For the second time in ten days, the Carolina Hurricanes battled the Chicago Blackhawks. The Canes climbed out of a 2-0 hole in Chicago last Monday night before Sebastian Aho finished the game in overtime in Frederik Andersen's return. On Thursday, Mikko Rantanen suited up and played in front of the home crowd for the first time, hoping to build off Tuesday's shutout win.
As Jack Roslovic returned to the lineup after battling an illness, Sebastian Aho and Taylor Hall would be the next casualties to the bug, missing Thursday's game. This paved the way for 2019 1st Round pick Ryan Suzuki to make his long-awaited NHL debut. Pyotr Kochetkov was in the net for the Canes, while Arvid Soderblom started for the Blackhawks in Teuvo Teravainen's first trip to Raleigh since re-signing in Chicago during the offseason.
Before the game, the Hurricanes honored Frederik Andersen for reaching 500 games in the NHL, doing so when the group was in Chicago last week. It served as a dual celebration for Andersen also reaching 300 wins in his next start against Columbus a week ago. It was a nice moment that Andersen could enjoy a little more as the backup.
The first period was a defensive clinic from the home team with a few decent scoring chances sprinkled in. It wasn't until they took the game's first penalty that the Canes got on the board. Seth Jarvis made a strong play at the blue line to take the puck away. Skating into the zone on a 2-on-1, Juha Jaaska passed it back to Jarvis, who buried the shot to score his 20th goal of the season.
The good vibes were short-lived as the Blackhawks responded quickly. Less than two minutes after the short-handed goal, Nick Foligno set up Ilya Mikheyev for a breakaway that he snapped past Kochetkov's blocker to knot the game. After keeping Chicago at bay for most of the period, they tied it up before the intermission.
Chicago carried their momentum into the early stages of the second period, but a Moose sighting snatched it back. The only thing that could've overshadowed Rantanen's first goal was the pass. Jack Roslovic drew three Blackhawks to the puck before dropping it to Rantanen. Soderblom didn't get enough of it as the shot trickled through his pads and into the net to get Rantanen in the goal column.
The crowd had hardly settled down before the Canes earned another. Suzuki was in the middle of the play and, while he didn't earn a point, he clogged the boards to allow Jaaska to get the puck to Jackson Blake. His shot hit the crossbar, but Jaccob Slavin jumped into the play and buried the rebound to extend the lead 67 seconds later. Once again, Chicago started to find it late in the period, but the Canes held it together to maintain their 3-1 lead.
The Canes did their best to try and push the lead further, but Chicago would draw closer early in the third. After keeping Connor Bedard quiet for five periods this season, he found himself on the receiving end of Seth Jones' stretch pass. Bedard buried it through Kochetkov's pads to make it a little tighter at the Lenovo Center.
Try as they might, the Blackhawks didn't find the tying goal before the final horn sounded. The game got a little hectic in the final five minutes. There were a few penalties and a trip on an empty-net attempt that could've resulted in a rewarded goal. Ultimately, it ended with the Hurricanes holding on for a 3-2 victory to end January.
Playing with only 17 skaters because of cap constraints and with two key players sick, I don't think the group will dwell too much on how they earned the win. It's two points in the standings, regardless of how they got it done. It was a good opportunity for a few guys to show what they had. In that, they thrived.
Pyotr Kochetkov's night was an adventure. The Canes held Chicago without a shot for over 17 minutes before Kochetkov tried to clear a puck on the penalty kill that went right to Colton Dach. Kochetkov recovered to make an excellent stop, but it was just the beginning. He didn't have his cleanest night, though it ended with him earning a win. His best save was his pad stop on Tyler Bertuzzi early in the second to prevent the Hawks from shrinking the lead.
Ryan Suzuki didn't play much in his NHL debut, but he finished the night a +1. He played his best with Juha Jaaska, who had his best game during his short time in the NHL. Jaaska also didn't get much ice time with only 11 forwards. Still, he found a way to be impactful, earning a pair of assists to record the lone multi-point performance of the night.
The moment everyone will be talking about is Mikko Rantanen's first goal as a Hurricane. It has been awesome to see the Caniacs rally around Rantanen so quickly. Hearing "Moose" chants throughout the arena was really cool. Jack Roslovic's pass can't be lost on the play because it was tremendous. Hopefully, it's the first of many for Rantanen in a Canes sweater.
Up Next: The 4 Nations Face-Off break is on the horizon for the Carolina Hurricanes. Only four games separate most of the team from nearly two weeks off. They will host Los Angeles on Saturday night to begin February. After trips to Winnipeg and Minnesota, they'll return to Raleigh to host Utah before entering the break.