Carolina Hurricanes: Takeaways from Huge Win in Edmonton
The Carolina Hurricanes kicked off their 5-game road trip with a massive 6-3 win against the Edmonton Oilers.
Last night’s matchup was a roller coaster, to say the least. The Carolina Hurricanes took an early 3-goal lead in the first period, then allowed the Edmonton Oilers to battle back to tie the game with three unanswered goals of their own.
The Carolina Hurricanes then scored another three unanswered goals in return to pull ahead 6-3, and eventually won the game by that margin.
Aside from the first half of the third period, the Carolina Hurricanes never looked like they were going to lose last night. From the commanding lead gained over the course of the first period, to the second half of the third period in which Jordan Martinook kicked off another trio of goals, the Carolina Hurricanes managed to hit most of our keys to the game mentioned before yesterday’s tilt.
Mood pic.twitter.com/Egf8F5zNJV
— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) December 11, 2019
The Carolina Hurricanes didn’t really stay out of the box last night, but that ended up surprisingly not being a huge influence on the game. They did manage to get a decent amount of high-quality shots on net, though, and the Canes more than managed to keep up with Edmonton’s elite offensive talent.
1. Did the Canes Get Lots of High-Quality Shots On Goal?
Absolutely, they did. The Carolina Hurricanes managed to get 32 shots on goal last night, and were outshot by the Edmonton Oilers; the Oilers managed to get 36 shots on goal, but it ultimately didn’t matter as the Canes won by a three-goal margin.
A majority of the Canes’ shots were high-danger chances, especially in the first and third periods. According to Dougie Hamilton, all shots taken from the redline were high danger chances as well, as the single shot that was taken from this location turned into a goal.
It's Doogie's world, we're just living in it pic.twitter.com/DYnbrDkkoR
— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) December 11, 2019
The Carolina Hurricanes capitalized more often than not on more than a few of their high-danger chances due to the frequency and quality of shots they were peppering Edmonton netminder Mikko Koskinen with.
The Canes’ shot total alongside the quality of said shots was a huge reason why they were able to kick off the long road trip with a massive win in Edmonton last night. As for keeping up with Edmonton’s elite-level offensive talent, the Carolina Hurricanes were just as successful in that endeavor as this one.
2. Did the Canes Keep Up With Edmonton’s Offensive Powerhouses?
Yes, more than adequately. Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid only had one shot on goal apiece, and were both held out of the ‘goals’ column.
McDavid had three assists on the night, and Draisaitl had a single assist. Only two Oilers would score goals last night; Zack Kassian would score twice, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins would score a single time.
McDavid also completely botched a penalty shot chance (somehow), but that is neither here nor there. I just thought I’d mention it; the Carolina Hurricanes seemed to be in the heads of the Oilers top offensive producers all night.
Tip drill! pic.twitter.com/XM8g6hemXP
— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) December 11, 2019
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Jaccob Slavin led the Carolina Hurricanes with three blocked shots last night, and the Carolina Hurricanes never fell behind in last night’s matchup.
McDavid and Draisaitl both had at least 24:00 of ice time last night, and neither managed to make as significant an impact on the game as they’re capable of due to the Carolina Hurricanes’ capability to shut down both offensive powerhouses.
Now, for the (seemingly) most important key: the Carolina Hurricanes’ propensity to take penalties which come back to bite them a bit later on.
3. Did the Canes Stay Out of the Penalty Box?
Nope, but it didn’t really matter.
The Edmonton Oilers went into last night’s game with the best powerplay in the league. The only goal they’d score on the man advantage last night was Nugent-Hopkins’ marker, which was scored with 8 seconds or so left on a long Oilers man advantage.
The Carolina Hurricanes had the 3rd best penalty kill in the league heading into last night’s game, and the 9th best powerplay in the league; the Canes managed to score on all but one powerplay chance last night; the Oilers scored on only one chance despite having a total of six chances last night.
A (d)zinger! pic.twitter.com/YGxFsyOvvB
— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) December 11, 2019
Apparently this season, and last night’s game in particular, is a funhouse mirror image of what should happen in a standard NHL game, and instead of going the way it should’ve gone, it went off the rails and illustrated the most ridiculous of possibilities, thereby proving that we do, indeed, live in a simulation. Thanks for breaking the space-time continuum with your cybertruck, Elon Musk.
All joking aside, the Carolina Hurricanes played a tremendous first period, a kinda ‘meh’ second period, an awful first half of the third period, and an incredible second half of the third period to secure the win on the road at Rogers Place and kick off their long road trip with two more points in the standings.
148. Final. 6. 109. 3
Let’s hope they continue the trend. It’d sure be nice to go undefeated while on the road in the Great White North this holiday season. Maybe Santa will be nice enough to throw us a bone this year.
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Question for CC Readers: What was your favorite goal from last night’s matchup?