The Carolina Hurricanes kicked off a three-game road trip with a back-to-back, first facing the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday and then the New Jersey Devils on Thursday.
Carolina went 1-1-0 in that span, picking up a 4-1 win over the Flyers but falling 4-2 to the Devils.
Here are some of my takeaways from the back-to-back:
1. Goaltending Highs and Lows
The Hurricanes are definitely in an interesting spot when it comes to their goaltending situation.
Frederik Andersen had surgery today on his knee and is expected to be sidelined for 8-12 weeks so it’s down to Pyotr Kochetkov and Spencer Martin to take on the mantle.
Carolina has a lot of faith in Kochetkov to be their goaltender of the future and he’s made the most of his opportunity so far with a 10-2-0 record and 0.907 save percentage.
Wednesday night in Philadelphia was another strong overall performance with a 0.947 save percentage, but the one goal he did give up was a tying goal on a shot that a NHL goaltender should probably stop 10/10 times.
Spencer Martin entered Thursday’s game coming off of a shutout win against the Ottawa Senators five days earlier, but it wasn’t a good game for him.
Martin allowed four goals on 21 shots, two of them were power play goals though to be fair, but it was his turnover behind his own net that led to the Devils’ go-ahead goal.
Carolina may have been able to overcome New Jersey with some empowered shift, but that turnover to goal was the dagger in that game.
Brind’Amour on the turnover by Martin leading to the game-winning goal: “You’re just giving up puck possession in your own zone for no reason. Those are the little details that you’re going to have to clean up in a game like this when it’s tight. That’s the difference in the…
— Ryan Henkel (@RyanHenkel_) November 22, 2024
Related: Can Pyotr Kochetkov Establish Himself As The Hurricanes Number One Netminder?
Related: Hurricanes Frederik Andersen To Undergo Knee Surgery on Friday
2. Jack Roslovic Back On Track
After a torrid start to the year, Roslovic was held scoreless through five games, but now goals in back-to-back games have once again tied him up with Martin Necas for the team lead (11).
Roslovic has been a tremendous asset for the Canes who signed him to a one-year, $2.8 million deal this offseason.
He’s already surpassed his goal totals from each of his last two seasons and looks to be flourishing with Carolina as a player who can slot up and down the lineup.
His stat line has been pretty funny too as he currently has just one secondary assist in 19 games.
Related: ‘A Fresh Start… Sometimes That’s What You Need’: New Carolina Hurricane Jack Roslovic Blowing Away All Expectations
3. Martin Necas’ Point Streak Comes To A Close
All good things must come to a end.
After 13 straight games and 27 total points over that span, Martin Necas was once again held off the scoresheet Wednesday night in Philadelphia.
It wasn’t from a lack of trying though as Necas had four shots on goal himself and his line generated 14 total chances at 5v5 too.
However, he did get a point against New Jersey so the new streak is already on.
Necas currently sits third in the NHL for points with 31 behind only Minnesota’s Kirill Kaprizov (34) and Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon (34).
Related: ‘I Lost A Bet’: Is The Blonde Hair The Secret To Martin Necas’ Recent Success?
4. Dmitry Orlov, Jalen Chatfield Standing Out
The defensive pairing of Dmitry Orlov and Jalen Chatfield were going to have much bigger shoes to fill this season after the departures of Brett Pesce and Brady Skjei who formed the Hurricanes’ shutdown pairing.
But after 19 games, it looks like they are more than capable of that, with the team having outscored opponents 20-7 in their 5v5 minutes (they have a combined 17 points).
And over the back-to-back, the pair had a 64.18 CF%, 76.51 xGF%, 90% HDCF and outscored opponents 3-0 at 5v5.
While +/- may not be the best stat, it still can show how well things are going for certain players and the pair are a plus 18 (Orlov) and 15 (Chatfield) which are first and fifth amongst the entire league respectively.
Dmitry Orlov currently sits at +18 while Jalen Chatfield is currently +15.
The highest plus/minus for any Hurricanes player through 20 games is +14 when Eric Staal, Jiri Tlusty, and Alexander Semin accomplished this in 2013. pic.twitter.com/4aDksg9ubf
— The Canes Stats Brand™ (@CanesStats) November 23, 2024
5. Are Line Changes In Line?
Rod Blend’Amour was in full affect in the third period on Thursday as the Canes coach was trying to find a spark for his team.
The line changes saw Jackson Blake move to the top line, Andrei Svechnikov go to the second, Jordan Martinook land back on the third and Eric Robinson move back down to the fourth.
Jackson Blake – Sebastian Aho – Jack Roslovic
Andrei Svechnikov – Jesperi Kotkaniemi – Martin Necas
Jordan Martinook – Jordan Staal – William Carrier
Tyson Jost – Jack Drury – Eric Robinson
Brind’Amour may elect to back to his prior lines on Saturday, but you never know.
Personally, I think Svechnikov has needed a bit of a spark at 5v5 and his best season did come playing alongside Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Martin Necas.
I also like Blake getting a chance to play up in the lineup more as the rookie has been such a good player for the Canes so far.
Sebastian Aho is another player I think could use a little linemate shakeup. He scored his first 5v5 goal of the season on Wednesday, but his line wasn’t doing too much against New Jersey on Thursday.
Aho’s been cruising along this season with 17 points in 19 games, but at some point he needs to start taking over games like he’s capable of. Perhaps when Seth Jarvis returns from injury, that chemistry can rebloom too.
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