A few thoughts from the Canes win in Edmonton.
The Carolina Hurricanes pulled off a third-period rally to force overtime before eventually defeating the Edmonton Oilers 3-2 Tuesday night.
Here are three takeaways I had from the game in Edmonton:
Ghost With the Most
Nobody is having a better start to the season for the Hurricanes than Shayne Gostisbehere right now.
The 31-year-old defenseman is currently on a four-game goal scoring streak, the longest of his career, which also has him pacing the team in scoring currently.
While he had gone four games without an assist, he did finally manage to snag one last night on the game-winner with a great hustle effort.
On top of consistently getting on the score sheet, Gostisbehere has also had tremendous underlying numbers.
The blueliner leads the team in Corsi at 69.40%, high-danger chances for percentage at 79.41% and expected goals for percentage at 78.12%.
His pairing with Sean Walker has been dynamite for the Canes and although they are getting the bulk of offensive zone starts (~86%), they're still managing to hold their own very well on the road when the matchup game isn't as beneficial.
Sebastian Aho and Martin Necas' Overtime Magic
Since he entered the league, only six players have scored more overtime winners than Sebastian Aho (Connor McDavid - 15; Nathan MacKinnon, Leon Draisaitl - 14; Brad Marchand, Mark Scheifele, J.T. Miller - 13).
Last night was Aho's 12th career overtime game-winning goal and if you're curious if that's a franchise record, it is.
Namely because Aho set the record five goals ago and every one he adds just increases it further.
Right behind Aho is Martin Necas who has nine and the pair are also the franchise leaders in overtime points in general (Aho - 21, Necas - 17).
The two have such a unique chemistry when the ice open ups and they've treated Canes fans to quite a few memorable OT moments over the last couple of years.
Aho's overtime winner, which came with seven seconds remaining on the clock, was also the second-latest game-winning overtime goal in franchise history.
The latest was scored with two seconds left by Noah Hanifin against the Florida Panthers on Dec. 2, 2017.
Is the Second Line Struggling With Chemistry?
The Carolina Hurricanes have been pretty set in their lineup since opening night with all four lines looking the same each game (at least to start).
And while it hasn't been bad — 58.25 CF%, two goals for, 11 high-danger chances for — it also has left me wanting more more often than not.
I think each player on the line (Jack Roslovic - Jesperi Kotkaniemi - Martin Necas) has had a fine start, but I'm not sure it's clicking.
Take last night for example...
The line had 14 chances for and only four against on the night for a 77.78 CF% which are really good numbers.
However, looking deeper, it actually seems a lot more like empty calorie possession time.
The line actually generated only a single high-danger chance and had an expected goal total of just 0.49.
And it was only when Roslovic was moved off the line for Eric Robinson that they ended up scoring with Necas executing a beautiful give-and-go to tie the game.
So far this season, Kotkaniemi has four assists, Necas has two goals and six points and Jack Roslovic has two goals, however one of those also came while he was on a different line.
Overall, the line hasn't been hurting the team and they've gotten some production, I just wonder if they'd be better off making some slight adjustments, namely moving Roslovic to a different line.
I just don't think his game has quite clicked with Kotkaniemi and Necas but perhaps it's something that will come in time.