About Last Night: Andersen, Canes Usurp Kings

Defense Optional, Andersen Required

It’s not every day where a goalie can allow four goals and you go, “Thank goodness for the goaltending,” at the end of the game.

But when the team in front of them concedes 52 even-strength chances, 43 shots on goal, 11 high-danger chances and four power play opportunities, and yet they still manage to put together over a 0.900 save percentage and pitch a shutout for the final frame, that win is all theirs to savor.

“He had a great third,” said Rod Brind’Amour after the game. “That was the difference in the game. He held us in. We were just doing nothing. Just surviving. That’s where a good goalie, he got us two points by his play in the third period.”

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The Hurricanes’ defense is usually fairly solid, but has its issues with giving up quality looks despite overall suppression of chances, but this game was just bad in every regard for them.

Frederik Andersen won the game for a floundering Carolina Hurricanes squad and they need to make sure they take him out to the fanciest place in Hollywood Hills to make sure he is properly thanked for bailing them out.

Seth to Stay

I mean… did anybody actually think that he was going to be sent back down to juniors?

I wrote about his game and how he was standing out in despite a lack of ‘legal’ scoring, but now with a goal in all three games on the road trip so far, Jarvis has seemingly solidified himself not just as a permanent roster addition for the Canes, but a staple on the top line as well.

Maybe it’s the power of that mustache of his.

But he now has nine NHL games under his belt, and while there hasn’t been any definitive confirmation that he is here to stay, Brind’Amour pretty much gave as close to one as we’re going to get before lineups are posted for Monday night’s game.

“[Canes’ Upper Management] haven’t talked to me about it, but it’s pretty clear what’s gonna happen,” Brind’Amour said. “I could have told you that eight or nine games ago, but they love the drama.”

So now how many goals do we all think Jarvis is going to score this season?

Road Trip Standard Met, Now Looking For More

Even when you’re one of the top teams in the league, a long West Coast road trip — especially one where the California teams are actually starting to climb back to relevancy — is going to be difficult.

Time zone changes, awkward starts and just the grinding nature of travel can pose a challenge for even the most disciplined teams, but with the Hurricanes now assured to have at least a 0.500 record from the road trip — the golden standard — every other win will be icing on the cake.

November has been a difficult month for the Canes who only have three total home games, but to have only two losses in the entire month so far has been huge.

The Canes, even despite only having two losses on the season, are still not running away with the Metropolitan division, but all they can do is keep collecting points.

We all know this is one of the toughest divisions in hockey, but there’s no use in worrying about other team’s games when the best recipe for success is winning your own games.

Miscellaneous Notes

• Derek Stepan sits for one game and then returns and scores a goal. Now that’s what I call efficiency and making a statement.
• Jesperi Kotkaniemi netted his first goal and point in eight games in the second period last night. He’s looked so much better as a center than on the wing, so it will be interesting what decisions are made in regards to the lineup going forward.
• Andrei Svechnikov was the only Hurricane with a positive Corsi For Percentage (51.72%) last night. We can talk all day about his number of penalties or the fact that he hasn’t scored in nine games, but he has been so effective despite all of that. He has at least a point in all but three games this season and as such is leading Carolina in points.
• Adrian Kempe’s shorthanded goal was the first one the Canes have conceded this season, they have yet to score one so far despite numerous chances.