Swedes and Finns aren’t known to get along, but Thursday’s game was different.
The Carolina Hurricanes suffered a hard-fought defeat to the Chicago Blackhawks as they fell 4-3 following a six-round shootout. It wasn’t for a lack of effort, nor a lack of puck luck, but rather substantial struggles on their power play, which has been red hot as of late. The first goal of the game was shorthanded for the Blackhawks, and despite having four other chances on the man-advantage, Carolina was unable to produce.
With every goal the Blackhawks put on the board, the Hurricanes answered in kind, as Chicago could not hold the lead for more than 4:40 before the game would be tied again. The first goal came from the stick of Swedish rookie defenseman Joel Nystrom, as the lone apple came from Finnish forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi.
Nystrom laughed in the locker room at the irony of it, but expressed his gratitude for finally notching his first career NHL goal after dishing 41 shots at goaltenders since he arrived in Raleigh.
“I’m happy to get my first goal, I’ve been waiting for it, it was good,” he said after the game. “Great pass from ‘KK’, and I had a lot of space there, so I just tried to shoot it – and happy to see it went in.”
The other two goals on Carolina came from Jordan Staal and Jackson Blake, while the Hurricanes played a very physical game. They landed 29 hits, and notably got under the skin of Oliver Moore after his teammate Nick Lardis took a blow from Alexander Nikishin. Moore and Nikishin dropped the gloves as they both engaged in the first fight of their NHL careers. Both were given a five-minute fighting major, though Moore also assessed a minor for roughing.
Then Came Overtime…
As the game dragged into overtime, the Hurricanes noticeably struggled to gain puck possession from the hungry Blackhawks, who refused to take their foot off the gas.
The shootout ran unusually long, as it extended to six rounds through matching goals and failures. However, the final horn of the game sounded in favor of the Blackhawks, as the bruised and battered Moore lit the lamp rather than merely candles on his birthday.
Hurricanes Game Notes
Shayne Gostisbehere and Eric Robinson remained out due to injuries.
Sean Walker led the team in hits with six, which matched his season high recorded on December 19th and January 16th, both against the Florida Panthers.
Frederik Andersen has played significantly better in his latest stretch of games, which continued versus the Blackhawks. He made 19 saves on 22 shots against and stopped four of six shots faced in the shootout.
K’Andre Miller participated as the fourth of the Hurricanes’ picks for the shootout and came before even Logan Stankoven. It is always odd to see a defenseman go for the extra event, but especially so for one who has only scored four goals on the season. That one was a bit of a head scratcher.
