Carolina Hurricanes: Takeaways from Regulation Win vs. CBJ

Alex Nedeljkovic and the Carolina Hurricanes made short work of the Columbus Blue Jackets on the road last night as they shutout the home team by a margin of 3-0. The Canes have just two games remaining against the Columbus Blue Jackets in the regular season.

Last night’s matchup was pure domination for the Carolina Hurricanes from start to finish.

The Canes finally played a full 60 minute game, aside from maybe a few minutes where Columbus looked like they might break through and notch a goal or two. Luckily, that didn’t happen and Ned walked away with his 2nd career NHL shutout.

To attain 2 shutouts in 11 games played is impressive; this stat ties Ned for most shutouts among rookie goaltenders this season (Kaapo Kahkonen, Ilya Sorokin).

Aside from Ned’s continued dominance in the crease, the former New York Rangers that are on the Canes roster now contributed in a big way last night.

Brady Skjei netted his first goal as a Hurricane, and Jesper Fast had a multi-point game (1g, 1a) as well. These guys are coming along in their own right, and Skjei specifically has taken massive strides of improvement the past couple games.

Sebastian Aho and Martin Necas‘ blossoming chemistry was on full display last night as well; a tic-tac-toe play between the two started by Dougie Hamilton (who is now the franchise record-holder for point-streak length by a defenseman) that resulted in one of Necas’ prettier goals showcased just how much chemistry has developed between the two forwards lately. I can only imagine how this line would look if Teuvo Teravainen replaced Nino Niederreiter on the other wing, but Nino has been fantastic as well.

Last night’s game was just what the Carolina Hurricanes (and us fans) needed; a solid performance all around, a satisfying win, and a shutout for our burgeoning goalie of the future. Couldn’t get any better if it were scripted, if you ask me.

The Carolina Hurricanes have the next two days off (barring any practices) before they wrap up the 4 game miniseries against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday.