From minute one to minute 60, right wing Andrei Svechnikov put the puck in the net. Scoring the opening, game-winning and final goal, Svechnikov had his name written all over this game. Although the Russian had a night to remember, center Sebastian Aho earned another massive four points, and right wing Jesper Fast notched two goals of his own.
“He’s a dominant player,” said head coach Rod Brind’Amour. “To do that, you gotta score. He does other things obviously, but tonight was the big difference.”
With their second win in as many days, the Canes (19-13-4) move up to third in the Metropolitan division as they earn two big points against the Canadiens (15-14-5). With the win, Carolina improves to 10-3-3 at home and will need to continue to defend its home ice with lots of important home games coming in the next month.
The Hurricanes wasted no time getting on the scoresheet. Before two minutes of play had gone by, the Canes found themselves up 1-0. In transition, Aho carried the puck into the offensive zone and found defenseman Brent Burns creeping up from the blue line. Burns quickly collected the puck and sent a shot-pass toward Svechnikov, who used his net-front presence to deflect the puck past Canadiens goaltender Cayden Primeau.
Half a period later, the Canes doubled their lead thanks to Fast. Once again, Burns launched a slap-pass from the point which Aho managed to redirect Fast’s way and using his snabba — “fast” in Swedish — reaction time, tucked home his third goal of the season.
Just as the Hurricanes looked like they could be running away with the game, Montreal responded a minute later. Getting the puck in deep, the Canadiens won the board battle, and after, they fired a shot from the point, helping center Mitchell Stephens put home a rebound.
Minutes later all of PNC was on its feet cheering when center Jack Drury’s goal found its way into the net; however, the Canadiens challenged for goaltender interference. Much to the dismay of the Caniacs, this marks the fifth time a Hurricanes goal has been challenged with all five goals coming off the board after review.
In a matter of moments, Canes fans thought they would be up 3-1 but heading into the first intermission were tied 2-2. After Svechnikov was sent to the box for tripping, Montreal defenseman Mike Matheson carried the puck up the ice and, in a one-two play, got the puck back and wrapped around the back of the net, beating both netminder Antti Raanta and a diving defenseman Jaccob Slavin.
Over the course of the first period, the Canes had plenty of offensive-zone time, outshot their opponent more than double and scored two goals but still went into the first intermission without a lead.
A feeling of deja vu settled into the pit of many Canes fans’ stomachs; however, Fast quickly dissipated any need to worry. After forcing a turnover in the Canadiens’ defensive end, center Jack Drury passed to right wing Stefan Noesen who, from below the goal line, found Fast in front of the net for a one-timer. In a little over 21 minutes, Fast had doubled his season total in goals.
“I’ve been waiting for those a little bit this year,” Fast said. “They haven’t come easy so far, so of course it was a good feeling to get two goals, and hopefully I can ride the wave a little bit here.”
The remainder of the second period was quiet if you just saw the scoresheet, but there was plenty of action on the ice. Both teams were grinding away on the boards, scratching and clawing to get their team another goal. This game required the Canes to be active in the hits department, a big ask for the team ranked dead last in hits per game.
In his first start since being put on waivers and getting reassigned to the AHL, Raanta made 18 saves on 21 shots. By far his best period was in the second, when he stopped all 12 of Montreal’s shots on goal. With the applause after every big save, Raanta had the full support of the crowd as he looked determined to leave the game with a win.
“It’s a big win for him,” Svechnikov said. “It’s gonna give him confidence, and hopefully he’s gonna move on from [the bad stretch].”
Throughout the entire final period, Carolina allowed just two shots on goal despite having to kill off two penalties back-to-back. The first shot-on-goal came under 30 seconds in, when Canadiens right wing Josh Anderson got in alone on Raanta and backhanded a shot that squeaked through Raanta’s five-hole.
“We felt like it wasn’t going our way but I loved how the guys just killed those penalties,” Brind’Amour said. “Stuck with it and got what we deserved.”
With a little over six minutes left, and the feeling that the next goal wins it for either side, Aho won a faceoff in the offensive zone where defenseman Brett Pesce put the puck on a tee for Svechnikov, who slapped home the game-winning goal. Then, with time winding down and the game coming to a close, Svechnikov launched the puck almost 200 feet to round out his hat trick with an empty net goal.
The empty-net goal marks Svechnikov’s third career hat trick and sixth goal of the season. Aho earned his fourth point of the night on the play and became the first player in Canes and Whalers franchise history to record four points in consecutive nights. He also is the first NHL player to accomplish the feat since Jeremy Roenick in 1999.
Carolina will get a one-day break before its next game, when it heads to Toronto to take on the Maple Leafs on Saturday, Dec. 30 at 7 p.m.
