Recap: Hurricanes Pick Up Decisive 5-3 Win Over Canucks

RALEIGH — The best start in Carolina Hurricanes franchise history continues. Five players scored goals and the Hurricanes stretched their point streak to four straight games with a 5-3 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Monday night at PNC Arena.

Jordan Staal continued his mean streak and got the Canes rolling just 45 seconds into the game when he used his big frame to spearhead a clean zone entry and stave off a few defenders as he curled up towards the slot. He threw a puck at the net while Jordan Martinook cut towards the slot and threw it at the cage through traffic. Staal would get the goal, but the opportunity for the puck to elude Markstrom was driven by Martinook getting to the front of the net and drawing a defensive body with him to create a screen.

But the Canucks answered just a few minutes later as Alex Edler carried the puck out of the defensive zone and hit Sven Baertschi with a pass after he shook off Dougie Hamilton. Baertschi walked in alone on Curtis McElhinney and beat him to knot it at 1-1.

The Hurricanes again claimed the lead 11 minutes into the period when Sebastian Aho linked up with Teuvo Teravainen above the circle and he dished it off to Brett Pesce, who found his first goal of the season with Aho in front providing a screen.

Aho then stretched their lead to two when Micheal Ferland found him with a beautiful and selfless pass. The budding star made no mistake. He ensured us that he wouldn’t repeat his slow start from years passed and he’s delivered on that thus far.

The Canes carried the 3-1 lead into the room.

Just 46 seconds into the second period, the Canucks cut the lead in half again when Bo Horvat netted one on the power play.

But Svechnikov responded just over a minute later to make it 4-2 and displayed why he was the second overall pick just a few months ago. Slavin fired one at the net that went hard off of Jacob Markstrom’s pad, and Svechnikov shoved Elias Pettersson to the ground with a shooting motion, netting his second goal in two games in the process.

At this point the game was starting to shape up a lot like the Rangers game Sunday, with the Hurricanes on the other side of the narrative. The Canucks again brought the lead to within one and Baertschi got his second of the night with a funky bounce that pinballed in behind Curtis McElhinney, bringing the score to 4-3. The second stayed mostly quiet for the next sixteen minutes as the Canes took a one goal lead into the final intermission.

The first half of the third period was relatively quiet as well with neither team conceded many high danger shots.

The Canes maintained the one goal lead until just under 14 minutes into the third, when Williams streaked into the high slot and found Warren Foegele who snapped it home short side to make it 5-3 Hurricanes. The team carried the two goal lead to the final horn and the Canes continued their exciting October campaign.

They Said It

Jordan Staal

“Yeah, [Warren Foegele] has played unbelievable to start, and he’s really a fun guy to play with, you know what you’re going to get every night. He’s just a moose out there, to be honest. He hounds the puck better than I’ve seen in a long time. So it makes for a fun time chipping them in and watching him go at it, and then getting the puck back and then going to play offense.”

“I like the agressiveness of our team. I think we’re utilizing our speed, I think we’re a fast team and we’re actually playing that way too. We’re being agressive and going after teams and creating turnovers. Obviously we’ve given up a few, maybe more than in the previous years. But in the end, when it comes down to the end of the game, we feel like we should be on top.”

Sebastian Aho

“[Michael Ferland] is just a big body out there. You know, he can make some plays. I think he’s way more skilled than people think he is. “

“We want to be even better, we want to keep building something here and and get better every day.”

Curtis McElhinney

“Yeah I think its one of those things as an organization the [ Hurricanes] are obviously looking for stability. I know [Darling] got off to a pretty good camp here and he made a lot of good strides in the summer time to get ready for this season. And Petr, the same thing, obviously he’s coming off a year where he wants to prove himself, that he’s more than capable of #1 in this league. You know, I’m just trying to fit in as best I can, and I don’t know what the long term approach is at this point, but for the short term its just to have fun and fit in a little bit”

Rod Brind’Amour

It’s a fine line, right? You don’t want to give up the chances but you’re also creating a lot of offense because you’re giving up chances if that makes any sense. We just have to shore up the things that are costing us, the things we’re not getting any offense out of anywhere, like giving up stretch passes, and things like that. And special teams, that’s an area that we have to shore up.”

“[Warren Foegele] has done a great job. I mean, again, he’s kind of what we want in a Hurricane, a young kid that just does it right, every shift. And he’s getting rewarded right now for it.”

“Well I can’t blame [Curtis McElhinney] for anything, i din’t think we gave hin a lot of support in certain areas, and a couple weird bounces. I think a few got deflected, but he’s a battler too. There’s just confidence right now in the net, both guys, its hard to explain it but we weren’t worried about that.”

“We looked at it, they’re fine tuning [the goal celibration], [Micheal Ferland] had a little issue with the beat, but, again, that’s something they’ve created and hopefully they can enjoy it and the fans can enjoy it.”

Game Notes

• When the players got done giving interviews, Dundon called the team together in the locker room and presented Andrei Svechnikov with a framed encasing commemorating his first NHL goal. The team roared in approval and immediately began chanting “Speach!”. It was an incredible moment for everyone involved and really highlights just how well this team seems to be gelling early in the season.
• McElhinney picked up his second win in a Canes uniform in as many games tonight as he continues to make put together a good run in Raleigh. The goaltending storyline will be an interesting one in the coming weeks if he continues to impress.
• Warren Foegele has been most impressive through four games this season as he picked up his third goal on the season tonight.
• The Hurricanes are 3-0-1 and currently sit atop the NHL standings. These first four games have been nothing if not fun.