This Week In Raleighwood; Domi’s Debut, Face Off With The Champs

Happy Sunday Cardiac Cane readers! This is a brand new series where I review all the happenings in and around the Hurricanes every week. We have a lot to talk about, with the craziness of the deadline kicking off the week. Max Domi made his debut, things got heated between the Canes and Lightning, let’s get right into it!

Sunday, March 20th

The Hurricanes started their week in a game against their division foe, the New York Rangers. The Hurricanes put up 44 shots in a losing effort as Rangers goaltender Alexander Georgiev stood on his head. This was peak Canes hockey as the team dominated and outshot the Rangers 44-18, yet could not figure out the Blueshirts backup goaltender.

Monday, March 21st 

This trade has been chronicled plenty on this website so I won’t go into too much detail, but on a rather odd trade deadline, the Hurricanes traded for Blue Jackets winger Max Domi. This trade came at the last minute, and by that, I mean THE last minute.

Hurricanes center Jesperi Kotkaniemi officially signed his eight-year contract extension. The contract was known for a few weeks, but the deal could not be signed until after the trade deadline. The eight-year deal carries a cap hit of $4.82 million until the 2029-30 season.

Tuesday, March 22nd

The defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning came to Raleigh for the first time since game 5 of the second round of the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs. The Canes largely controlled play in the heavyweight bout and won 3-2. The powerplay had a revival of sorts and striking twice.

The intensity has certainly picked up between the teams, evident by the ending of the game. Tampa star Nikita Kucherov took a penalty late in the third period, halting Tampa’s pushback in its tracks. After the game was over Kucherov went after Sebastian Aho which resulted in a bench-clearing altercation.

These post-game antics just add more fuel to the fire when the two teams meet up for the final time this season next Tuesday.

Wednesday, March 23rd

Although not much in terms of news, Max Domi took the ice at PNC for the first time as a Cane. Through his interviews with the Hurricanes media team and on the broadcast, it is evident that Domi is extremely excited for the opportunity to play for the red and black, which is always a good sign.

Thursday, March 24th 

The Hurricanes faced off against the Dallas Stars in a nationally televised cross-conference matchup. Max Domi made his debut on the fourth line alongside Kotkaniemi and Derek Stepan. The Canes lost 4-3 to the shootout as they found difficulty holding a lead, but especially found trouble in solving Scott Wedgewood during overtime. This is the second time in a week that the Canes couldn’t seem to crack a backup goaltender.

Saturday, March 26th

After a very uneventful Friday, the Hurricanes played their first of three straight road games, matching up against Justin Faulk and the St. Louis Blues. Carolina played extremely en route to defeating the Blues 7-2.

Although there were some pretty goals, the highlight was newly re-signed Kotkaniemi getting into a fight. Jesperi finished with a stat line of 1 assist and 19 penalty minutes.

Stats For The Week

The Hurricanes went 2-1-1 on the week. The Canes scored 13 goals and conceded 9, their goal total being inflated by the touchdown scored against the Blues. The team leads in points was 4, shared by Teuvo Teravainen (0 g, 4 a), and rookie Seth Jarvis (2 g, 2 a), fueled by his 2-goal outing last night.

Nino Niederreiter lead the team in goals with 3, despite only being able to play in 1 less game than everyone else. Nino was serving his 1-game suspension during Sunday’s contest against the Rangers.

Next Week’s Lineup

3/28 Hurricanes @ Capitals

3/29 Hurricanes @ Lightning

3/31 Hurricanes vs Montreal

4/2 Hurricanes vs Minnesota