Carolina Hurricanes: Finish Home-stand with a Win over Montreal

The Carolina Hurricanes have defied the odds yet again. In a game they would have lost last year, our favorite jerks come back from behind to finish the home stand with a bang.

Last Night was an incredible exclamation point of a game that pretty much summarizes this entire Carolina Hurricanes season. Almost every aspect of the season was on display for the 14,400 fans in attendance that night. The game played out almost identical to the season; with a strong, yet ultimately disappointing first, a weak second that finished with some optimism, and a strong dominant finish in the third and overtime to seal the win.

The Carolina Hurricanes faced off against one of the best and currently hottest goaltenders in the league in the form of Carey Price. Had the game ended in a quiet one goal loss, there would not be much to talk about. After all the 31 year old veteran netminder was riding a three game win streak and hasn’t allowed more than two goals in a game in five of his last six starts. He looked dominant for most of the game and almost destined for a shutout.

Equal props should be given to the netminder on the other end of the ice as well. While Curtis McElhinney did not see the same amount of shots as Carey Price did, he managed to keep this game well within the grasp of the Carolina Hurricanes. While the early goal by Paul Byron almost seemed enough to keep the fans from clapping into the night. It was McElhinney who gave the team enough time to crack Price’s seemingly penetrable wall earning him first star that night.

And crack it they did. Both the tying goal and the overtime winner were part of the last four shots of the game. For those four shots, Carey Price was not otherworldly. With those four shots, the Carolina Hurricanes reigned back in a huge crowd that had not much to celebrate before that. With those four shots, the Carolina Hurricanes showed the league that they are a dangerous team that should not be slept on.

While it is easy to simply take the win and run with it, the next two games will be critical ones against the division leaders, the Washington Capitals. Here are the three takeaways from this game that should have either lessons learned, or perhaps something to keep an eye out as the Carolina Hurricane’s regular season comes to a close. While this team is looking more and more likely to finish in playoff spot, there is always room to look further up the stands.

1. The Power Play still needs work

The Carolina Hurricanes went on the man advantage thrice last night against the Montreal Canadiens. Each time they were offered an opportunity to tie the game up against Carey Price and the Habs, and each time they failed to take advantage of that opportunity. This was not lost on the fans in the stands who resorted to some very low pitched booing as the team failed to get any offense going on the third powerplay of the night.

While it ultimately did not prove to be their downfall that night, It might have allowed the Carolina Hurricanes to avoid giving the Canadiens the overtime loser point and give themselves a little bit more breathing room in the standings. With only seven games left on the docket, every point gained and every point not given is worth its weight in gold. We wondered what the team would be like with league average goal-tending, imagine where they could be in the standings with league average power-play numbers.

The special teams as a whole is not awful. Just as Carolina has trouble scoring on the powerplay against their opponents, their opponents have the same struggles against them. While the Carolina Hurricanes remained disciplined for most of the night, they did quietly kill the one penalty they drew off a Micheal Ferland high sticking incident to keep the game remaining within a single goal. The Carolina Hurricanes have only allowed 4 power play goals on 28 man advantages this month. That is an excellent 86% penalty kill rate, even after facing teams like the Lightning and the Jets.

At this point it is difficult to say what the issue is with the powerplay. Is it the personnel, the system, or the zone entries? On paper it all seems like it should work. Perhaps it is just bad puck luck, but how long can that excuse hold? This is a team that has not scored with the man advantage since the March 9th game in Nashville where they scored two of them. They are 0 for 14 since. Something has to give soon, Lets hope they can figure it out before the post-season.

3. Andrei Svechnikov gets 20

Andrei Svechnikov has been everywhere these last few games. Last night he factored in again, this time in overtime to clinch the game for the Carolina Hurricanes and send the Montreal Canadiens wondering just how far Carey Price can carry them. There is a lot to unpack from the final play of the game and the 40th shot on Price that ended up being the final one taken in the game.

The first thing to consider is Svechnikov’s growth and offensive awareness. Jordan Staal was simply trying to push the puck back up the ice to stop the Canadiens from entering the Carolina zone. Svechnikov’s awareness allowed him to see that puck and take full control of it while Justin Faulk moved up the other side to create a critical two on one forcing the Canadien defender to make a futile choice: does he attempt to stop Andrei’s shot or does he try to break a pass to Faulk.

Either choice was futile as Mike Reilly decided to go for the latter and Svechnikov took a shot at what might be the best goalie in the history of the sport. The puck found the five hole on Price taking a bounce off his stick and into the net. It all happened so fast that Price never had a real chance. He looked ready to load back to stop a shot from Faulk. Both men underestimated the young Russian rookie, thinking he would opt to pass and they both paid dearly for it:

PNC Arena erupted. This was yet another defining moment for the Carolina Hurricanes and their Cinderella comeback season. This team is definitely one that looks poised to make a deep run into the playoffs. They have demanded national and international attention, and not only by their incredible post-game Storm Surge celebrations, but by their excellent heart and desire to play and win games. For the second time this week, the Carolina Hurricanes have stolen a game in overtime. The final score doesn’t lie, this team refuses to give up a playoff spot.

That game ended an incredibly successful home-stand that has seen every shade of emotion from both the players and the fans. Eight out of Ten points against teams that are either sitting in playoff spots are actively attempting to get a playoff spot this late in the season is not an easy task. But the Carolina Hurricanes have made it feel like it is. This season will go down in history for this team and it’s fanbase.

Question for CC Readers: Can the Carolina Hurricanes keep up this pace throughout the end of the regular season and finally end the drought?