A red-hot power play and stellar goaltending propel the Hurricanes past 100 points.
The Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-2 Tuesday night at Nationwide Arena.
The Canes struck early and counterattacked after a Columbus push to take the win and keep themselves atop the Eastern Conference.
Here are three takeaways from the win:
1. Red Hot Power Play
The Hurricanes' power play has been dominant as of late, and that was no different in Columbus.
The Canes scored three times on the man advantage Tuesday night on five opportunities, with Shayne Gostisbehere, Logan Stankoven and Andrei Svechnikov all lighting the lamp.
With those goals, the Canes' overall power play success rate for the season moves to 24.6% (fourth best in the league), and in fact, the Hurricanes have the second best percentage since December 1 (29.8%).
Zoom in even more and we see that Carolina has scored a power play goal in seven straight games, scoring 11 times on 23 opportunities (48%).
Power play struggles have always been dark spot on the Canes' recent postseason runs, so hopefully this success can continue to carry over.
2. Brandon Bussi Tipping Back the Scales
After a rough stretch for the 27-year-old rookie netminder post Olympic break, Bussi has now put together three straight wins and and especially strong back-to-back performances against the New Jersey Devils and now Columbus Blue Jackets.
On Tuesday, Bussi stopped 23 of the 25 shots he faced, including making quite a few big ones.
As the regular season starts to wind down, Frederik Andersen and Bussi will be jockeying for the postseason starter position.
It's going to come down to whichever netminder is playing the best and so if Bussi can maintain form here down the stretch, he may just very well be the Hurricanes' guy.
3. 100 Points
With the win, the Carolina Hurricanes surpassed last season's point total (99) and reached triple-digit points for the fifth time in franchise history.
The one common denominator in all their 100+ point seasons? Rod Brind'Amour.
It's the fourth time in the last five years that they've earned at least 100 points in a season, all years with Rod Brind'Amour behind the bench.
The only other years they had 100-points was the year they won the Stanley Cup, 2005-06, when Brind'Amour was the captain of the team.
Recent Articles
Stay updated with the most interesting Carolina Hurricanes stories, analysis, breaking news and more! Tap the star to add us to your favorites on Google News to never miss a story.
For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.