With a two-goal, three-point night in the Carolina Hurricanes 4-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins, Seth Jarvis has earned himself Player of the Game honors.
I thought long and hard about giving Antti Raanta his second Player of the Game honors this year after his tremendous 26-save performance last night, but Jarvis' play in all three zones and all situations gave him the edge.
Jarvis scored at even strength for the first time in nearly a month (his only other 5v5 goal was on Oct. 19 in the third period against the Seattle Kraken). It was also the game-winning goal.
"I had a lot of opportunities tonight and Slavin made a great play and I was just there to direct it in," Jarvis said. "It felt really good. I don't know if you could tell from my celebration. It was nice to get one."
The forward also had another goal, the empty-net dagger, and an assist on the Canes' opening goal.
Jarvis was all around the the net, with six shot attempts, three of those on net, and most of them from the slot.
The winger could have easily had a hat trick on the night had it not been for Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry's play.
Off the puck, Jarvis had two hits, a blocked shot and had a few key backcheck efforts, most notably, a full sellout where he crashed himself into the end boards in order to nullify a 2-on-1.
He was also good on the penalty kill and came away with two crucial wins against Sidney Crosby in the faceoff dot.
"The first two he absolutely dominated me," Jarvis said. "Then I started to figure it out. Going in there, I'm trying to just not lose cleanly, which I did twice, but I was able to win one and that felt nice for my confidence to beat a guy like that at least once. He's probably the premier faceoff guy in the NHL so being able to do that is huge."
He's been playing well on both ends of the ice for a while now, so it's nice to see him get rewarded.
"He's growing as a player," said Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour. "Confidence... he certainly doesn't lack any of that. Trying to make plays, take pucks to the net, he's courageous for a little guy. I just think he's getting better in all areas. He's killing penalties now and we've kind of put a few more things on his plate. I think he's doing a great job with it."
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Seth Jarvis and Carolina Hurricanes Top Line Propels Team to Victory Over Pittsburgh Penguins