The Carolina Hurricanes began the road for their first true road trip since December, battling some Western Conference foes for their yearly visits to their barns. First on the schedule was the Seattle Kraken. The Canes tried to extend their win and point streaks after keeping the ball rolling in a 5-2 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday night.
Frederik Andersen was back in the crease for the Canes after a stellar outing in Saturday's win. He stopped 27 of 29 shots to extend his personal point streak to six games. The lineup around him remained the same. The Kraken countered with Joey Daccord, who has been excellent over his last seven starts.
No one scored during the opening 20 minutes tonight, with both Andersen and Daccord looking sharp early. The Canes were forced to kill an early penalty, but they did it with relative ease. They started to build an encouraging road period over the final few minutes, though neither side found the ice breaker before the intermission.
Seattle finally got the opening goal early in the second. Kaapo Kakko capitalized on a turnover by scoring on a 2-on-1. The Kraken had a power-play goal taken off the board for offsides, but they immediately got one legally, with Ben Meyers outworking Alexander Nikishin for a rebound. Nikolaj Ehlers answered for the Canes with 90 seconds left, scoring from the slot to cut the deficit in half.
The Hurricanes threw the kitchen sink at Daccord in the third period, but he wasn't budging. They had chances to tie the game. They didn't have a strong enough presence around the net. The Canes finally earned their first power play of the night with under 90 seconds left, yet they couldn't find the equalizer. Daccord was phenomenal, stealing two points for Seattle in a 2-1 Kraken win.
It was just one of those games for the Canes
There are some nights when a goalie has your number, and tonight was one of those nights for the Hurricanes. It certainly wasn't for a lack of trying. Shots were flying from every angle in the offensive zone. Unfortunately, all but one were stopped. Joey Daccord faced a lot of rubber, and he made it look relatively easy. It makes Nikolaj Ehlers' goal slightly more impressive in hindsight.
That's not to say that the Hurricanes didn't do a ton of good things. Their penalty kill was a perfect 3-for-3, with the only "goal" they allowed being scored illegally. I also felt they did a good job of preventing Seattle's stars from doing anything offensively. Unfortunately, their stars didn't do a ton either, so it was all for naught.
Good teaching moments for Nikishin
I've applauded the defensive development of Alexander Nikishin this season, but tonight was not his best. He was a central figure in both goals that the Kraken scored. The first goal came about after he tried to make a low-percentage pass to William Carrier. Instead, it deflected off Adam Larsson and inadvertently created a 2-on-1. Frederik Andersen should've stopped Kakko's shot, but he didn't.
On the second goal, Nikishin was outworked and outmuscled by the eventual goal scorer, Ben Meyers. The Kraken forward got inside of Nikishin around the crease and won the battle to get the loose puck. Meyers used Nikishin to bank the puck in, giving Seattle the 2-0 lead. Nikishin's ice time diminished in the third period, playing just 13:38 tonight overall. I'm not worried about him, though.
Additional Thoughts
The decision to give Frederik Andersen another start made plenty of sense, and I don't think the result changes that. However, that first goal was a tough one to allow. Andersen got a good chunk of the shot, but clearly not enough. He only saw 15 shots in the game, including just two in the third period, so his numbers won't look great. Honestly, I don't think we can read too much into this one.
I didn't love the Hurricanes not getting a power play until the very end of the game, especially after a clearly missed high-sticking call drawn by Seth Jarvis in the second period. That being said, it was a pretty clean game from these two teams. Seattle might've gotten away with a little, and all three of the Canes' penalties were definitely penalties. Just one of those nights, I suppose.
Up Next: The journey continues for the Carolina Hurricanes as they make the next stop of their road trip in Vancouver on Wednesday. This is their final game before Friday's 3 pm trade deadline. They'll play a game that night in Edmonton before finishing the trip on Saturday night in Calgary. The Canes' first home game after the trip is next Tuesday against the Pittsburgh Penguins.