Following up Thursday's exciting, fast-paced and intense game was a Saturday snooze-fest as the Carolina Hurricanes and Dallas Stars grinded their way to a 2-1 final with the Stars ultimately taking the victory.
"It was tight and there wasn't a lot of room," said Jaccob Slavin. "Two good, high-caliber teams that play the game the right way just going at it."
Carolina gave up goals in the first and second periods, the first from Jason Robertson after he grabbed his own rebound off of a Brent Burns block and the second being a Wyatt Johnston laser through Slavin's legs off the rush.
The lone goal for the Hurricanes was a Sebastian Aho breakaway score.
"We played hard," said Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour. "We played a great game. We held a team like that to 16 shots. I don't know how many scoring opportunities they had after the first period. That's pretty good, it's just that they got up and they're a good team. They blocked 20+ shots tonight and that's a good number for them. It was a hard-fought game it's just that there wasn't a lot of room and we didn't find it.
Overall, it was a matchup between two very similar teams.
"They play a simple game," said Jordan Staal. "They get pucks out however they can. Whether it's just hammering it up the wall or flipping it out, they do a good job of clearing the puck out of their own end and making sure they're not making mistakes. That's also our game."
It's just that Carolina couldn't get a bounce.
On the one hand, the Hurricanes' penalty kill continued to be dominant, killing off all eight minutes of shorthanded ice time while allowing just two shots on goal in those minutes.
"Anytime we can kill penalties, it's huge, especially in a tight game like that," said Jaccob Slavin. "You let one up and it gives them the momentum, but the kill is continuing to play well. Kochetkov is a big part of that too. Goaltending is probably the most important part of the penalty kill, so to have that back there is nice."
While it's nice that the penalty kill is putting in the work, but it also means the team is getting penalized a bunch.
"We're getting a lot of practice," Brind'Amour said. "It's unfortuante. I don't know if that's a positive or not."
And Brind'Amour feels like the penalty call differential has started to become a bit of weird occurrence as of late.
"It was a weird night on that," Brind'Amour said. "I thought the only penalty that was a real penalty was the last one. The other ones were not penalties in my opinion. Or if they were, they were pretty light and if they were, then there were certainly a couple the other way that should have been the same. That's the frustration in that game because our power play wasn't great tonight, but maybe we get another one or take one off their board, a little momentum change... Hopefully that stuff evens out although it's been a little strange in the last 10 games with how that's been going. But that wasn't the difference in the game."
Since the All-Star break, the Hurricanes rank last in the league in power plays per game (2.11) despite being one of the league's most possession dominant teams.
So it definitely is a weird occurrence.
On the flip side, the Canes have been the 10th most penalized team during that stretch at a rate of 3.44 penalties per game.
The game didn't come down to officiating, although it certainly didn't help.
For the most part, Carolina simply passed away too many opportunities, none bigger than Jesperi Kotkaniemi passing off a great look from the slot on a 3-on-1.
"It happens quick out there," Brind'Amour said. "He's trying to slide it over for the one-timer and their guy made a nice play. It is what it is."
But the message for the team is simple...
"We need to shoot more."