Carolina Hurricanes: Three takeaways as Canes double up Islanders

Tony DeAngelo

Okay, say what you want about him off the ice, or as a human. Dislike him for whatever reason, but you cannot deny that when he is on the ice, Tony DeAngelo is an asset you want your team to have. A premier puck-moving defenseman, he proved tonight why the Carolina Hurricanes took the risk to bring him in.

Quarterbacking the first powerplay unit and recording two assists, DeAngelo played a part in both powerplay goals to put the game beyond the reach of the New York Islanders. Now, we can sit here and talk about his issues, but he was a major part of the Canes victory last night. We know that he’s got character issues.

His puck-moving was everything the Canes wanted it to be when they brought him in. He’s got all the hallmarks of a premier blueliner, and as difficult as that will be for some people to admit, you cannot deny it. You can appreciate the player while hating the man, and he is certainly a very gifted player with his passing.

I mean, when we talk about pure passing range, that pass to Svechnikov for the empty-net goal from corner blueline across the neutral zone to the door of the Islander bench, that’s exactly why he was brought into the team. He caught the Islanders too far up the ice and allowed the team to rage behind them on the counter charge.

With 5 shots, a block, and a HUGE hit on the powerplay chasing back on a breakaway, it was a fairly spectacular debut for the disgraced former Ranger. When he took to the ice tonight, you could feel that he had a point to prove. He’s showing that he wants to prove to the people that removed him from New York that they were wrong to do so, and with his talent, he’s got the tools to make some people look very foolish.

Mistaaaaaa Svechnikov!

When I went through what would be vital to see the Carolina Hurricanes beat the New York Islanders, I mentioned that the stars of the Hurricanes would have to get off to a hot start. Seeing that Aho tends to hibernate until November, it was really a call for Andrei Svechnikov to step up big time, and wow did he answer the bell big time for the Carolina Hurricanes.

Svechnikov answered the call from a team that needed him big time, scoring the Canes’ first and last goals of the game, to both start and end a performance that had a lot of ups and downs. I don’t know if the team dipped in confidence or what, but the team needed their big Russian to settle down the game and get the Canes through their troublesome opponent.

Svechnikov has a few different chances to execute his “Svechnikov” move but decided against it on each occasion. Likely due to the strong defense and solid goaltender, there was never the time or space for Svechnikov to set up the move with enough accuracy to get it on the net behind a scrambling netminder.

With two goals and a helper, accompanied by four shots, Svechnikov had himself a genuine star performance to kick off his new deal. This always felt like a game where the Hurricanes just needed to keep the puck out of their own end because their true talent was going to bail them out in the end. Just make sure that they don’t get blown away in the meantime.

Carolina’s Russian maestro worked his rear end off to ensure that his team was going to get over the hump. Two goals and an assist companies his four shots show off that the Russian superstar had an incredible game. It’s no secret that the Russian was going to have to play a big part for the Canes to beat the Islanders and Svechnikov did not disappoint.

It was a tightly contested game with both teams having spells on top, but in the end, the star power of the Hurricanes shined through as they defeated the Islanders.

Frederik Andersen

I know that this might sound a little weird. You would expect better stats for a goaltender to say that he was one of the big reasons that their team won. But here we are, Frederik Andersen was a major reason the Carolina Hurricanes won this game. His first game as a Cane was a fantastic showing of what he’s capable of, and it shows why the Canes thought he was the guy moving forward.

Andersen made big saves when Carolina needed him. He made big saves when the game was tight, and if not for a little bit of bad luck, he might have even made a highlight-reel save on one of the goals the Islanders would have eventually scored. While there might be questions long term about his health, right now, he’s proving he’s the guy for the Carolina Hurricanes.

Only stopping 25 of 28 doesn’t seem like the kind of netminding performance you’d be praising in theory, but the timeliness of his saves was massive. Carolina dominated most of this game, but when they needed to recharge, Andersen was there to clean up the pieces when the team needed him. Are there areas of improvement for Andersen? Yes. But this is a good starting point.

Andersen has always been a solid netminder when he isn’t overplayed. This is why Carolina has made the effort to effectively run a tandem as opposed to a pure number 1 starter. Andersen is just one piece of this, and we’ll see if we see the other parts against Nashville. But one thing that is for sure is that Andersen was a big part of the Canes’ success against New York.

It’s a nice change of pace to be celebrating the netminding after all the looming questions from this offseason. Andersen did his part and the Canes know that he will need to continue that going forward if this team wants to push for the playoffs and get past the other Stanley Cup contenders.

With that, we look to Nashville on Sunday. Off to a perfect start, the Canes look to push on in Music City. We’ll be right here covering it on Cardiac Cane. Until then, stay safe, and LETS GO CANES.