Carolina Hurricanes: Enjoy Golden Start to February

The Carolina Hurricanes have started their February the same way they started January: with a win. It is a another step in the right direction towards ending the team’s long playoff drought.

Last night was a golden night, as the Carolina Hurricanes defeated yet another tough rival at PNC Arena in the form of the Vegas Golden Knights. As many wondered if the extra rest they received over the All Star Game break and bye week was going to hurt this team, they played well enough to make everyone question if it was ever an issue to begin with. Vegas seemed to be buzzing in the first period but Carolina unleashed their most powerful arsenal in their belt – scoring more than one goal.

While this seems like a no-brainer to win any hockey game or at least be competitive, the Carolina Hurricanes have an extreme advantage when it comes just scoring two in a game. After last night’s win they are now 25-4-4 in games where they score at least two goals with 54 of their 56 points so far this season coming from those games. That ridiculous stat jumps up to 23-1-3 when scoring at least three goals. Makes you really think about Bill Peters’ comment about “the race to three”, doesn’t it?

The last time that the Carolina Hurricanes scored less than two goals was also the last time they played at home, against the ailing Senators. That was also the first game in a Carolina Hurricanes jersey for Nino Niederreiter, who has since been on fire for the Canes since his arrival from Minnesota and who continues to play at a goal per game pace with his new team.

Last night Niederreiter continued his outstanding start to his Canes career with his fifth goal in his last four games. While there was a small hesitation to see if Justin Williams caused any interference on the play, the end result was a good goal:

That goal tied the game up and changed the momentum. The Carolina Hurricanes came back into the second with a vengeance, looking and playing like the team that took five of six points on their road trip to Western Canada. Brett Pesce scored on a futile mistake from Maxime Lagace, who was caught on his belly well out of his crease, to give the Hurricanes the lead. Unfortunately for the Hurricanes, Petr Mrazek was also caught flat-footed as the Golden Knights managed to tie the game on a second heavy shot on goal by Shea Theodore.

Theodore would be the only Golden Knight to score in the game, and he did not complete the hat-trick. Tied at two, Mrazek would strap down his skates and continue to deliver more robberies of the puck than a heist at the Canadian National Bank. Jordan Martinook, new dad and fresh off his contract extension, would make sure that Mrazek’s work in the second would pay off dividends as he took a B-E-A-Utiful pass from Brock McGinn to give the Carolina Hurricanes the lead before the end of the period:

We learned a lot from that goal. We learned that Martinook was having the week of his life, and thought only of his son when netting that puck. We also learned that John Forslund’s classic “THAT’S HOCKEY BABY!” is only uttered when he thinks the game is sealed. Well he uttered it after that incredible dish and he was right, as the go-ahead goal by Martinook proved to be the game winning one. But the Carolina Hurricanes were not done yet.

It’s not a complete win without All Star Sebastian Aho getting in on the action. Given an incredible feed from behind the Canes’ own blue line by Williams, Aho turned on the jets, out-skating every Golden Knight on the ice. While they managed to box him into a corner giving him an almost impossible shot, Aho showed everyone that the impossible is just another day in the office for him:

With a two goal lead the Carolina Hurricanes focused on retaining the lead and didn’t allow Vegas any opportunities to get back into this game. With only a minute left in the game and six skaters on the ice for Vegas, McGinn blocked a tough shot going down on the ice. With only four effective skaters for Carolina Justin Faulk, who with his assist on El Nino’s fifth Canes goal became the leading defensive point-getter in franchise history, smartly decided to ice the puck to get McGinn off the ice.

As the puck slid down the opposite end of the ice the team focused on getting McGinn back to the bench. Even after the icing turned into a perfect shot into the opposing net that went for the complete length of the ice, giving Faulk his fourth goal on the season, the team gathered around McGinn, who seemed to be doing okay once he got back to the bench.

That empty-netter was the icing on the cake as the Vegas Golden Knights skated away empty handed, while the Carolina Hurricanes played duck duck goose (I refuse to call it grey duck) on the ice much to the amusement of the home crowd. This February is going to be different than the ones of years past. The Carolina Hurricanes will be looking to continue improving their positioning in the standings.

They are now only three points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for a wild card spot. What is more impressive however is that they are only eight points behind the New York Islanders for the top spot in the division. While it may seem unlikely that they get that spot, it now seems plausible at least. Only time will tell.

Question for CC readers: 

Who should the Canes target in for a trade now that it seems that the Leafs and Penguins are no longer in the market for what we have?