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RALEIGH — One of the hardest things to do in the NHL is consistently beat the teams that you’re supposed to beat. The Hurricanes did exactly that today as they earned a solid win over the Coyotes in Petr Mrazek’s first shutout of the season.
First Period
After a throughly boring front half of the first period, the Hurricanes created as good of a chance as ever when Jordan Martinook snapped one on net from the high slot. It rebounded out to Sebastian Aho who was looking at a gaping net, but Adin Hill made an incredible play to get his paddle across and somehow keep it out.
The Hurricanes drastically outplayed the Coyotes in the first frame, allowing just 8 shots on net, almost all of which were low danger in nature. In typical Canes fashion, they failed to convert on multiple A+ chances in the first, and it felt like it would haunt them later. Nonetheless, they put together a solid 20 minutes and went into the room tied 0-0.
Second Period
The second period began as unexciting as the first. Things began to heat up when Lawson Crouse stuffed a shot into Petr Mrazek and gave him a few more hacks in the pads. Mrazek got up and gave it right back as chaos ensued behind the net. Crouse would get two minutes for slashing while Pesce got an offsetting two for roughing.
A few minutes later, Janne Kuokkanen drew a slash from Niklas Hjalmarsson to put the Canes on the power play. The NHL’s leading penalty kill handled the task with ease and gained themselves some momentum in the process. But that was taken back quickly as Calvin de Haan put a shot on net that was padded off directly to Warren Foegele’s stick, who buried it for his first goal in over two months. The Canes had taken a 1-0 lead.
Four minutes later, Williams threaded a pass in the neutral zone up to a pinching Justin Faulk, who spearheaded a 3-on-1 into the zone, he found Andrei Svechnikov streaking towards the net. Svechnikov deposited the puck high to the blocker side for his 9th goal of the season and pushed his point streak to three games while also extending Williams’ point streak to five games.
Phil Di Giuseppe did great work to draw a tripping penalty behind the net in the waning seconds of the third, and the Canes carried 1:26 of power play time into the final intermission. The Canes really caught their stride in the second frame as they thoroughly outplayed the Coyotes and went back to the room with some goals to show for it.
Third Period
The early period power play was nullified just 30 seconds in when Aho earned himself a high stick. He came out of the box and received a stretch pass for a breakaway on Hill. Aho pulled it across the front of the crease and tried to slide it between the wickets, but was shut down.
A few minutes later Alex Galchenyuk redirected a point shot on the net that bounced off the far post and in. It was immediately called off as a result of Galchenyuk’s stick being above the crossbar. The call was later confirmed.
The Canes took the momentum and ran with it. Aho found himself in his second 1-on-1 situation with the goaltender in the period as he caught a pass from de Haan while streaking into the zone. This time, he found the five hole. The Canes took a commanding 3-0 lead.
The energy in the building picked up significantly following the third goal as the crowd of more than 13,000 started buzzing. The Canes carried the three goal lead to the buzzer as they picked up a well deserved win in Raleigh.
Bishop, Darling and Kuokkanen Assigned to Charlotte
Following the game, the Hurricanes announced that Clark Bishop, Scott Darling, and Janne Kuokkanen have been assigned to the Charlotte Checkers. The Checkers host the Utica Comets on Tuesday, while the Hurricanes aren’t in action again until Thursday when they host the Detroit Red Wings. The team should receive updates on the injuries to Micheal Ferland, Haydn Fleury, Curtis McElhinney, and Jordan Staal as the week progresses.