The Carolina Hurricanes played their final regular season game on Thursday night, reaching the end of a grueling seven-month, 82-game journey against the Ottawa Senators. The Canes fell to Montreal 24 hours earlier, allowing the Canadiens to clinch the final playoff spot with a 4-2 victory. With both Carolina and Ottawa heading to the playoffs, the only goal on Thursday was to stay healthy.
The Canes deployed the same group of skaters from Wednesday's loss, with the small change of Brent Burns dressing as the seventh defenseman. Frederik Andersen started the final game, trying to gain positive momentum before the playoffs. Ottawa iced an NHL-level lineup in their final tune-up before Toronto, including Linus Ullmark between the pipes.
The offense didn't come until beyond the halfway point in the first period. Adam Gaudette capitalized on a neutral-zone turnover, snapping a transition chance past Andersen's blocker to get it started. Then, on Ottawa's third power play of the period, Dylan Cozens put it in nearly an identical place from the slot to double the lead. 47 seconds later, Shane Pinto scored on a breakaway to make it 3-0.
Needing to stop the bleeding, the Canes' top line scored for the second straight night. Just 11 seconds after Pinto's goal, all three forwards combined as Jesperi Kotkaniemi finished the play to get the Canes on the board. In the final minute, we got a classic Game #82 moment. Skyler Brind'Amour tapped home a rebound on the doorstep for his first NHL goal, pulling the group within one after 20.
The Canes capitalized on a penalty at the end of the first to start the second period, kickstarting three goals in just over 6:30. Andrei Svechnikov buried his 20th of the season to pull the Canes even. A little over three minutes later, Jack Roslovic took advantage of an Ottawa miss by walking in and snapping another past Ullmark. Then, Taylor Hall set up Tyson Jost after a brutal Ottawa turnover.
With the Canes sitting ahead by two goals, they ran into penalty trouble late in the frame. Svechnikov and Mark Jankowski took penalties four seconds apart, giving Ottawa a prolonged 5-on-3. However, the Canes' killers dug in and withstood an onslaught. Andersen looked phenomenal during the sequence, helping the Canes get into the second break with their two-goal lead intact.
The game started to unravel for the Canes in the third period. After Gaudette scored his second of the game off the draw to cut the deficit to one, the Senators' stars took over. Drake Batherson scored twice, including the go-ahead goal on the power play, before Tim Stutzle walked through the defense to add another on the power play to take a 7-5 victory behind a four-goal period.
Let's tackle the obvious takeaway first. If the intention is for Frederik Andersen to start Game 1, there's absolutely no reason he should've played in this game. Frankly, I wouldn't have played him in either game if I could help it. I don't think he's to blame for the loss, but how do you gain any confidence in this situation? He had great stretches in the game, but allowing seven goals isn't ideal.
The officiating in this game was horrendous. The Canes were guilty of NINE penalties during the game to Ottawa's three. It felt like every time a Hurricane touched a Senator, the stripes had their arms up, especially in the third period. Meanwhile, the Canes couldn't buy a call. Even if all nine calls were correct, which is unlikely in today's NHL, there's no way this game had that large a discrepancy.
The only thing that mattered at the end of the night was seeing the veterans getting going before the playoffs. No one needed a goal more than Andrei Svechnikov. He's looked good in the games since returning from injury, so getting him going was huge. Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Jack Roslovic also had massive goals, with Roslovic tying his career-high with his marker in the second period.
Up Next: With the regular season completed, the Carolina Hurricanes turn their attention to the first round and the New Jersey Devils. The series begins on Sunday afternoon at 3 pm when the Canes host the Devils for Game 1. Game 2 will follow on Tuesday before the series shifts to Newark next Friday and Sunday. Should the series return to Raleigh for Game 5, that would be on April 29th.