The Carolina Hurricanes brought their eight-game win streak to Tinseltown as they continued their California trip on Saturday afternoon. The Canes began their journey through The Golden State with a 3-1 victory over the Sharks on Thursday night, led by their dominant top line. Playing the best home team in the NHL in their barn, the Canes would need a lot to go right to extend their streak.
Pyotr Kochetkov was in the net for the first time since shutting out the Philadelphia Flyers a week ago. Kochetkov was incredible, making 26 stops to record his tenth career shutout. Jordan Staal (lower-body injury) and Shayne Gostisbehere (illness) missed the game, bringing recently recalled Juha Jaaska and Scott Morrow back into the lineup. David Rittich was in the net for the Kings.
It's hard enough playing the Kings in Los Angeles, but the Canes put themselves in a tough spot by allowing the first goal on the first shot early in the first period. Samuel Helenius won a battle along the boards and as the puck popped out to Adrian Kempe, he skated in and snapped a shot off the post and in to set the tone.
The Canes were the better team until things started to unravel at the end of the period. A Jesperi Kotkaniemi high-sticking penalty quickly turned into an LA goal when Anze Kopitar's pass for Kempe hit Jordan Martinook's skate and redirected into the net. With 3.7 seconds left, Andrei Kuzmenko caught Kochetkov guessing, snapping a short-side shot home to make it 3-0 after 20 minutes.
Things quickly went from bad to worse for the Canes in the second period. Los Angeles scored three times in 2:43 to open up a massive six-goal advantage. Trevor Moore went bar down from between the dots. Tanner Jeannot was the recipient of a bouncing puck and a pass from Alex Turcotte. To round it out, Quinton Byfield buried a pass from Kevin Fiala.
The lone shining moment through two periods was the Canes breaking the shutout. Dmitry Orlov's shot from the point deflected off Joel Edmundson's stick and into the net. The Kings tried to challenge for goalie interference after Logan Stankoven slightly brushed Rittich, but the call was upheld. The Canes would be unsuccessful on the ensuing power play and one more after.
To make a terrible game even worse, Seth Jarvis left early in the third period after a scary collision with the boards. He was trying to work around Warren Foegele short-handed and lost his edge, sending him full speed and back-first into the boards. He skated off under his own power, but it was a tough crash that left everyone in the building and at home holding their breaths.
The rest of the afternoon went on without much else happening. Rittich continued to make stops, and Kochetkov had his best 20 minutes of the afternoon after getting little help. Fiala and Mark Jankowski traded goals eight seconds apart in the final two minutes of the third to make it a 7-2 game once the final horn sounded.
If the Canes were going to lose their win streak today, this is exactly how I would've wanted it to play out. Let me know early that this wasn't going to be the day and let me enjoy the rest of the ride. The Kings were the better team in every imaginable area and capitalized on every small mistake the Canes made. Board battles and transition were where they imposed their will the most.
I'm going to say the unpopular thing now. I didn't think Pyotr Kochetkov was bad. The final numbers won't support me, but too much of this will be thrown on the Canes netminder. There might've been one or two goals he'd like back, but his team didn't give him much help on any of them. I said the Canes would need a lot to go right to win this game. They absolutely didn't get that today.
If we're looking for silver linings, we'll turn to the new guys and rookies for them. Mark Jankowski scored his fifth goal as a Hurricane, topping his total with Nashville in just six games. Scott Morrow has a three-game point streak with his secondary helper on the goal. Logan Stankoven also added a point, providing the second assist on Dmitry Orlov's goal.
Obviously, everything that went right or wrong is thrown out the window when someone gets hurt. Without knowing the official prognosis, it's hard to gauge the severity of Seth Jarvis' injury. It didn't look pretty, but skating off without much help is encouraging. Hopefully, Andrei Svechnikov isn't too far away from returning because now is not when you want injuries to start piling up.
Up Next: The Carolina Hurricanes return to action tomorrow night when they battle the Anaheim Ducks to conclude their California road trip. They'll begin another four-game stay at the Lenovo Center Tuesday night against the Nashville Predators. This homestand will include visits from the Canadiens, Islanders, and the Capitals.