The Carolina Hurricanes kicked off a four-game homestand on Tuesday night against the San Jose Sharks. Top pick Macklin Celebrini made his first journey to Raleigh, hoping to lead the Sharks to a big win against a Canes team that has been struggling to find wins lately. Dropping four of their last five, their comeback bid on Saturday on Long Island fell short after a cataclysmic second period.
The lineup remained the same for the Hurricanes as Pyotr Kochetkov made the start in the net. Kochetkov was left out to dry by the group in the second period, allowing four goals in the 4-3 loss. Vitek Vanecek stood opposite him for the Sharks. San Jose's goalie room got a slight reshuffle after trading Mackenzie Blackwood to Colorado for a package including Alexandar Georgiev on Monday.
It was a quick start for the Hurricanes on Tuesday night, getting the opening goal in the first five minutes. Jack Roslovic made a smart play to push the puck down the boards to William Carrier. Shayne Gostisbehere jumped from the point, received the beautiful pass from Carrier, and snapped it over Vanecek's blocker to get the Canes ahead early.
Kochetkov made a few important stops in the contest as the Sharks started to swarm. He made a particularly nice stop on Tyler Toffoli's rebound chance with his glove late in the frame. Alas, it took the smallest crack to allow San Jose to get back into the game. Celebrini made a great pass to Luke Kunin and while his first shot was blocked by Gostisbehere, the rebound bid beat Kochetkov through his pads with just over a minute left to tie the game.
The second-period lull struck again for the Hurricanes. San Jose looked to be a step faster than Carolina, beating them to several pucks and winning many battles. It led them to their first lead of the night. William Eklund outworked Gostisbehere below the goal line before sending the puck to the front of the net. Kochetkov was caught leaning as Kunin poked home his second goal of the night.
After an unsuccessful power play to begin the third period, the big guns connected to get the Canes back even. Martin Necas and Sebastian Aho combined to set up a streaking Brent Burns at the front of the net for a tap-in early. It was a beautiful play in transition, beginning with Andrei Svechnikov springing the trio for a 3-on-2 before the defenseman buried the pass from Aho.
The Canes continued to build momentum, earning another power play after Jesperi Kotkaniemi forced Mario Ferraro to take a bone-headed penalty. Once again, the power play failed to convert, but it allowed the Canes to keep San Jose on their heels. Eventually, they would break. After Seth Jarvis tried to set up Aho, Celebrini's backhanded clearing attempt was gloved down by Jalen Chatfield. With time to shoot, Chatfield snapped one that might've hit a leg on the way before beating Vanecek to put the Canes back in front with 2:39 remaining.
With bated breath, the Caniacs watching sat anxiously as the Sharks tried to find the answer. Kochetkov came up with a few big stops without allowing rebounds to prevent such an occurrence. The defense threw themselves in front of shots in the dying seconds and held the puck along the boards to melt the clock, holding on for a 3-2 victory.
This win was 15 good minutes followed by 25 subpar minutes before rounding it out with a strong third period. I'm not sure what is happening to the Canes in the second period during some of their recent games, but this is the third time over the last week that they've looked a step behind their opponent. They were fortunate that it didn't cost them two points to the Sharks.
For once, the power play wasn't the driving force for the Canes' offense. With an 0-for-4 performance on Tuesday, the Canes scored all three goals at 5-on-5. The power play, while coming up empty-handed, had plenty of good looks. The best came on their final chance when Svechnikov threw a shot off the far post. Still, this was a positive development for the group after uneven results at even strength recently. Necas, Aho, and Gostisbehere all extended their point streaks to four games, too.
The win didn't come without its share of bad news. Jack Drury missed the final two periods after leaving the game with an upper-body injury. I'm not sure when the injury happened as the Canes were forced to play a man short for most of the contest. While Rod Brind'Amour didn't have a definitive update on Drury after the game, he wasn't optimistic, meaning he could miss serious time. With Drury being a center, it will be interesting to see how the team adjusts and who could get the call to join the big club.
Up Next: The Carolina Hurricanes will continue their homestand on Friday night against the Ottawa Senators. The last time Ottawa was in town, the Canes pitched a shutout. They will also welcome the Blue Jackets and the Islanders to Raleigh during this stay, looking to avenge road losses to each.