The Carolina Hurricanes took it to the Seattle Kraken on Thursday to begin the NHL Global Series in Helsinki. Sebastian Aho's big homecoming game saw him score twice, pacing the Canes' 4-1 victory. On Saturday, they had a job to finish, looking to sweep the Kraken with another 60-minute effort. Their lineup got a big boost in their pursuit of Finnish perfection.
For the first time since October 10, the captain was in the lineup. Jordan Staal made his return after a month on the shelf, bringing a valuable all-situations player back. Pyotr Kochetkov made his first start in a week in the net. Jagger Firkus made his NHL debut for the Kraken, getting the cool honor of playing his first game abroad. Joey Daccord was between Seattle's pipes.
After failing to solve Daccord on an early 5-on-3, the Canes' power play broke through halfway into the frame. Aho dropped a pass into the slot for Jackson Blake to finish, extending his point streak to 11 games. Late in the period, Jesperi Kotkaniemi found the scoresheet, setting up Mark Jankowski's one-time floater for his first point of the trip, extending the Canes' lead to two at the break.
The Canes' power play kept it going in the second. Andrei Svechnikov scored twice from the right dot with a one-timer on the man advantage, first doing so with a low shot early in the frame. Matty Beniers got the Kraken on the board about four minutes later, but Svechnikov got it back with his second goal of the period, chasing Daccord from the game as the Canes maintained their 4-1 lead after 40.
Not content with the state of things, the Hurricanes kept rolling to close it. Taylor Hall, celebrating his 35th birthday, found Jankowski for his second goal of the night, a tap-in to extend the lead to four. Even with a massive lead, they pushed for more. They wouldn't find anything else, but it was all Carolina for 60 full minutes. When the horn sounded, the sweep was finished with a 5-1 victory.
The power play set the tone, but the penalty kill was just as big
Their inability to convert on their early 5-on-3 chance could've been detrimental to the team's success today, but the Hurricanes refused to let that affect them. They scored on their next three attempts, doing more than enough to win the game on the power play alone. In their defense, the 5-on-3 was outstanding, too. They had several shots. Joey Daccord was just better.
The Canes opened the scoring on the power play, but it was their conversions in the second period that sank the Kraken's ship. Andrei Svechnikov was responsible for both finishes, burying one-timers from the right dot. Nikolaj Ehlers recorded assists on all three goals. Shayne Gostisbehere assisted on both in the middle frame. They made a rough Seattle penalty kill look even worse.
The penalty kill only worked twice today, but they were perfect once again, coming up with big stops at pivotal moments in the first period. Both penalties were taken by key penalty killers, including the returning Jordan Staal. Still, the result remained the same. Seattle had a few good looks, with Mackie Samoskevich hitting the post during one attempt. Fortunately, it was a good "ping" for the Canes.
It's time for the NHL to acknowledge Jackson Blake a star
Just as we are running out of positive adjectives for the team as a whole, the English dictionary might not hold enough words to talk about Jackson Blake's game right now. The Stankoven line might've been shut out at even strength today, but they were skating circles around the Kraken in their defensive end. They probably deserved more than they got.
With his power-play goal in the first period, Blake extended his point streak to 11 games, moving him into a tie for the sixth-longest streak in Hurricanes history. Only one player in the NHL has a longer point streak than Blake this season. His name is Connor McDavid, and you might remember that he's a freak of nature.
Blake is doing things with the puck that should be way harder than he's making it look. He was practically taunting the Kraken with how he was maneuvering around the offensive zone. Blake is a star, and the hockey community needs to give him the props he's due. He has 21 points in 21 games this season, and he could have way more if a few bounces go his way.
The Hurricanes had fun and handled business in Finland
I'm sure that the players and the coaches had high expectations heading into the Global Series. This moment was going to be big for the Finns on the roster, but even I'm surprised by how dominant they were for six periods. After how poorly they played on Thursday, I expected a little more from the Kraken today. Instead, they finished with the same number of shots (13) and allowed more goals.
The Canes outscored the Kraken 9-2 and outshot them 67-26. In today's game alone, Carolina had over 90 shot attempts. Both first periods set the tone, owning a 4-0 edge in goals, including power-play conversions in each contest. Neither goalie had to do a ton, with Pyotr Kochetkov mirroring Brandon Bussi's stat line (12 saves on 13 shots).
You can go down the lineup and find at least one positive for each Hurricane. Nikolaj Ehlers recorded five points. Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov had two goals and an assist each. All three Finns recorded points. Mark Jankowski had two big goals today, pushing him into double digits. The defense helped create offense. Overall, not even a trip overseas could stop the Hurricanes.
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