The Carolina Hurricanes kicked off their 2023-24 NHL season at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. There were 18,893 “Caniacs” greeting their team & hoping there would be victory at the end of Wednesday night. The visiting Ottawa Senators had other plans, specifically trying to spoil this home opener.
It seemed like they were off to an early start, as (Hurricanes defenseman) Brett Pesce was penalized 45 seconds into the game for holding (Senators center) Tim Stützle. Despite the Senators being on the power play, it was the Hurricanes who tried to score first, as (center/alternate captain) Sebastian Aho attempted a short-handed goal. The Senators nearly scored twice, as (left winger/captain) Brady Tkachuk nearly tipped in 2 shots from Stützle.
Ottawa’s first power play came to an end, as (Hurricanes center) Seth Jarvis cleared the puck, just as Pesce’s 2 minutes were ready to elapse. However, just 27 seconds after their power play ended, the Senators would score the first goal of the game. After (right winger) Drake Batherson was stopped by (Hurricanes goalie) Frederik Andersen, a rebound found its way to (left winger) Parker Kelly who passed to (defenseman) Artyom Zub. Zub’s shot was tipped in by (right winger) Mathieu Joseph, just 3:14 into the game. Just seconds after that goal, the Senators would find themselves on a penalty kill, as (right winger/alternate captain) Claude Giroux hooked Pesce.
The Hurricanes failed to get a shot on goal on their 1st power play, as the Senators kept clearing the puck. Stützle nearly made them pair for it twice, but Andersen was ready to block him. After a clear, (Hurricanes right winger) Jesper Fast found himself on a breakaway, but he was interfered with by (defenseman/alternate captain) Thomas Chabot. Fast was awarded a penalty shot, but (Senators goalie) Joonas Korpisalo was able to prevent the game from being tied. The Hurricanes responded with good attempts from (defensemen) Brent Burns, (alternate captain) Jaccob Slavin, & Tony DeAngelo.
The Senators responded with a great scoring chance from (center) Rourke Chartier, but the defense from (Hurricanes center) Martin Nečas allowed enough time for Andersen to make a save. After a long battle, the Senators had another chance, as Tkachuk was denied by Andersen. The Hurricanes had a great chance to tie, as (left winger/alternate captain) Jordan Martinook tried to feed Fast, but the puck rolled away from him.
The Senators answered with a scoring chance by Batherson. Korpisalo found himself busy for a few minutes, as he had to deflect a shot by Slavin, glove a shot by (right winger) Stefan Noesen, use his chest to stop a shot by (center/captain) Jordan Staal, and glove shots by Martinook & (defenseman) Dmitry Orlov. Andersen came up big, late in the 1st period, as he stopped (left winger) Dominik Kubalik.
The Hurricanes nearly had a chance to tie the game, when (defenseman) Jalen Chatfield checked Batherson, allowing Orlov to fire to Ottawa’s zone. Jarvis dropped it back to Aho, whose shot was gloved by Korpisalo with 1:12 left in the period. A few seconds later, (center) Jesperi Kotkaniemi nearly chipped one past Korpisalo. With seconds left, Korpisalo nearly fed Nečas with an off-angle shot, but Zub was able to pass to (right winger) Vladimir Tarasenko. Despite Tarasenko’s clear, the Hurricanes nearly had a final chance to tie the game before the period ended, but Nečas was offside. After a face-off, the period ended with the Senators leading 1-0.
As the 2nd period began, Tkachuk tried to get a goal, but (Hurricanes defenseman) Brady Skjei got the puck away from him. Moments later, Andersen had to stop shots by (Senators defensemen) Jakob Chychrun & Jake Sanderson. The Hurricanes got their 2nd power play of the game, after Stützle was called for slashing Skjei.
The Hurricanes nearly had a quick power play, Jarvis fired a shot & was stopped by Korpisalo. However, the Hurricanes maintained possession & would be rewarded. DeAngelo passed to Aho, who passed to (left winger) Michael Bunting (an acquisition from the Toronto Maple Leafs). Bunting faked Korpisalo out of position, then shot into a wide-open net to tie the game. Seconds after Bunting’s power play goal, the Senators would have a power play opportunity of their own, as Nečas was called for holding Chychrun.
Andersen stopped early attempts by Chabot & Tkachuk before the Hurricanes could clear the puck. The next time the Senators tried to score, Stützle, Giroux, & Batherson were all stopped by Andersen. With “Freddy!” chants echoing throughout PNC Arena, the Hurricanes kept clearing the zone & ultimately killed another Senators power play. Andersen made another glove save, this time against (Senators defenseman) Erik Brännström. Unfortunately, the Hurricanes earned another penalty as Kotkaniemi slashed (defenseman) Travis Hamonic.
Anderson made 2 big saves on this power play, against Batherson & Chabot. Slavin made a big block against Chabot to get a clear. The Hurricanes killed a 3rd power play, despite the Senators being in the offensive zone. After a few battles, each goalie had to make some saves. First, Andersen gloved a shot by (center) Parker Kelly. Then, Korpisalo had to deflect an off-angle shot from DeAngelo. Andersen had to deflect a shot by (center) Mark Kastelic. After both teams made changes, tempers flared, when Kastelic leveled Martinook. Kastelic was called for interference.
Martinook responded with a cross-check, then Tkachuk got called for roughing Martinook. All of this led to a power play for the Hurricanes. Korpisalo faced some early heat from Burns & DeAngelo. Later in the power play, (left winger) Teuvo Teravainen tried to set up Kotkaniemi, but the puck went airborn & the Sentaors were able to clear & kill the power play. Skjei tried to give the Hurricanes the lead, but Korpisalo glved his shot. Jarvis took another shot at Korpisalo, but he deflected it. Fans were irate, when Bunting skated into Kastelic’s stick (which was off the ice), but no call was made.
Orlov nearly made them forget about it, but Korpisalo gloved his shot. After a face-off, Skjei nearly scored, but Korpisalo made another glove save. Both teams nearly had some late goals. DeAngelo with a 3/4 length pass nearly led to Bunting scoring his 2nd goal. Then, on the other end of the ice, Joseph nearly scored his 2nd goal with a spinning shot. Burns laid out Chychrun, allowing for a great odd-man rush by Nečas & Kotkaniemi, but Kotkaniemi shot too high.
After a battle to keep the puck in the zone, the Hurricanes took the lead. Skjei passed to Nečas, who saw Teravainen had open net space. Teravainen shot just before Korpisalo could recover & scored the goal. Fast nearly scored to give a 2-goal lead, but Korpisalo covered the puck. Korpisalo had to make 2 late saves, as a Bunting shot rebounded to Orlov. As the period was ready to expire, Tarasenko tried to tie the game, but he lost control of the puck & inadvertently barreled into Andersen. The Hurricanes ended the 2nd period with a 2-1 lead.
In the 3rd period, the Hurricanes took only 20 seconds to take a 2-goal lead. After Martinook took a puck away from Stützle, he passed to Staal, who worked his around Chabot before scoring on Korpisalo. the Senators nearly scored 22 seconds later, but Andersen was able to glove a shot that popped up from Batherson. The Hurricanes tried to add to their lead, but the Senators kept forcing the puck out of the offensive zone.
Burns tried a long-distance shot, but it was easily gloved by Korpisalo. Teravainen earned his team a power play, after forcing Hamonic to shoot the puck over the glass for a delay of game penalty. Giroux nearly scored a short-handed goal, but DeAngelo cut him off just enough to give Andersen a better chance to make a save. Aho had 2 good chances to score, but he just went wide of Korpisalo. After a line change, Nečas nearly scored, forcing Korpisalo to cover up the puck. Orlov had a shot ricochet off of Joseph, who had on a breakaway.
Orlov tried to cut him off, but he was unaware that Kelly had been trailing the play. Joseph passed to Kelly, who scored a short-handed goal. After the power play ended, Skjei nearly scored, but his shot went over Korpisalo. Tkachuk tried to get the puck into the offensive zone of the Senators, but it hit the linesman near center ice. This would be a blessing in disguise for the Senators, because Stützle retrieved the puck & scored on Andersen. With 2 goals in 35 seconds, the Senators tied the game. Aho nearly scored, but the puck deflected off of Korpisalo’s pad.
After a few exchanges, the Senators tried to move into the offensive zone, but they were called offside, which led to some shoving between DeAngelo & Joseph. After another face-off, both team battled along the boards. Stützle tried to start a breakaway, but Martinook stole the puck cleanly from him, which set up an eventual goal for the Hurricanes. Staal collected the puck off of the boards, then passed to Fast. Skjei was waiting above a circle & when Fast saw him, he passed it to Skjei, who one-timed it past Korpisalo to help the Hurricanes regain the lead.
They nearly got their 2-goal lead back, as Bunting set up Aho for a snapshot, but the puck bounced off of Korpisalo. While the Hurricanes tried to keep the puck in their zone, they were offside. The Hurricanes kept the pressure going, as Orlov & (center) Jack Drury had chances that deflected off of Korpisalo. Pesce was called for his 2nd penalty of the game, as he was called for a high stick on Tkachuk. The Senators tried to set something up, but the Hurricanes cleared the puck 3 times in a row. Burns had the first clear, then Chatfield, then Martinook.
Kubalik tried to tie the game again, but Andersen easily deflected the puck away. Fast chipped the puck to center ice, but as the Senators tried to re-enter the offensive zone, Jarvis stole the puck & Kotkaniemi started moving to Korpisalo. Jarvis wrapped a pass around back to Kotkaniemi, who evaded a pair of Senators players. Kotkaniemi passed to Slavin, who got some payback for the Hurricanes by scoring a short-handed goal on Korpisalo. After the next face-off, Drury tried to make it a 3-goal lead, but the puck bounced off of Korpisalo’s chest. Stützle got a double whammy, by sending a puck wide of Andersen, then drawing a penalty for cross-checking Drury.
Fans were irate that Kelly wasn’t called for a takedown of Jarvis. Aho set Bunting up for a scoring chance, but Korpisalo just deflected the puck. Joseph tried to pick & breakaway for a short-handed goal, but Orlov delivered a legal hip check to send Joseph airborn, exciting the “Caniacs”. The Senators killed the power play, but Nečas nearly scored after it expired. Thankfully, for the Senators, Korpisalo was able to clutch the puck against his chest. The Hurricanes made valuable time elapse from the clock, as they prevented the Senators from shooting in their offensive zone & kept clearing the puck. When the Hurricanes were in their offensive zone, they were basically playing keep away, while occasionally taking a shot. Late in the game, Pesce passed to Fast, who tried to chip one past Korpisalo, who covered the puck.
As Fast was trying to score, Tkachuk cross-checked Pesce. With the Hurricanes on the power play, this limited the risk of the Senators pulling Korpisalo out of the net for an extra attacker. Brännström tried to score a short-handed goal, but Andersen made a glove save. The Hurricanes killed another power play, as Korpisalo finally went to the bench. However, with about 30 seconds remaining, there was little that the Senators could do. Chabot tried to score, but Andersen gloved his shot. After a final face-off, the Hurricanes cleared the puck & kept it pinned to the boards, as time expired. Some pushing & shoving happened, after the game, but the Hurricanes got the last word with a 5-3 victory. As they have traditionally done, the Hurricanes celebrated with their fans with a “storm surge”.
The Hurricanes were 1 for 6 on the power play, while killing all 4 power plays for the Senators. Andersen saved 27 out of 30 shots on goal. There were 12 different Hurricanes players who contributed to scoring. Bunting’s power play goal was assisted by Aho & DeAngelo. Teravainen’s goal was assited by Nečas & Skjei. Staal’s goal was assisted by Martinook.
Skjei’s game-winning goal was assisted by Fast & Staal. Slavin’s short-handed goal was assisted by Kotkaniemi & Jarvis. The 3 stars of the game were Staal, Skjei, & Bunting. The Hurricanes won 52% of the game’s face-offs (35 out of 67). They took 42 shots on goal, delivered 23 hits (Senators gave 21), and had 9 takeaways (Senators had 3), but they also had 13 giveaways (Senators had 9). Next up, a long road trip, which starts with all 3 California teams.
