen. It's nice to get those saves when you need them and we got them tonight."
We've seen these games for Kochetkov now here and there, but he has to continue to build on them and put together a strong run for the Canes to truly get back on top of the league.
Top Guys
Heading into last night's contest, the Hurricanes' top six had a grand total of zero 5v5 points across their last four games.
That's a big reason why things weren't going the Canes' way, because their key guys weren't showing up.
It wasn't a perfect night by any means, but the contributions from those top guys pushed Carolina to the top.
Aho had a three point night, Jarvis and Necas each had a goal, Teuvo Teravainen picked up another point.
The Canes have needed those guys to show up desperately so it was a good game for the top guys to prove they can be difference makers.
Now it's all about if they can show up on a more consistent basis.
"We just have to build off of this," Aho said, "Getting special teams going and all that. Obviously we're not happy with the way we've played lately and this was definitely a step in the right direction. Just have to keep going."
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