Rachel Barkley
The Carolina Hurricanes looked a little different in their game on Thursday, but it didn’t slam the brakes on their offensive edge, defeating the Chicago Blackhawks 7-2. In doing so, milestones were achieved by over half a dozen of Carolina’s players.
First Period
When the game began, it was already a milestone for Josiah Slavin, who is the younger brother of their star defenseman Jaccob Slavin. For the first time, he appeared in a regular-season game for the Hurricanes. Ironically, it was in the only NHL arena he had called home as he faced his former team, with whom he had played 15 games as a member of.
Things kicked off quickly, as Sean Walker put the Hurricanes on the board within just 19 seconds. Midway through the first period, Anton Frondell tied the game, which was followed by what would have been a tip-in goal from Skyler Brind’Amour – the son of Rod Brind’Amour – if not for interfering with the Blackhawks’ goalie Spencer Knight.
Head coach Brind’Amour decided not to challenge it, and immediately after, it was avenged as Logan Stankoven gave the Hurricanes the lead once more. As he did so, he notched the first 20-goal season in his NHL career, bringing the Hurricanes to a total of six 20+ goal scorers this season.
Second Period
In the second period, Stankoven followed it up with another, which saw a pair of milestones attached to it as Jackson Blake achieved his first 30-assist season, and Taylor Hall notched his first 30-assist season with the Hurricanes. Later in the frame, Mark Jankowski extended the lead, assisted by Alexander Nikishin and William Carrier.
Third Period
In the final frame, K’Andre Miller scored straight out of the penalty box with a great pass from Carrier, before Frondell scored yet again, making it 5-2.
However, Hall added another to the Hurricanes’ tally with a stylish spin-o-rama goal, scoring on his former team in his first game back in their barn.
The final goal of the game came from Jankowski, who notched his first 10-goal season exclusively with the Hurricanes. Gaining the apples were Carrier and Nicolas Deslauriers, with the former achieving his first three-point game in his NHL career, and the latter getting his first point with the Hurricanes.
By the end of the night, 11 players found themselves on the scoresheet, with seven having achieved milestones. What a game!
Who Was Out and Who Was In
Going into the matchup, the Hurricanes lacked seven of their usual players, as Sebastian Aho, Seth Jarvis, Andrei Svechnikov, Jordan Staal, Jordan Martinook, Jaccob Slavin, and Jalen Chatfield were all ruled out for undisclosed reasons. Both Staal and Martinook were absent in Sunday’s game against the Ottawa Senators for the same undisclosed reason, while Chatfield departed their previous game against the Boston Bruins due to a lower-body injury.
Filling those open spots on the roster were Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Bradley Nadeau, Nicolas Deslauriers, Josiah Slavin, Skyler Brind’Amour, Mike Reilly, and Charles-Alexis Legault.
Logan Stankoven’s line remained untouched and served as the first line, while Kotkaniemi centered Nadeau and Nikolaj Ehlers on the second line, Mark Jankowski centered William Carrier and Deslauriers on the third line, and Brind’Amour centered Slavin and Eric Robinson on the fourth line.
Meanwhile, the defense saw a shakeup pairing Shayne Gostisbehere and K’Andre Miller together on the top line, while the second line featured a combination of Sean Walker and Alexander Nikishin, and the third line saw Reilly and Legault together.
