The Carolina Hurricanes had an interesting week. On Sunday, they continued their homestand at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. Unfortunately, they were defeated by the Washington Capitals, 2-1, in a shootout. On Tuesday, they hosted the (defending Stanley Cup Champion) Vegas Golden Knights. The Hurricanes were perfect on the power play & on the penalty kill, as they defeated the champions, 6-3. Last night, they were on the road for a game at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Throughout the first 9 minutes of the game, there were plenty of shots on goal & blocked shots from both teams. Before the first period had 9 minutes elapse, the Penguins scored a goal. While (Hurricanes defenseman) Brady Skjei tried to retrieve a loose puck, (Penguins center/captain) Sidney Crosby checked him. The puck was retrieved by (left winger) Jake Guentzel, who passed to (right winger) Rickard Rakell. He made a spinning pass to Crosby, who sent the puck past (Hurricanes goalie) Pyotr Kochetkov.
Exactly 1 minute later, (Hurricanes right winger) Stefan Noesen was called for hooking. During the power play, the only shot on goal from the Penguins was from (right winger) Valtteri Puustinen. A few moments after Puustinen’s shot, the Hurricanes nearly had a short-handed goal from (center/alternate captain) Sebastian Aho. With 7 minutes remaining in the first period, (Penguins center/alternate captain) Evgeni Malkin was called for hooking. The Hurricanes had no shots on goal, during the power play. In fact, neither team had a shot on goal for the remainder of the period, which ended with the Penguins leading, 1-0.
The second period began with the Penguins blocking shots & the Hurricanes getting shots on goal. At the 4:40 mark, Noesen earned his 2nd penalty of the game, as he was called for tripping. The Hurricanes had 2 attempts at short-handed goals from (center/captain) Jordan Staal & (defenseman/alternate captain) Jaccob Slavin. Meanwhile, the Penguins had 2 power play shots on goal from (right winger) Jeff Carter & (left winger) Reilly Smith. Nearly 2 minutes after Noesen’s penalty expired, (Hurricanes center) Jack Drury was called for holding.
Crosby & Guentzel had shots on goal, during this power play, but Slavin had another short-handed goal attempt. While the blocked shots were mostly by the Penguins, the shots on goal were fairly even. As the period was approaching the 15-minute mark, the Hurricanes tied the game. After Malkin won a face-off, Slavin had his shot blocked by (Penguins defenseman) Marcus Petterson. Drury recovered the puck, then passed to (left winger) Teuvo Teravainen. In a crazy sequence, Teravainen’s shot deflected off of (Penguins goalie) Alex Nedeljkovic, then ricocheted off of the skate of (Penguins defenseman) Kris Letang & past Nedeljkovic.
With less than 3 minutes remaining in the period, (Hurricanes defenseman) Brett Pesce was called for roughing. The Penguins had no shots on goal, during the power play, but (Hurricanes defenseman) Brent Burns nearly scored a short-handed goal. Within the last 36 seconds, the Hurricanes had 2 great shots on goal, but the period ended tied, 1-1.
The third period saw plenty of shots on goal & blocked shots, throughout the first 10 1/2 minutes. After a brief cool down, things picked back up, especially when it came to the shot blocking from the Penguins. An extremely delayed penalty came with less than 5 minutes in regulation, as (Penguins defenseman) Erik Karlsson was called for holding. The Hurricanes only had 1 shot on goal, from (center) Martin Nečas.
That was the last shot on goal in regulation, because this game went to overtime, tied at 1-1. In overtime, nobody had a shot on goal for the first 3 1/2 minutes. With 1:14 left, (Hurricanes right winger) Andrei Svechnikov was called for interference. The Penguins had 3 shots on goal, during this abbreviated power play. Crosby had 2 shots, while Malkin had the other. In the last 15 seconds of overtime, Staal blocked Malkin twice. We were now heading into a shooutout.
Rakell shot first, but Kochetkov stopped him. Noesen was up, but Nedeljkovic stopped him. Crosby scored for the 2nd time aagainst Kochetkov. Svechnikov was trying to tie the shootout, but Nedeljkovic stopped him. Letang had a chance to win it, but Kochetkov stopped him. It was up to Teravainen to keep the game going into extra rounds, but Nedeljkovic stopped him. Just like the Capitals did in Raleigh on Sunday, the Penguins defeated the Hurricanes, 2-1 in a shootout. The Hurricanes will try to get back on the winning track, when they return home to play the New York Islanders, tomorrow night.
