Gold: Canes back at it in Chicago

By Adam Gold radio host 99.9 the Fan

After a week that saw the Carolina Hurricanes hit the four times in seven days the next week and a half might feel like a mini All Star break. The Canes skate into Chicago tonight followed by a trip to Florida where they’ll play the Panthers on Saturday and then head up to Tampa on Tuesday.

October was great to the Canes, obviously. They’re 8-0-0, the only unbeaten team in the National Hockey League. And, if you spend any time listening to the national hockey media, they’re legitimately discussing the Hurricanes as the best team in the league.

Ignore it. They’ve only played 1/10 of their schedule. They’ve yet to see any of the other “best” teams in the league, though the opening night win over the Islanders does qualify. We’ll be able to better assess this team after Thanksgiving.  For now, let’s talk about month one with our three stars of October.

Third star -- Andrei Svechnikov (7 goals, 11 points, +8 rating, 15:42 TOI)

Honestly, this could go to any number of forwards. Sebastian Aho, Jordan Staal, Teuvo Teravainen, Jesper Fast and Nino Niederreiter (before his injury), have all been outstanding. But, Andrei gets the nod for how he’s gone about his business the first three weeks.

He’s played a heavier game, more power forwardish than he did a year ago. His goal against the Islanders that tied the score at 1-1 in the first period was about strength and going to the front of the net. That it also quickly answered New York’s opening goal in the 1st period was also important.

Does he still take too many penalties? Yes, as evidenced by his seven minors through eight games. But, he’s playing a physical game and that will calm down. And, when it does, those scoring numbers will jump up as well.

I know we said it a year ago through eight games, but I believe this is going to be the year Andrei really cranks it up.

2nd Star -- Tony DeAngelo (2 goals, 8 points, +9 rating, 16:38 TOI)

Never saw that coming, did you? Maybe the points aren't a surprise, but leading the team in plus/minus? DeAngelo has been excellent so far. He’s not been asked to play a ton of minutes, though there have been a few occasions when he’s been paired with Jaccob Slavin. He’s been a minus player exactly zero times this year and the Hurricanes’ power play is 4th in the NHL.

More than the offense, which everyone expected DeAngelo to bring, he’s been more than competitive defensively so far. I mean, no one is going to confuse Tony for Niclas Lidstrom, so let’s not go overboard, but he’s more than held up his end of the defensive bargain.

He also plays a pretty grimy, feisty game, which is an element that Carolina has needed to add to the line up. In short, DeAngelo has made the Hurricanes better.

1st Star -- Frederik Andersen (7-0-0, 1.29 GAA/.956 SV%)

The biggest no-brainer since matching the offer sheet to Sebastian Aho. Andersen has -- to this point, anyway -- answered every single question about his ability to bounce back from a difficult and injury-plagued season in Toronto a year ago. Freddie was a little off in the opener against the Islanders. He fought the puck a bit, allowed too many rebounds and it appeared that there were communication issues with his defense.

However, from his second start through Sunday’s win over the Coyotes, he’s been Freddie A+! He’s allowed just six goals, only three of them at 5-on-5, and has a .966 save percentage. He was named the NHL’s 3rd star of the month for those gaudy numbers, but he’s also brought another element to Carolina’s crease that doesn’t necessarily show up on the stat sheet.

Freddie is steady. He’s not all over the place like Alex Nedeljkovic and Petr Mrazek have been. Andersen isn’t that type of goalie. Those guys were more active and athletic in that regard and it worked for them and could even be an advantage. But, it also got them into trouble at times.

Has Andersen been a bit lucky? You bet. I saw Taylor Hall of the Bruins miss a wide open net from the side of the goal on Thursday. And there have been posts and other great chances that were not cashed in.  But, that’s part of hockey.  I’m sure he’ll go through a bad stretch or an unlucky one.  Right now, however, Freddie Andersen has been everything the Hurricanes hoped for.

Boxed in

The Chicago Blackhawks have a good power play. A very good power play. They’ve scored 10 times in 38 tries this year and two of those goals came against the Hurricanes in that bananas game last Friday at PNC Arena. In addition, last year, Chicago scored 5 power play goals (5 for 24) in the 8-game season series.  I know this might be a big ask given that the Canes are in the bottom third of NHL teams in taking penalties, but it would be a smart move to not give the Blackhawks a fistful of power play chances.

We meet again

The season series between the Hurricanes and Blackhawks comes to an early conclusion tonight. The key in the Canes’s win this past Friday was their ability to answer Chicago’s first period goals with one of their own.

At 6:12 of the first period, Brandon Hagel slid home a Jonathan Toews shot feed through Antti Raanta for a 1-0 lead. Less than a minute later, DeAngelo took a pass from Vincent Trocheck in transition and the Hurricanes had tied it. Three minutes later, Adam Gaudette’s backhand shot from the slot gave the Hawks a 2-1 lead only to be equaled at 13:09 on a Jordan Staal goal.

Derek Stepan scored 17 seconds later and Jesperi Kotkaniemi finished off a bonkers first period with his 2nd goal of the season potting a dish from Sebastian Aho behind Kevin Lankinen for a 4-2 lead after 20 minutes.

Aho and Svechnikov added early second period markers and Carolina cruised home from there. Chicago forward Alex DeBrincat did make it 6-3 in the 3rd period with his 11th career goal in 15 gamer against the Canes, so he bears some extra attention tonight.

Last time out

The Hurricanes beat Arizona, 2-1. Brett Pesce’s late 3rd period power play goal was the difference as the Canes won in front of Freddie Andersen’s 22 save performance. Meanwhile, the last time we saw Chicago, they were seeking their first win of the season. Well, mission accomplished after their 5-1 win over Ottawa. Patrick Kane had a hat trick after missing time in Covid-19 protocol and Brandon Hagel scored twice in the win. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 29 of 30 shots in his best outing of the season.

No changes

Nothing about Carolina’s line up from Sunday will change. That means an 8th start in goal for Andersen. In addition, it’s the second NHL game for rookie Seth Jarvis who registered an assist on the Pesce game-winning, power play goal in his NHL debut. He’ll skate with Stepan and Steven Lorentz on a 4th line.

The line: Hurricanes -160, O/U 6.0 goals

Storm Watch starring Alec Campbell begins at 8:00 with the opening face off just after 8:30 on 99.9 the Fan. Don’t forget to follow into the Canes Corner Podcast sponsored by the Aluminum company of North Carolina which drops the morning after every Hurricanes game. It’s available wherever you get your podcasts.