The Hurricanes surrender a quartet in the third as they drop their first game back

The Carolina Hurricanes (finally) returned to the Lenovo Center on Tuesday night, playing in front of the Caniacs for the first time in over two weeks. On the heels of a successful road trip, the Canes sought a little revenge against the Vegas Golden Knights, one of the two teams to defeat them while they were on the road.

With neither side skating on Tuesday morning, the lineups remained a mystery until shortly before puck drop. Shayne Gostisbehere returned to the lineup after exiting the trip in Los Angeles, and Domenick Fensore made his season debut. Frederik Andersen was in the net for the first time since his 44-save performance in Denver, battling opposite Vegas' Akira Schmid in Adin Hill's absence.

It felt like the Canes were going to dominate the game, based solely on the first six minutes. Andrei Svechnikov broke his goose egg by clapping a shot on the power play past Schmid, getting the crowd going early. Unfortunately, Vegas assumed control for the rest of the period. Pavel Dorofeyev scored twice, including a late goal on the power play, to give Vegas the 2-1 lead after the first.

Up a goal, Vegas was getting the better of play for most of the second period, but the home team refused to budge. Eventually, it will lead to success. Jordan Martinook found his opening. After stripping Jack Eichel at the blue line, Martinook snuck a shot through Schmid's pads to tie things up. Add a larcenous save at the end of the period, and the Canes survived to the intermission.

The vibes were good coming out of the break. Logan Stankoven scored early in the third to put the Canes back in front. However, Brett Howden responded less than four minutes later, tying it at three. The wheels fell off the bus late when a miscue at the blue line allowed Eichel to score on a breakaway. A breakdown allowed Eichel to score again, and Tomas Hertl buried an ENG for a 6-3 Vegas win.

Andrei Svechnikov is back, and he's bringing the power play with him

It feels like everyone around the hockey community has taken note of Andrei Svechnikov's lack of production. From the hop tonight, Svechnikov appeared determined to change that. He threw everything he could at the net before eventually breaking through on the power play. It took him all of two seconds with the man advantage to strike, killing two birds with one stone.

While Svechnikov finding the scoresheet was great to see, it also meant the return of some ill-timed penalties. He'd yet to take a penalty this season, so he made up for it by taking two in the first period, the second of which led to a Vegas goal on the power play. It was a weak call, so I'll let it slide. If tonight is an indication that Svechnikov truly is back, the league needs to take notice.

The defense takes another massive hit

While it was great to see Shayne Gostisbehere back in the lineup, his return was short-lived. When he wasn't on the bench to start the second, many fans feared the worst. It took a while for the official notice that ruled him out for the remainder of the contest, but it eventually came late in the period. After the game, Rod Brind'Amour called it a "midsection" injury independent of his previous issue.

At one point in the contest, the Canes were down to four defensemen after Joel Nystrom took a puck to the face. They were down to three when Sean Walker took a penalty, forcing Mark Jankowski to play defense on the kill. If this isn't indicative of the current state of the Hurricanes' defense, I don't know what is.

It makes the efforts of the other four defensemen even more noteworthy. Alexander Nikishin played 27:33, leading all skaters. Jalen Chatfield came in at just under 26 minutes, while Sean Walker eclipsed 24 minutes. Even Domenick Fensore nearly touched 20. It was a valiant effort from the home team tonight. Unfortunately, they couldn't get it done.

Additional Thoughts

I want to highlight Jordan Martinook's work in the second period to draw the Canes even. Earlier in the period, he labeled Eichel along the boards, trying to get his team back into the fight. Then, he stripped Eichel of the puck to convert on a breakaway. Honestly, it's a bit poetic that's how Vegas won this game, only, this time, it was Eichel scoring the goal.

The discourse amongst the Caniacs after the game was the 4-1 disparity in power plays. There was a brutal missed tripping call that Svechnikov should've drawn before Eichel's second goal that went undetected. There's also the skirmish that led to Nikolaj Ehlers and Brett Howden sitting. Over their last three games, the Canes have been awarded seven fewer chances than their opponents (16-9).

Up Next: To conclude their October schedule, the Carolina Hurricanes welcome top pick Matthew Schaefer and the New York Islanders to town on Thursday night for a nationally televised tilt. Their first two games in November will be back on the road, meeting the Boston Bruins on Saturday afternoon and the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden in one week.