The Carolina Hurricanes were back on the road, beginning a weekend back-to-back and a stretch of three games in four nights in the Windy City by visiting the Chicago Blackhawks. The Canes earned their first two wins of the season away from Raleigh before finally getting the job done on home ice on Thursday against the Canucks, thanks in part to Logan Stankoven's first NHL hat trick.
The lineup remained unchanged for the fourth straight game. Rod Brind'Amour appears content with how things are looking. The lone change came in the crease, with Brandon Bussi drawing the assignment to start the weekend. The Blackhawks countered with Spencer Knight, who can be very hot and cold against the Canes. It was good to see our old friend Teuvo Teravainen back in the lineup.
It took the Hurricanes a while to get the puck in the back of the net, nearly wasting a very good road period to begin the game. However, the fourth line kept its hot streak going, turning to Mark Jankowski once again. Jesperi Kotkaniemi put the puck in a spot for him to skate into it, and Jankowski slid the puck around Knight's skate to break the ice in the final minute of the first period.
The second period wasn't nearly as clean, with goals coming early and often. Sebastian Aho doubled the lead on the penalty kill, sending a stickless Bowen Byram sliding by as he dragged and fired it under Knight's glove. Less than 90 seconds later, Stankoven was denied as he powered to the net, but he stuck with the play to get Jackson Blake his first goal of the season at the top of the crease.
Roman Kantserov gave the home crowd something to cheer for 30 seconds later, intercepting a pass at the blue line and skating it the other way. He beat Bussi for his first NHL goal and cut the Canes' lead back to two. Former Blackhawk Taylor Hall wasted little time getting the lead back to three. Blake picked up his second point of the period by setting up Hall for a one-timer, and he was pumped.
All of that scoring came in the opening 6:05 of the middle frame. No one felt the need to score again until Jordan Martinook buried a backhander through Knight five minutes into the third period. The game was decided by then, but Oliver Moore finished the scoring late to make it appear slightly less lopsided than it was. The Canes' win streak is now at four games with a dominant 5-2 victory.
If there are any signs of a hangover, the Canes aren't showing them
After two games, we might've been a little concerned. After these last four, those concerns have fallen away. Chicago falls in a similar boat to Vancouver, though the Blackhawks were without their top player because of an injury and another big part of their offense because of a suspension. Still, the expectation was always for the Canes to dominate this game.
Dominate, they certainly did. I liked the Canes' first period, and while their late-period goal from the fourth line was big, it was their start to the second that really put this game away. Once again, special teams led the charge, with Sebastian Aho extending his point streak to five games with a gorgeous short-handed goal that Bowen Byram still hasn't recovered from.
Along with the fourth line staying hot, the second line kept putting up points, and the third line finally got one into the back of the net in the third period. The defense is joining the fun, with Mike Reilly earning his first two points of the season, along with an assist for K'Andre Miller. The Canes now own a four-game win streak, outscoring their opponents 21-10. They're doing perfectly fine.
Bussi turned in his best performance of the season in Chicago
After his victory in Montreal, I hoped the final two periods of his night would translate into sustained success. I've spoken Pyotr Kochetkov's praises after his last two starts, so Bussi really needed to come into this weekend and show me something. The Blackhawks were a perfect opponent for him to do that against, and he looked very sharp.
While the Canes were the better team, the Blackhawks got a few odd-man chances and breakaways. For the most part, Bussi stood tall. While the first goal he allowed was a breakaway, there were a few high-danger chances that he stopped before finally being beaten. The second goal was a weird one, with Oliver Moore's intention to pass the puck getting Bussi off his post before Moore scored.
Bussi finished the night with 24 stops on 26 shots, facing half of those in the third period. He didn't look flustered in the crease, and he managed the puck a lot better, though he didn't dare to venture outside his net a lot. He has won two starts in a row, with this looking much more natural than his win in Montreal. Bussi might've found his game again.
Jackson Blake is transforming into a star in front of our eyes
It's a little wild to me that one of his linemates, Logan Stankoven, scored a hat trick on Thursday night, and Jackson Blake didn't assist on any of them, despite finishing the night with two helpers. Instead, he assisted on both of Andrei Svechnikov's power-play goals, giving Blake four of his five assists on the man advantage. Before the game, I wanted to see Blake find something at 5-on-5, and he did.
Blake finished with another multi-point contest, extending his point streak, like Aho's, to five games. Most importantly, the streak extender was his first goal of the season. The effort fell largely on Stankoven, sticking with the play to set Blake up, but that's all it takes sometimes. Less than three minutes later, he set up his other linemate, Taylor Hall, for the team's fourth goal.
With seven points, Blake sits behind only Aho for the team lead while leading the way with six helpers. This is the first year of his eight-year contract, and Blake is proving that he was a worthwhile investment for the organization. If he isn't careful, the rest of the league will start taking notice and talking about how good he is. Of course, the Caniacs already know that.
The Hurricanes will try to extend their win streak to five games while trying to keep the Philadelphia Flyers winless. It's the team's second visit to Philadelphia in just over a week, winning 3-2 in overtime last Saturday for their first win of the season. They'll return to Raleigh to host the Capitals again on Tuesday as part of NHL Frozen Frenzy before embarking on their State Fair trip next weekend.
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