Carolina Hurricanes Fall to Columbus 4-3 in Overtime

Dougie Stays Hot

With five days off since the Canes last played in Anaheim, there was always the chance that the team would start the game off rather slow before getting back up to game speed. Even with that in mind, it seems as if nothing is going to keep Dougie Hamilton off the score sheet this season.

As touched upon briefly in the three keys article, Dougie has had points in all but two games thus far, leading the team with ten points in nine games. It didn’t take long for him to once again find the back of the net.

With a goal just 71 seconds after Columbus got on the board, Dougie became the first player since the 2006-07 season to score six or more goals in the month of October. At the time of the goal, the Hurricanes were controlling most of the play and looked like the quick strike team from the first week of the season.

In addition to his goal, Hamilton has three blocked shots in the first period alone. With the departure of Justin Faulk during training camp, his role has increased a ton and he is taking full advantage of it in his second season with the Canes.

Aho Finally Gets Rewarded

With only two empty net goals on the season it was clear the Hurricanes needed to get more offensive production from their number one center. Just like his line mate Nino Niederreiter, the duo have had their chances but for whatever reason haven’t been able to finish.

Shortly after Dzingel scored the go ahead goal, for the time being, Aho was double shifted on the wing with Brock McGinn and Lucas Wallmark.  Going to the front of the net, he finally scored a goal with an opposing team’s goalie in the net for the first time this season, tipping a Brett Pesce point shot.

Historically a player who starts the season off slow, you could see the weight lifted off his shoulders as soon as the puck went in. It hasn’t been much of a secret that aside from Hamilton and Erik Haula, the Canes haven’t had much goal production from their top offensive players. With Sebastian finally doing so, we should start seeing the player that earned his massive contract extension this off season.

One can only hope the Nino will score his first of the season soon, as it will go a long way in helping Carolina end their 1-3-1 skid. If the Hurricanes want to be a team that’s challenging for the Stanley Cup come spring, they’re going to need to have balanced scoring up and down the lineup.

What Cost Them the Second Point

After an excellent road period of hockey, being up 3-1 in the first, the Hurricanes looked like a much different team in the second. Suffering a questionable holding call on Pesce early on, Mrazek made a series of good saves on the penalty kill to keep the two goal lead in tact. However, after out playing the Canes for a few shifts, you could just sense a Columbus goal was bound to happen.

With Murray finally besting Petr, the momentum had shifted. For the entirety of the second, the period of the long change, Carolina struggled with their line changes. In what played a huge role in the Milano goal, all five Canes players went off the ice, leaving Columbus a clear path out of their defensive zone and into the offensive zone.

If the line changes weren’t ugly enough, the Canes also had a bit of difficulty with turnovers once again. It seemed that every time they looked to set up something in Columbus’ end, they would hand the puck over to the Blue Jackets’ forwards at their offensive blueline.

This is something that is easily avoidable and correctible. One may attribute that to rust, but at the end of the day it cost the Canes two important points in a divisional matchup.

These two teams wont met again until January 16th. After giving up leads in similar fashions twice to the Jackets already this season, the players are going to have to clean a few things up if they want to get their season back on track. Whenever you play divisional opponents points are more important than ever, and Carolina already let three slip away.

Question for CC Readers: Now that Aho has finally scored, which Hurricanes forward will be the next to find the back of the net for the first time this season?