As the calendar turned to a new year, there was no team hotter than the Carolina Hurricanes. The team had already set a new franchise record by winning their tenth straight game, extending their points streak to 16 games to close 2022 by shutting out the Florida Panthers 4-0 to earn their second straight shutout. They began 2023 on the road, traveling to The Rock for a division tilt with the New Jersey Devils.
In the ten wins before New Year's Day, the Hurricanes had experienced several close calls. They played an exciting back-and-forth game against Dallas and nearly blew a four-goal lead to Philadelphia. They had also beaten the Devils once already, dominating them, 4-1, 11 days prior. With the record already in the bag, the Canes looked to add to it.
Antti Raanta and Mackenzie Blackwood went toe-to-toe in the first period, ensuring a scoreless battle through 20 minutes. The Canes drew first blood in the second after Stefan Noesen set up Derek Stepan on a 2-on-1 eight minutes into the period. Jack Hughes responded by beating Jaccob Slavin on a 1-on-1 to tie it. Sebastian Aho took advantage of an all-time flub by Blackwood while short-handed, scoring one of the easiest goals of his career after the Devils' netminder whiffed on a pass.
Jesper Bratt tied it again in the third period, but Stepan's second goal of the game put the Canes in front less than two minutes later. New Jersey managed to string two goals in a row, taking a 4-3 lead after Nico Hischier tied it and Bratt scored again to put the Devils ahead for the first time. Martin Necas scored on the power play with 4:28 left to knot it at four and send the game to overtime.
Both teams had golden opportunities to win the game in overtime. Raanta was able to kick a Hughes chance away, while Blackwood stoned Slavin on a breakaway. The shootout started precariously as Raanta was nearly beaten by Tomas Tatar, but he recovered to get a pad on his shot. Brent Burns and Bratt were also stopped before Andrei Svechnikov took his chance.
Using his quick feet and lightning-like release, Svechnikov beat Blackwood under his blocker to put the Canes on the verge. All they needed was one more stop from Raanta, and that's exactly what they got. Hughes tried to beat Raanta to his blocker, but it wouldn't go. As Raanta celebrated, the rest of the team joined him following their 11th straight win. The win streak would come to an end two days later at Madison Square Garden. Ironically, this was the beginning of a four-game losing streak, including a loss to the Devils in Raleigh ten days later.
During their 11-game streak, the offense came from everyone. Six players scored at least four goals, led by Stefan Noesen's five. Noesen was also tied for the lead in points (9) with Jordan Staal. The goaltending was spectacular, particularly Pyotr Kochetkov. While Kochetkov and Raanta split starts, Kochetkov went 5-0-0 and allowed five total goals while pitching a pair of shutouts. His work in December was enough to earn him Rookie of the Month honors.
After edging them out for the division crown, the Hurricanes would earn home ice and host the Devils in the second round of the playoffs a few months later. It wasn't a particularly close series, with the first four games being lopsided victories. In Game 5, the Canes would finish the job, winning in overtime on Jesper Fast's deflection to send the Devils packing for the summer.