The fifth stop of the Carolina Hurricanes' six-game trip brought them to Denver, Colorado, and they took a trip in a time machine to celebrate the Avalanche's Heritage Night. Both sides wore their old-school sweaters, evoking feelings of the Whalers battling the Nordiques in their Adams Division days.
After losing their first game of the season on Monday in Vegas, the Canes got more bad news as K'Andre Miller was a late scratch. Joel Nystrom, who the team called up on Thursday, took his place, making his NHL debut. Frederik Andersen led the troops out, trying to rebound from his first loss, against Scott Wedgewood, the league's 3rd star last week.
If you blinked for a second, you missed a ton in the first period. The Canes got it rolling early after Eric Robinson picked the corner on Wedgewood in transition. Valeri Nichushkin responded less than a minute later, immediately tying it. While it felt like Colorado controlled play, the Canes rattled off three unanswered goals.
Seth Jarvis restored Carolina's lead by burying a short-handed breakaway, extending his point streak to seven games. Then, Sebastian Aho benefitted from a bounce, having Nikolaj Ehlers' chance hit his leg, giving Aho points in seven straight and Ehlers assists in back-to-back. To close it, Logan Stankoven chased Wedgewood from the contest, poking home a rebound to make it 4-1.
The Canes spent what felt like the entire second period in their defensive zone. The Avalanche swarmed them for 20 minutes, yet they managed just one goal, and a controversial one at that. Parker Kelly used his glove to redirect a shot past Andersen. The Canes challenged and lost, though it was for a missed high stick. Still, despite a 16-5 edge in shots, the Canes led 4-2.
The Avalanche's continued push helped them tie the game in the third. First, Martin Necas bit his old team with a tough-angle goal to bring them within one. Then, late in the period, Nichushkin converted on Colorado's seventh power play, tying the game with plenty of time remaining. Neither team broke the deadlock, leading to another overtime contest.
Both teams had a chance to win this game on the power play in overtime. It wouldn't lead to anything as Trent Miner and Frederik Andersen kept it knotted, 4-4. Entering the shootout for the first time this season, Seth Jarvis got the Canes out front with a beautiful goal around Miner's pad, and Andersen shut down all three shooters, earning the Canes the second point in an unbelievable 5-4 victory.
Frederik Andersen stood on his head in Denver
There are a million places you could start when trying to assess this game, so let's start with the man in the net. Frederik Andersen was absolutely phenomenal, regardless of circumstances. I'm sure he's played better games as a Hurricane, but never has he made more saves since joining the team. Andersen finished the night with 44 saves, tied for the 7th-most in his career.
His work in the second period was where this game was saved. He faced 16 shots and had to endure four penalty kills. Andersen ended the period with 15 saves, and it's debatable whether the goal should've counted. Not to mention, he stared down three breakaways in the shootout and turned them all away. He was the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd star of this game.
The injuries keep piling up
The major reason this is a minor miracle is the number of bodies dropping for the Hurricanes early in the season. Already down Slavin, Gostisbehere, and Kochetkov, the team was dealt a big blow before the game. K'Andre Miller took the warm-up but was a late scratch with a lower-body injury, springing newly recalled Joel Nystrom into the lineup for his NHL debut.
William Carrier left the game in the first period, shrinking the bench before the first 20 minutes could play out. By the start of the third, Eric Robinson was knocked out of the game with an upper-body injury. This forced the Canes to play with 10 skaters and six defensemen, three of whom were rookies with a combined 11 games of NHL experience, if you include Alexander Nikishin's postseason time.
With one stop left on their trip, the major question is who is going to be healthy heading into Saturday's game against the Dallas Stars? Rod Brind'Amour expects both Carrier and Robinson to be out "an extended period," so we might get more Chicago Wolves with the team on Friday. I sure hope this means the Canes are getting their injuries out of the way early.
Additional Thoughts
The penalty kill was phenomenal tonight. They played with fire a few too many times, allowing a late goal to tie it, but they were otherwise spectacular, going 7-for-8. The same can't be said for the power play, which went 0-for-5, and threw away chances to win the game late in the third and in overtime. We're past the point of it being concerning. It's almost unwatchable at this stage.
All in all, you'll gladly take these two points. With this win, the Canes move to 4-1-0 on the road, ensuring another winning State Fair trip. While a win on Saturday to close it would be great, it would simply be icing on the cake for the Hurricanes. With their depleted roster, they just need to get home as soon as possible.
Up Next: The State Fair road trip comes to an end on Saturday in Dallas, facing the Stars for the first time since the Mikko Rantanen trade. This also means Logan Stankoven makes his homecoming trip. The Canes will finally return to the Lenovo Center on Tuesday to host the Vegas Golden Knights before finishing October with a division battle against the New York Islanders.