After finally getting back into the win column on the road, the Carolina Hurricanes returned home to begin a four-game homestand on Thursday night. Behind a magnificent effort from the defense and Frederik Andersen between the pipes, the Canes won 2-1 in Detroit to snap a four-game road losing streak. The first visitor of the homestand was the Boston Bruins for the 100th consecutive sellout.
Looking to guide the team to its third straight win, Pyotr Kochetkov took the crease for the Canes. He was spectacular on Sunday, stopping 15 shots in a 2-1 overtime win over the Flames. Dmitry Orlov was a late scratch as Riley Stillman took his spot. Joonas Korpisalo was across from him for the Bruins. Boston played without captain Brad Marchand, Hampus Lindholm, and Charlie McAvoy.
Penalty killing was the early theme once the puck dropped. Boston had two 2-on-1 chances on the Canes' early power play that didn't materialize, while the Canes' penalty kill would draw first blood. Mason Lohrei didn't get much behind his drop pass for David Pastrnak. Sebastian Aho jumped in to poke it away from the Bruins star before outwaiting Korpisalo on the backhand to strike early.
Outside of the early goal and a pair of successful penalty kills, the Canes felt a step behind the Bruins, especially in the final five minutes. With 1:05 left, former Hurricane Morgan Geekie would knot things up. Pavel Zacha redirected Andrew Peeke's shot and while Kochetkov kicked it out, the puck landed on Geekie's stick as he snapped it home to tie it before the first intermission.
The Canes would regain their lead early in the second period with the help of a lucky bounce. Brent Burns swooped down from the point and threw a shot at the net. The puck hit Parker Wotherspoon's stick and snuck under Korpisalo's arm to give the home team its lead back. This was just about the only positive thing the Canes got out of the middle frame.
The Bruins started to swing momentum back in their favor midway through the period, forcing Kochetkov to face a lot of vulcanized rubber. Even when the Canes earned a power play, the Bruins were skating the other way with odd-man chances. Boston failed to tie the game in the second, but this momentum would lead them to do so in the third.
Once again, Geekie was on the spot to draw the Bruins even. Pastrnak made a strong play behind the net to get the initial chance before Geekie pounced on another rebound at the top of the crease. As he fell, Geekie pushed it over the goal line to tie the game 74 seconds into the final period. Most of the period went by in a flash as the two sides lapped the ice without a care in the world.
Carolina saved its best hockey for the final four minutes of regulation. It looked for a moment that the Canes had taken the lead after Taylor Hall's shot hit a Boston defenseman and trickled into the net, but Boston challenged the play for offside. The quick review determined Jack Roslovic had entered the zone early, wiping the goal off the board.
Nevertheless, the Canes persisted, earning one more break. In this case, "break" is being used in the literal sense. Nikita Zadorov's stick snapped in half as he tried to send a pass up the ice. With the puck sitting in the slot, Seth Jarvis was on the spot to steal it and snap a shot past Korpisalo with 18.6 seconds left. The late goal would be enough to extend the Canes' win streak to three games.
This was a very ugly game compared to the two that preceded it. All of the praise and glory belongs to Pyotr Kochetkov, who was the best Hurricane on the ice by a country mile. He had David Pastrnak's number all night. The Bruins star managed an assist, but couldn't get any of his seven shots past Kochetkov. The Russian netminder finished with 32 stops to record his 23rd win, tying his NHL high.
Sometimes, you have to be lucky to be good. The Canes didn't play a good game on Thursday night, yet they got the bounces and breaks to get the job done. When things aren't working, you rely on your big guys to come through. Two of the three goals were effort plays from Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis to create their own luck, leading to each scoring their 24th goal of the season.
The power play continues to be an obvious eye-sore for the Hurricanes. At least four times during the group's three power plays they allowed an odd-man chance to the Bruins. While it only resulted in one shot, Shayne Gostisbehere was forced to be the last line of defense, throwing his body in front of everything. The tweaks haven't worked, so it's back to the drawing board.
The talks involving the Hurricanes at the trade deadline have been deafening over the last few days, distracting us from the product on the ice. All of that will change at 3 pm on Friday when the deadline passes. We've reached the final few hours of insanity before we can lock in and focus on fighting to the top of the mountain with 15 other teams.
Up Next: The homestand continues on Sunday night as the Carolina Hurricanes welcome the Winnipeg Jets to Raleigh. The group will finish the four-game stay with the Lightning on Tuesday and the Red Wings on Friday before traveling to Philadelphia to complete a back-to-back next Saturday. Once they're done with the Flyers, the team will have five days off leading into a California road trip.