Before hitting the road for the next week, the Carolina Hurricanes sought another perfect weekend against the Edmonton Oilers. The Canes triumphed over the Vancouver Canucks on Friday night, kicking off their back-to-back with a 4-3 overtime victory on Sebastian Aho's snipe. The group has won five of its last six and is trending in the right direction despite the state of its roster.
After exiting Friday's game early in the first period, Seth Jarvis was able to go on Saturday. The same couldn't be said for Jesperi Kotkaniemi, whose ankle injury kept him out. His injury brought Mark Jankowski back into the lineup. Frederik Andersen took the start for the Canes, battling Stuart Skinner on the other end for the Oilers.
Another slow start put the Canes behind the 8-ball. Jack Roslovic burned his old team immediately after Andersen mishandled the puck, giving it right to the former Hurricane for the opening goal. Connor McDavid doubled the lead on the power play, making it 2-0 just 6:30 in. The fourth line got one back as Eric Robinson buried a one-timer, sending the Canes into the break down, 2-1.
The second period was much stronger from start to finish for the Hurricanes. They got the tying goal early in the frame, with Jackson Blake setting up Nikolaj Ehlers to get the Dane a point in his seventh straight game. They kept the Oilers in their defensive zone for most of the period, and while they didn't get another goal, it set up a big third period.
With Edmonton putting their two stars together to start the third, you knew some magic was incoming. McDavid picked up his second of the night, finishing a pass from Leon Draisaitl. The Oilers' lead didn't last long. Just 59 seconds later, Jordan Staal popped one home after William Carrier was denied. The Canes secured a point, but Draisaitl scored 19 seconds into overtime to win it, 4-3.
Edmonton's stars dominated, but the Canes' depth nets them a point
If you want to beat the Oilers, you have to control Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. The Canes didn't quite do that tonight. McDavid and Draisaitl had three points each, with Draisaitl setting up McDavid twice and McDavid returning the favor in overtime. Outside of Jack Roslovic, who had two points in the first period, the rest of the Oilers didn't do much.
Ironically, the Canes' top line was the only one to not score. The rest of the lines found the back of the net, scoring at big points in the contest. The fourth line found a spark late in the first. The second line tied it up early in the second. The third line added another tying goal in the third period. After a few players dragged the team to a win last night, the depth got them something tonight.
Another night of self-inflicted mistakes hampered the Canes' start
This week has been very big on the Canes putting themselves in very tough spots. Tonight, they were down 2-0 before the first commercial break. Frederik Andersen didn't have a fantastic night, and his misplay on the first goal wasn't a good way to start it. It gives Sean Walker unfortunate company as one of the worst turnovers we've seen this season.
Then, Andrei Svechnikov took a very undisciplined penalty, cross-checking McDavid after making a good legal play to knock him down right before. For all of the good he's done over the last few weeks to get his season on track, this was the side of Svechnikov's game that we've seen in the past that we didn't want to see. McDavid makes him pay, scoring the goal to double Edmonton's lead.
Additional Thoughts
The Stankoven line continues to be the team's most cohesive trio. All three forwards combined on the tying goal on the second. Logan Stankoven drew a ton of attention in front of the net while Jackson Blake had the puck below the goal line. His pass to Nikolaj Ehlers was stupendous, catching Stuart Skinner out of position for Ehlers' fourth goal in seven games during his point streak.
Honestly, you can't be too mad about how the weekend played out. The Canes earned three of four possible points, and they never earned a chance to grab the second point tonight after losing the opening draw in overtime. They might've given their opponents a few goals, but the group was resilient and worked back to make sure they got something at the end of the night.
Up Next: After a week of home cooking, the Carolina Hurricanes will spend the last full week before Thanksgiving on the road. It kicks off Monday night in Boston as the Canes face the Bruins for the second time in Beantown this month. They'll play a late-night contest mid-week in Minnesota before Ehlers makes his return trip to Winnipeg on Friday. The trip concludes in Buffalo on Sunday.