Gold: Canes back in action against Montreal

By Adam Gold radio host 99.9 the Fan

Twelve days.

No, not the Twelve Days of Christmas, that’s the last time the Carolina Hurricanes played a sanctioned game in the NHL. And, if you wanted to go back a bit farther, you’ll see that Carolina has played just twice since their December 12 loss in Vancouver. That’s more than enough time to gather rust, get out of game shape and research what the heck “Pipers Piping” means and why there were 11 of them.

Barring another outbreak, the Hurricanes and Montreal Canadiens should meet on the ice at PNC Arena tonight at 7:00. Judging from the fact that the Habs just played the Lightning in Tampa on Tuesday night (a 5-4 overtime loss), we should be able to proceed with the final scheduled game of the 2021 portion of the schedule. Of course, because Omicron, I think I can speak confidently for all of us that we’ll believe it when we see the puck dropped.

In all, the Hurricanes have seen 5 games already wiped off the schedule. The final game of the last road trip at Minnesota on the 14th was the first to fall as Carolina showed up with four players joining the protocol after they left two behind in Vancouver. Then Nashville and Boston couldn’t play, the league decided we wouldn’t have cross-border games through Christmas so the trip to Ottawa was off. And, the grand slam was wiping away Carolina’s home date with Florida this past Monday.

Add to the fact that all games in Canada will be postponed until they can have fans in attendance which means that Monday’s game at Toronto will have to be rescheduled. Got it? That’s six games in all that have to be reassigned, so far. And, in a way, it’s good that four of them are away games since a healthy chunk of what was supposed to be the Olympic break in February is already taken up by NC State basketball, an Imagine Dragons concert, the rodeo and a full weekend of Monster Jam festivities.

One more thing before we move on to talk actual hockey. The National Hockey League is following the lead of the NFL, NBA and major college leagues like the ACC, by adjusting protocols for a quicker return to play for those that are asymptomatic and no longer contagious. In the case of the NHL, just one player remains unvaccinated, Detroit’s Tyler Bertuzzi, so there doesn’t have to be a distinction for vaccinated players. Of course, with the governments of Canadadian provinces setting forth their own rules and largely moving towards far a more restrictive reaction to the latest outbreak, the rules for return will vary depending on local regulations. This is going to be confusing.

The league has reinstated the taxi squads from a year ago and the Hurricanes responded by recalling goaltender Alex Lyon from Chicago. With Freddie Andersen in protocol, the Canes were down to just one available goaltender in Antti Raanta. Equipment ace, Jorge Alves had to suit up as the second goalie in practice earlier in the week. As of right now, we’re still waiting on additional player transactions.

They’re baaaaaack...

The original six players that entered the league’s health and safety protocols a couple of weeks ago were all cleared for return. That means forwards Sebastian Aho, Seth Jarvis, Jordan Staal, Andrei Svechnikov, Steven Lorentz and defenseman Ian Cole were all back on the ice practicing when the Hurricanes returned to the rink.

Unfortunately, while they were in quarantine, forwards Stefan Noesen and Jesper Fast, defenseman Brendan Smith and Andersen all tested positive and have not yet returned to the ice. Though it is expected that Noesen, who was transfered to the taxi squad on Tuesday, will be available for the game tonight.

Jordan Martinook and Jalen Chatfield have both been sidelined with lower body injuries and it appears that Chatfield is closing in on a return to the active roster. Both players have skated prior to Carolina’s practices, but according to Rod Brind’Amour, Martinook is still a “ways away” from playing.

Checking in…

In case you were wondering about some of the former Hurricanes in new locations, here’s how they’ve fared for their new teams.

Dougie Hamilton, New Jersey; 28 games, 18 points (7g, 11a), 22:11 TOI, -10 (+/-). It’s worth noting that, before last night’s win in Buffalo, the Devils had lost 6 straight and are 2-8-1 in their last 11 games. Hamilton has actually been pretty good this year for what is currently a young and not very good team. He’s -12 in his last 6 games.

Jake Bean, Columbus; 28 games, 12 points (4g, 8a), 22:41 TOI, -1 (+/-). Bean has been a pretty good addition to the Columbus blue line. He’s logged top-4 ice time, without getting much burn on the power play. Two of Bean’s goals have been overtime winners.

Brock McGinn, Pittsburgh; 30 games, 12 points (8g, 4a), 15:25 TOI, +4 (+/-). McGinn has played well, and has been a huge part of the league’s top penalty killing unit. He’s logged more than 64 minutes while shorthanded and has only been on the ice for 2 power play goals allowed.

Warren Foegele, Edmonton; 29 games, 11 points (5g, 6a), 13:15 TOI, -6 (+/-). It’s been a bit of a struggle for Foegele, but there were signs of life with 3 goals in his last 2 games before the Oilers were shut down.

Petr Mrazek. Toronto; 3 games, 2-1-0, 4.12 GAA, .880 SV%. Injuries have severely hampered Mrazek’s first season in Toronto.

James Reimer. San Jose; 17 games, 10-5-1, 2.29 GAA, .928 SV%. James has simply been terrific for the Sharks this year. And, it’s worth noting that those numbers INCLUDE Tuesday night’s 8-7 win over Arizona in a shootout.

Alex Nedeljkovic, Detroit; 21 games, 9-7-3, 2.78 GAA, .916 SV%. It doesn’t look gaudy, but considering the Red Wings’ overall youth and the fact that they’re not defensively stout, Ned’s done a pretty good job in his new digs.

Odds and ends…

Sebastian Aho has 12 points (5g, 7a) in his last 5 games. He’s had at least two points in each of those games and in the last 9 games in which Aho has been on the scoresheet, he’s had at least 2 points.

Teuvo Teravainen has 4 goals and 9 points in his last 8 games.

The Hurricanes are 18-3-1 with Derek Stepan in the lineup.

Jordan Staal has no goals and just 3 assists in his last 20 games. Yesterday marked two months since his last goal, October 29 against Chicago.

Seth Jarvis has gone 11 straight games without a goal. He’s banked 6 assists over the 11 games but hasn’t scored since November 20 at Los Angeles.

Andrei Svechnikov had 18 points (7g, 11a) in his first 14 games with 7 of those (1g, 6a) coming on the power play. In the last dozen, Svech has just 2 goals and 1 assist with nothing coming with the man advantage.

If you enjoyed the last break…

Thanks to the postponement of Monday’s game in Toronto the Hurricanes will have another lengthy layoff after their New Year’s Day match in Columbus. They’ll have five days off until Friday when they open up a weekend back-to-back with the Flames and Panthers at PNC Arena. After that, it’s 10 games in a 20-day span leading up to the All Star Break.

Last time…

The Fins absolutely tortured Montreal in the 3rd game of the season. Sebastian Aho scored twice and added an assist. Teuvo Teravainen put up a pair of apples. And Jeperi Kotkaniemi scored his first goal with Carolina against his former team.

Line ‘em up...

(shoulder shrug emoji)

It might look like this…

Niederreiter-Aho-Teravainen

Svechnikov-Trocheck-Necas

Kotkaniemi-Staal-Jarvis

Lorentz-Stepan-Fast

Slavin-DeAngelo

Skjei-Pesce

Cole-Bear

Raanta

Regardless, the only regular out is Freddie Andersen. Stefan Noesen was transferred to the taxi squad and Alex Lyon will back up Antti Raanta.

Wanna bet...

Carolina -330. O/U: 5.5 goals

Coverage begins at 6:30 with Storm Watch with special guest star Dennis Cox. Then Mike Maniscalco and Tripp Tracy have the live action just after 7:00. Don’t forget to follow the Canes Corner Podcast wherever you get your podcasts. A fresh episode drops the #MorningAfter every Hurricanes game. Here’s hoping I remember how this works.