Carolina Hurricanes: Takeaways from Dominant Win Over Columbus

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The Carolina Hurricanes’ PA announcer H. Wade Minter had a lot on his plate in this tilt, and I hope he brought more water than usual.

Leading the way with four points were Brock McGinn (2 G, 2 A) and Teuvo Teravainen (1 G, 3 A). Both players looked stellar and their performances marked two things for me: 1.) First line Brock is here to stay. 2.) Turbo is back.

I can remember the first time I saw McGinn paired with Aho on the first line, I thought Rod had lost his mind, but now he’s tied for most goals on the season (7) and is playing his best hockey that he ever has in a Hurricanes sweater.

Meanwhile, Teravainen had a rough start to the 2020-21 campaign, notching just two points in his first eight games, not to mention his absence due to COVID protocol. He has since flipped the script and has recorded five points in the last two games. Now that Turbo is showing signs of his return to form, watch out.

Did someone convince Jordan Staal into thinking it’s 2009? The Captain continued his hot streak with two goals, which brought him to eight points in his last five games.

Sebastian Aho had a stellar night with two points (1 G, 1 A) to show for it. Seabass was all over the ice and controlled the puck incredibly well in the offensive and neutral zone. Aho’s performance against Columbus stood out to me, simply because of the play he tried to make late in the Dallas game on Saturday which led to the Stars tying the game, Sebastian was visibly distraught. The very next game, he decided to shake it off like it never happened and absolutely commanded the ice.

Nino Niederreiter recorded a power play goal as a result of a gorgeous display of passing to bring his total to seven on the season.

Rounding out the scoresheet, Jake Bean recorded not only his first, but also his second NHL point with two assists on the night. Finally, Warren Foegele, Vincent Trocheck, Andrei Svechnikov, Martin Necas, Jaccob Slavin, and Jake Gardiner all recorded one assist each.

Did I miss anyone?

Cedric Came to Play

There was quite a bit more attention paid to the Hurricanes’ fourth line in this game, due to the debut of newly acquired center Cedric Paquette.

After a lengthy 13+ hour drive from Ottawa to Raleigh with his dog Moka, you might have assumed Paquette would show signs of lag in his debut; this couldn’t be further from the truth. Paquette didn’t find his way onto the scoresheet in his debut for the Carolina Hurricanes, but he did find his way under Columbus’ skin.

Paquette recorded 11 minutes and 33 seconds of total ice time, 30 seconds of that on the penalty kill. Every second of that, he looked strong and unbothered by such a quick change of scenery. Paquette delivered five crunching hits, one notably to Blue Jackets assistant captain Seth Jones in the neutral zone along the boards.

Cedric Paquette is the type of player the Hurricanes have been sorely missing, and I felt his presence heavily throughout his debut. I believe I speak for plenty of Caniacs when I say I am beyond excited to see him centering the fourth line moving forward.

That being said, keep an especially close eye on him when the Canes play Tampa Bay, Paquette’s former team, on Monday.

The Canes Fought Back

There aren’t many ways that you can start a hockey game much worse than Carolina did against Columbus. Two goals against in the first six minutes, a fantastic save from the opposing goalie, and your first goal being called back due to an offside coach’s challenge is enough to take the wind out of any team’s sails. But if anything, the Canes used the rescinded goal as a spark.

The Canes and Jackets traded goals through the rest of the first, after Sebastian Aho fired a laser through traffic, off the post, and past Joonas Korpisalo.

Columbus would get a goal back right as their power play expired when James Reimer seemed to lose track of an arching rebound, and was promptly batted home by Kevin Stenlund.

The period was concluded with a late scrappy goal from Jordan Staal off of a great play from Warren Foegele and Jake Bean.

From the second period on, Carolina looked elite, and they scored at will. Puck movement was a delight to watch, the power play went 2/2, defensive breakdowns were few and far between, and James Reimer got back to his game, finishing with 37 saves on 40 shots.

The Carolina Hurricanes improved to 10-3-0, and are currently sitting in a three-way tie for second place in a competitive Central Division.

The mental fortitude of the Hurricanes is visibly improving, and I am excited to see what this group can do for the remainder of the home stand.