Carolina Hurricanes: Three Takeaways from Tuesday’s Win

Sloppy First Period

The first period started off well for the Hurricanes, with Warren Foegele receiving a prime scoring opportunity, only to be bested by Rittich.  That, unfortunately, was the high point of the opening stanza for Carolina.

The Hurricanes took the game’s first penalty with Foegele whistled for high-sticking.  This ended up being short-lived as Calgary captain Mark Giordano went off for interference 1:03 later.  The home team did little on their abbreviated power play, failing to get clean entries, let alone set up for any sustained pressure.

The futility began to envelop the period as Calgary was able to dictate the game’s pace, aided by Carolina’s inaccurate passes and careless defensive play.  This was best exemplified when captain Jordan Staal misread his coverage which allowed Lindholm to open the scoring at 13:04.

The trend continued throughout the remainder of the period, the unbalanced play not reflected in the shot total (12-11 in favor of the Flames).  Calgary appeared to open up a 2-0 lead on a Mikael Backlund goal when Rod Brind’Amour did what he does and executed a flawless challenge.  The play was ruled offside, and the first period ended with the visitors holding a 1-0 lead.

Considering how much time the Hurricanes spent chasing the puck, it could have been much worse.

Mrazek holds the fort

First things first: you cannot legitimately fault Mrazek for Lindholm’s first-period goal.  Whereas his team spent a lot of time running around, the Hurricanes’ netminder did everything he could to keep Carolina within striking distance.

Through the first 40 minutes of play, Mrazek faced 25 Calgary shots, stopping all but one.  Through Carolina’s struggles in establishing their game, the Czech netminder refused to yield any ground.  With the Flames pushing the pace and stifling every Hurricanes’ attack, the pressure was on Mrazek.

He answered the call time after time, enabling his teammates to turn the tide.

With Tuesday’s win, Mrazek finishes October with a 6-1-1 record and a .917 save percentage.

Andrei Svechnikov elevates his game (and the puck)

Aside from Mrazek’s strong goaltending performance, there wasn’t a ton going right for the Carolina Hurricanes as the third period opened.  David Rittich was stopping everything that came his way and it seemed that the Hurricanes would need to think outside the box to get anything past him.

As the minutes ticked away, one thing popped into Andrei Svechnikov’s mind: The Michigan.

With just under eleven minutes to play, Svechnikov skated the puck behind the Calgary net.  With just enough time and space, he flipped the puck onto the blade of his stick and tucked it into the top corner.  The game was tied and the second-year winger had scored a goal for the ages.

With blood in the water and the PNC crowd electrified, the Hurricanes were finally able to establish their game.  With the Flames reeling, Tkachuk took a roughing penalty, giving Carolina their third power play of the game.

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Thirty-two seconds into the man advantage, Svechnikov fired a wrist shot past Rittich while Erik Haula provided a textbook screen.  The Hurricanes were up 2-1, though a late penalty to Dougie Hamilton ensured that sealing the victory wouldn’t be easy.

Thankfully, the lead held up and the clock ran out on the Hurricanes’ October with the team posting an 8-3-1 record.  Svechnikov’s second consecutive two-goal game placed his opening month stat line at 5 goals and 7 assists for 12 points in 12 games.

Next up: the Detroit Red Wings.

What were your takeaways from Tuesday’s win?  What are your projections for November?