Hurricane Season- Week 7
The conclusion of week seven finds the Carolina Hurricanes in third place in the Central Division with 27 points. In the worst results week of the season, Carolina went 1-3 and only managed to add 2 points to their total. The week began in Raleigh with the Canes in the middle of a four-game series with the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Hurricanes were coming off an impressive 4–0 victory over the defending Stanley Cup champions and ran into a predictable early first-period push from the Lightning. The push was weathered, thanks in large part to the play of James Reimer in goal and Carolina emerged from the first period with a 1–0 lead. Jesper Fast scored his first goal of the season and would go on to add his second, tying the game 2–2 in the second period. Brady Skeij had a forgettable sequence in the third period, starting with a giveaway coming out of his defensives zone that led to the go-ahead goal for Tampa on their way to a 4–2 victory.
Wednesday night marked the first time this season the Hurricanes have lost consecutive games. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped all 25 shots he faced and delivered the 3–0 shutout victory for the Lightning. The final game of the set saw two evenly matched teams play a tight game with a third-period Yanni Gourde snipe winning the game for Tampa. Former Hurricane Curtis McElhinney was sharp stopping 31 of 32 shots with a little help from his posts and crossbar. The Hurricanes played well enough to win the game but instead found themselves embroiled in their first real losing streak of the year. Jake Bean struggled a bit with puck control, missing passes specifically on the powerplay and we saw some uncharacteristic sloppy play from Sebastian Aho.
The week seven finale was held in Florida and marked the first time Vincent Trockeck returned to face the Panthers as the opposition. He put his stamp on the game early, drawing a penalty and scoring the game’s first goal on the ensuing powerplay. Dougie Hamilton did well to get the shot through from the point and Vincent tipped it home to give the Hurricanes the 1–0 lead. The second period saw plenty of penalties but no scoring from either side. Jake Bean added to the lead in the third notching his first NHL goal as Carolina once again cashed in from the point on the powerplay. All the goals were generated from the point for the Hurricanes in this one. After a strong Florida push tied the game at 2–2 Warren Foegele tipped a Brett Pesce shot past Sergei Bobrovsky to give Carolina the lead once again. Unfortunately for the Hurricanes this one wouldn’t stick either and Patric Hornqvist added a beautiful tip of his own to send the game into overtime. The Hurricanes dominated possession during the overtime period but couldn’t convert on any of the chances they created, and it took a nifty move from Martin Necas in the shootout to secure the extra point. One point in the standing will certainly help, they all will in a season where you only play the teams in your division, but the win may prove just as important mentally, the losing streak is over.
Petr Mrazek is close to returning from injury, but James Reimer and Alex Nedeljkovic continue to show us that they can carry the load in net. Tampa Bay is a good team, we knew that before week seven began. If Carolina wants to win the Central Division, they will have to contend with the defending champs. The season series is now 3–2 in favor of the Lighting and the two teams will meet again at the end of March. It’s hard to feel good about a 1–3 week, but even in the loses Carolina played their game and always brought the effort. Hopefully, Saturday night marked the end to a frustrating stretch of Hurricanes finishing woes, especially in front of the net. Teuvo and Jake Gardiner have both been missed and we hope to see them back on the ice soon. The Hurricanes are back in action on Monday night against a Panther team that will be looking to avenge the overtime loss.
