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.