Carolina Hurricanes: Three takeaways from win in Ohio
Carolina improves to 4-0-0 on the season with a 5-1 victory in the buckeye state as the Carolina Hurricanes remain unbeaten. After a very difficult three-game road trip, their final game is another win as the team moves up to 8 points in the standings. A very impressive win for the Carolina Hurricanes as they beat the Columbus Blue Jackets.
A game that saw almost complete domination from the Carolina Hurricanes, it was a sensational performance as their star talent shone through against a team that didn’t have the same resources among them. Carolina’s talent saw them through a potentially tricky game in Columbus with some big goals from members of the vaunted SAT line.
Carolina did not get this all their own way, and they had a big performance from their netminder again who is being asked to stand on his head in the early part of this season. We know that the team had a lot of faith in this tandem when they brought them in, and although we haven’t seen the other half of this tandem, what we have seen is a cause for optimism.
We will get into all the nuts and bolts of this win here on Cardiac Cane. With a lot of talent to bail the team out, a netminder cleaning up the issues, and a special team putting this game out of reach, the Carolina Hurricanes are now just one point back of the division-leading New York Rangers with 2 games in hand. It’s a very promising position for the team to be in.
For now, let’s focus on the team’s last game as they overcome the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-1.
Great Dane
Carolina has a lot of people to thank for their success in the early part of this season. Arguably, none have been bigger than the contributions of their netminder Frederik Andersen. Freddie has been the most stable member of the team to this point of the season and the gigantic Dane came through yet again in this game.
Now with a .944 save percentage on the season, Andersen has been a major reason as to why the Carolina Hurricanes are as high in the standings as they currently are. Whether he’s being asked to cover up for defensive mistakes, make big saves at big moments, or just top 40 shots in a game, Andersen has been a rock behind a Carolina Hurricanes defense that has been incredibly shakey.
We’re all hopeful that this blueline will get better in its own end, but Andersen’s ability to make amends for his team’s mistakes has been vital to the Carolina Hurricanes so far. What’s possibly a little scary about this trait going forward are the questions of how much he was played, We know Andersen is solid when he’s rested and healthy, but he was overplayed as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs and faltered in the postseason.
Now, am I saying you do not play him in the next game against those same Maple Leafs? No, I would 100% play Andersen again, but at some point, you will need to remove the 6’4 netminder from the firing line so he can rest. We know that there’s another netminder to this tandem, so using only Freddie would be a waste of talent, and a hindrance come playoff time.
Stars make the difference
When I mentioned in the keys piece that Carolina will need their big talents to be the difference, this is exactly what I meant. When the Cans face opponents like Columbus without the same caliber of top-end talent at their disposal, it’s important for the big guys to step up and be the difference. Demonstrate how important it is for them to be members of the team.
With Andrei Svechnikov scoring the game-winner in another multipoint night for himself and Sebastian Aho tallying the dagger in the 3rd period, those stars really came through for the Carolina Hurricanes. Carolina’s depth also showed up and possibly could have gotten the win without their top-end talent, but their stars really put the game to bed for a comfortable finish to the night.
Speaking of a comfortable Finnish, Aho is starting to look more and more like the dominant player we all know he is. We know Aho can take over a game and put teams to bed and he is expected to do that. As the highest-paid member of the organization and the face of the franchise, he shoulders that pressure and that burden and has been doing an excellent job with it.
Andrei Svechnikov received an eight-year deal this summer with an average annual value of $7.75 million. That is not a small commitment and he is repaying the organization’s faith this season in abundance. Through four games this season, Svech has 4 goals and 3 assists for 7 points from the Russian winger. He’s playing out of his mind to this point of the season.
It was nice to see this game so comfortably spread by the two budding stars, and it should fill the fanbase with optimism. Remember, Carolina still holds some of the biggest talents in the National Hockey League. Svechnikov and Aho, despite being separated in the lineup, are starting to prove that they are a formidable two-headed monster.
Special teams
Carolina’s coaches are among the best in the league. With the reigning Jack Adams winner behind the bench, this really cannot be argued. It’s really started to show so far this season how well the special teams’ units are performing. Both the powerplay and penalty kill have been excellent to start the marathon of a season.
We got to see three more powerplay goals in this game. With how deadly this first unit has become with the bumper play becoming one of the favorite moves of the unit to cause traffic before a point blast looks for tips to take the puck past a blinded netminder, it’s got so many different ways to hurt opponents.
I know it’s strange to be talking about how well the penalty kill has been performing considering the one goal the Canes gave up last night was a powerplay goal, but with that being a 5-on-3 goal, I think this is more than justified. Also, that call to make it a 5-on-3 just was not a penalty at all, and I think even the NHL officials knew that.
Short-handed, Carolina looks like they can still create chances. Against Montreal, there were chances for the captain. In this game against Columbus, Aho had a fantastic chance down a man. It really speaks to the resilience of the team to be able to create scoring chances for fun, even when there’s the pressure of being down a man. If the PK keeps performing at this level, Carolina will be dangerous.
That’s about everything from this game! The next game is the 25th of October when the Toronto Maple Leafs come to town for the first time since they were beaten by an American Hockey League Zamboni driver, but that’s something to talk about in the preview. Until then, thank you for reading, and LET’S GO CANES!
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