The Carolina Hurricanes entered Thursday in a rut, losing their last three games, including Tuesday at home against the Kraken. Despite being outplayed, the Canes looked like they'd taken the lead before a goalie interference challenge wiped the Canes' go-ahead goal off the board and allowed Seattle to score twice to win it 4-2. Life wouldn't get easier with the Colorado Avalanche next on the schedule.
Rod Brind'Amour iced the same group from the Seattle loss, including Pyotr Kochetkov in the net. Kochetkov's return from injury on Tuesday didn't go as planned, though he wasn't terrible. Colorado countered with newly-acquired Scott Wedgewood over Alexandar Georgiev. Wedgewood was instrumental in Colorado's 5-4 comeback win on Tuesday against Buffalo, relieving Georgiev and stopping 22 shots to help the Avalanche erase a 4-0 first-period deficit.
The Hurricanes played a much better first period than they have over the last few games, but their desire to flirt with fire cost them the opening goal. After Kochetkov stopped Nathan MacKinnon on an early breakaway, he couldn't do the same against Artturi Lehkonen midway through the period as Cale Makar sprung him for the first tally.
Who would the Canes call on to get them back in the game? Naturally, it's the line with the guy tied for the league lead in points entering the night. Martin Necas picked up the secondary assist, his 40th point of the campaign, on the tying goal as Eric Robinson redirected Brent Burns' shot to pull even. This felt like the massive momentum swing the Canes needed heading into the break. Instead of playing down a goal, they found some daylight and entered the second period tied at one.
The power play, which had come up empty twice in the opening 20 minutes, got its third chance to operate early in the second. A pair of 4 Nations Face-Off representatives connected as Sebastian Aho found Seth Jarvis for a beautiful power-play goal. Jarvis unloaded a heavy wrister from the right dot to put the Canes in front. Just under three minutes later, Jack Roslovic tied Necas for the team lead in goals, burying a pass from Andrei Svechnikov to extend the lead.
Everything was going Carolina's way through two periods. Sensing that was the case, the stripes inserted themselves into the game. Jordan Staal took a clear hooking penalty to give the Avalanche a power play, which turned into another 5-on-3 after Jack Drury was sent off for tripping Lehkonen in front of the net. Upon closer inspection, Lehkonen fell on his own with Drury in the vicinity. Fortunately, the penalty kill dug in, getting a key block from Jalen Chatfield on MacKinnon to kill things off and maintain the two-goal advantage.
Things got a little too chaotic at the end of the game. With 5:19 left, Valeri Nichushkin broke in and beat Kochetkov between the five-hole, cutting the Canes' lead to a goal with plenty of time remaining. Colorado would take a costly too-many-men penalty, allowing Necas to add to his point total by snapping a beautiful shot past Wedgewood to make it 4-2. Nichuskin's second goal 24 seconds later with Wedgewood on the bench gave us an uneasy feeling, but Svechnikov, who had three assists to this point, made it four points with the empty-net goal to halt the Canes' losing streak with a 5-3 win.
It appeared Carolina was on their way to a clean victory before the final five minutes muddied the waters, but I'll gladly take this one anyway I can. This was a quality opponent to snap a skid against, especially with how they did it. Colorado's dynamic trio had their fingerprints all over this game. Makar had two helpers. MacKinnon added one, too. Mikko Rantanen had a breakaway chance thwarted early in the second period. They were very good, though their impact was cushioned by how well the Canes played against them for most of the night.
While his goal-scoring touch has been slightly stagnant lately, Andrei Svechnikov found a way to contribute in other areas against Colorado. He assisted on both power-play goals and added another primary helper on Roslovic's goal before finishing the night with another empty-net goal. There were moments when it felt like he had an open net to score where the puck wouldn't settle for him. Per his postgame interviews, he didn't love his game. I appreciate his willingness to be candid, but he's being a little too hard on himself after a solid performance.
Special teams against a team like Colorado have to be game-changing. On Thursday, they were exactly that. The penalty kill was especially strong. The 5-on-3 during the third period could've been huge had the Avalanche scored. The way things have gone during two-man disadvantages for the Canes this season, it felt like something bad was going to happen. Instead, they survived. Then, the power play made Colorado pay for failing math class, scoring late to seal the game.
Up Next: The Carolina Hurricanes close the week on Saturday evening on the island for a postseason rematch with the New York Islanders. New York is going through a slight tailspin, sitting last in the division. Next week, the schedule is spread out. The Canes will be in Raleigh to begin a four-game homestand on Tuesday against Ottawa before hosting Macklin Celebrini and the San Jose Sharks on Friday.