The road trip reached its final stop on Saturday night as the Carolina Hurricanes tried to finish positively against the St. Louis Blues. The team suffered a tough 6-5 shootout loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday, despite leading for a good chunk of the contest. While the loss was a bit of a stinger, there was no time for them to let it stew against the Blues.
Despite Rod Brind'Amour announcing that the flu bug is going around the locker room, the lineup of skaters remained the same as in Thursday's contest in Edmonton. The only change was in the net, with Pyotr Kochetkov drawing the start. Across from him stood Joel Hofer, who pitched a 33-save shutout against the Canes in this building in January.
The first period was a slow builder for the Canes. They didn't start great, but they started to build a little momentum as it went along. Still, neither side was able to solve the opposing goalie. Both were incredibly active outside of their creases, leading to some scary moments, though nothing that came back to bite them after 20 minutes.
The offense finally started rolling in the second. After drawing a tripping call, Jackson Blake made a great pass to Sean Walker between the dots to break the ice. 20 seconds later. Jesperi Kotkaniemi finished a give-and-go with Jordan Martinook to double the lead. Late in the frame, following a great penalty kill, Seth Jarvis sprung Logan Stankoven for a breakaway, and he buried it to make it 3-0.
The Hurricanes' only power play of the night came early in the third, and they put the game away. Nikolaj Ehlers scored his fourth goal of the trip with the net open, icing it for good. All that was left to decide was whether Kochetkov would get the shutout. With the help of his defense, he got it over the finish line. Closing the trip the right way, the Canes picked up a 4-0 victory in St. Louis.
Kochetkov got better as the night went on, earning his first shutout
Pyotr Kochetkov turned the puck over on the first shift, and although he made the save, it felt like it could've been an indication of how the night would go. He had one more tough puck moment that didn't lead to anything later in the period. After that, Kochetkov turned in his best effort of the season, outdueling a very good netminder on the other side.
His biggest moment of the night came early in the second period. Nikolaj Ehlers turned the puck over at the offensive blue line, allowing Connor McMichael to skate with it on a breakaway. With zen-like calmness, Kochetkov gloved the chance. The Canes scored a few minutes later to break the ice, and Kochetkov stayed locked in from there.
Kochetkov was a lot cleaner with the puck as the game progressed, with it being particularly clean during their penalty kill in the second period. Conversely, Joel Hofer had a very interesting night behind his net. He was incredibly aggressive while trying to play the puck. It was clear he was overcompensating for a tough performance. Kochetkov made it look way easier than it was.
The start of the second period woke the Canes' offense up
A little over nine months ago, it was the Blues coming out after a scoreless first period and taking it to the Canes. On that night, they scored three times in the second, before cruising to a shutout win. Tonight, the script was flipped. The Canes rode a three-goal second period to victory, beginning with a quick spurt. It started with Jackson Blake.
The Canes could've gone on the power play after Blake drew a trip. Instead, he stuck with it. Blake was a menace with the puck, eventually fitting a pass to Sean Walker for the opening goal and earning his 100th career point. It only got better when Jesperi Kotkaniemi picked up his third goal of the road trip 20 seconds later. From there, it was clear that they'd found something.
After the game, Rod Brind'Amour wouldn't call Logan Stankoven's goal a "backbreaker", but I certainly will. If St. Louis had scored on the power play, this game would have taken a different shape. Not only did the Canes' kill look fantastic, but Seth Jarvis helped create the goal with perfect pressure, sending Stankoven on a breakaway. It was, arguably, the team's best period of the road trip.
It was a fitting way for the trip to end as the team heads home happy
After a disappointing loss on Thursday, with injuries piling up and the flu running through the locker room, it would've been easy for the team to phone it in during their final stop of the State Fair road trip. Instead, they picked up their first shutout of the new season. It was a great note to end on as the team finished the trip at 3-1-1.
With seven of ten possible points in the bank after the eight-day journey, the Canes should feel very good about where things stand. Not only are they still atop the division and among the best teams in the conference, but the team got contributions from the entire lineup to get it done. No matter their role and no matter the situation, everyone had their moment.
It's actually crazy how close the Hurricanes were to a perfect trip. One rough breakdown in transition in Calgary and issues holding a lead in Edmonton were the differences. Still, the team fought through some adversity and soldiered through to get back to Raleigh on the heels of a successful trip. They'll enjoy it now before preparing for Boston to kick off a three-game homestand on Tuesday.
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