Carolina Hurricanes: Three takeaways as Canes double up Knights
With a 4-2 win in Las Vegas, Nevada, the Carolina Hurricanes progress to 12-2 on the year and get their six-game road trip off to the perfect start. A strong first and third period saw the team push beyond the reach of the walking wounded Vegas Golden Knights, and move back to the top of the Metropolitan division.
With Carolina building on their win at home against St Louis, playing a team like Vegas that is absolutely consumed with injuries was just what the doctor ordered. The team gets to settle on the west coast with a win under their belt. Their next game against Anaheim is going to be an absolutely brilliant game, but until then, it’s time to focus on this game.
Carolina’s hot start was sparked by their blueliners. It was built on by their powerplay. When Vegas came roaring back, it was the Finnish netminder who held firm between the pipes. When Carolina had the chance, it was their rookie who put the finishing touches on this game. Their blossoming 2C put it out of reach, and their defense shut the door. This was an almost flawless road performance in the first and third.
Carolina doubled Vegas up in both goals and shots, with very little to be done by the Finnish netminder who was making his first appearance since being leveled in the Florida game, but we will get to talking about him in a minute. This was a dominant performance by the Canes, who held all the cards all night. It was a game dictated by Carolina for the bulk of it, and in the end, they leave the table with more than they went in with.
Antti Raanta comes through big time
When Carolina changed their goaltending tandem in the summer, it raised a lot of questions among outsiders, but a lot of the Canes faithful understood it. Now, the people who knew what was going on and trusted this front office are looking like geniuses. With their starter looking like an early Vezina candidate, it was the backup’s turn tonight to show his stuff on the big stage.
Las Vegas saw a dazzling display of netminding from Antti Raanta. It was not a tasking time, but Raanta came through with some big saves when the Hurricanes needed him to be there. Time and again, he turned away Vegas attackers, and he was not at fault for either of the two goals that they conceded. Raanta stifled the Vegas attackers all night when they finally start to get through to him.
Making 21 saves, he only saw 23 shots. That’s due to a great team performance in front of him as the Canes amassed 42 as they laid siege to Vegas. When the Canes solid rear-guard was broken, Raanta was there to hold the fort until his defenders got back to him. Except for the second goal, where Raanta was asked to make save after save as the defenders kinda did nothing around him.
When people look at this game, it didn’t have the makings of a goaltender standing on his head to keep a team in it. But a lesser goalie would have allowed a lot more goals than Raanta did tonight and the coaching staff was proven right to give the nod to the veteran Finnish netminder. Giving extra rest to the starter is always a good thing, and this fantastic performance inspired more confidence in the backup.
And this one counts for Seth Jarvis!
This rookie has been so good during his time in the NHL. He’s going to force the hand of the coaching staff and keep him up with the big team, burning the first year of his entry-level deal, and making it so that he will have to be re-signed at the same time as some of the teams’ stars. But that is an issue for three years from now, as Seth Jarvis continues to make a major impact on the NHL.
He’s smart defensively, he’s good on the puck, he’s smart when he’s in possession, he’s always in the right areas, he’s a good skater, and he works hard. Seth Jarvis has all the makings of a superstar to be, and right now, he’s just a joy to watch. Not many people will be aware of the rookie phenom, but that will change with time. Each passing game seems to make him a better player.
With Jarvis on the right-wing, this team has been kicked in the rear end multiple times, as his second NHL goal, and his third time putting the puck in the net in three nights (while the other two have been disallowed) turned out to be the game-winner in this one. He’s going to be a big-time player for the Carolina Hurricanes moving forward, and there’s absolutely no denying that. He’s too talented to doubt at this point.
Jarvis was sensational in this game and has been for a long time, and he’s just so much fun to watch on the ice. He’s only going to get better too, learning from some of the league’s best that play on his line. He’s provided a spark to this team that wasn’t there before. When he was sitting in the press box, this team felt like a machine. Now, Jarvis seems to just light up the faces of fans.
Sebastian domination
With a dominant win, there’s usually a dominant player, and tonight it was the Carolina Hurricanes star center. Sebastian Aho was the one to decide that the Hurricanes needed to take the two points above all else, and it was a major victory for the Carolina Hurricanes in a hostile building in Nevada. Aho’s safe hands and solid control took this game away from Vegas in the end.
In the first, Aho would score a beautiful wrist shot goal on the powerplay to double the Canes lead, and it was truly a beautiful goal to score that on a goaltender who was playing as well as the Vegas netminder was. Sometimes, you need your stars to step up and get you out of trouble, and Carolina got that from Sebastian tonight on so many occasions.
It was Aho’s line that got the game-winner too, as Aho got the secondary assist on Seth Jarvis’ goal. Carolina’s top line was fantastic in this game and they really took this game by the scruff of the neck in the third period and took it away from a very depleted Vegas Golden Knights roster. It was a very good performance from the top line.
Aho had a really slow start to the season, and the fact he had 10 points in 8 games really says a lot. He wasn’t dominating games like we all know Sebastian Aho does, and he has started to show everyone that he is back. He’s scoring, he’s controlling games, and he’s being a leader. He’s a great player that is leading by example and can you ask for much more than that from a 24-year-old?