The Carolina Hurricanes came back from a 2-0 deficit to defeat the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2 in a Sunday night matchup, arguably playing some of their best hockey so far this season.
Carolina (12-8-0) came into this game looking to redeem itself after a dramatic 8-2 loss against Tampa Bay two days earlier, hoping to boost its offensive ability and redeem some goaltending swagger. Columbus (6-12-4) was the perfect opponent for a comeback, given that the team has lost nine of its last 11 matchups.
The offensive star of the game was undoubtedly right wing Andrei Svechnikov. Tonight marked his 12th game of the season after recovering from surgery, but he looked just fine out on the ice. Svechnikov came into tonight hoping to get his first goal of the 2023-24 season, and he did so with a dramatic flair.
“I wasn’t really thinking,” Svechnikov said. “ I knew [the first goal of the season] was going to come, it’s just about the time and obviously it was the right time at the right moment. Huge win for us.”
Many expected defenseman Brent Burns to rack up some points this game after scoring five points — including three goals — in the past five games he’d played in. Although he didn’t etch his name on the scoresheet tonight, he did play an impressive 21 minutes and helped set in motion many of the scoring opportunities Carolina had throughout the night.
The first frame was highlighted by an early offensive push from the Hurricanes, with center Jesperi Kotkaniemi sending a chippy shot onto the Columbus goal but unable to put it past Blue Jackets’ netminder Elvis Merzlikins. Carolina received the first power play of the night off of a holding call, setting the specialized lines out onto the ice. The Columbus penalty kill is no joke — second in the NHL with 88.52% — and the Canes were unable to execute and get on the board.
“There was never real panic on our bench,” said defenseman Brady Skjei. “I think that’s a huge strength of ours. And even tonight, you know, down two to one, no one believed we couldn’t come back and win. We will take any win right now and that was a good one.”
Despite dominating the ice with 18 shots on goal compared to the Blue Jackets’ eight, the score was still tied 0-0 heading into the second period. Goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov kept the Canes in the game throughout the second frame, stopping every puck that came his way. Kochetkov was most likely looking to boost the Carolina netminding duo after fellow goaltender Antti Raanta posted a .429 save percentage against Tampa.
“Yeah, he was solid,” Skjei said. “Confident, calm and just made some great plays. A couple of semi-breakaways and diving for that one. So he was solid and kept us in the game.”
While “Koch” was holding strong on one side of the ice, Carolina’s offense was struggling to get any kind of momentum going. After denying multiple looks on the net, it was clear that Merzlikins was not going to go out without a fight. Both goalies once again shut out the other teams’ scoring attempts in the second period. Neither bench could get over 10 shots on goal — a complete turn-around for the Canes after a rapid-fire first period. For the first time since March 2022, the Hurricanes marched into the third period tied 0-0.
Columbus struck first in the third, scoring just 13 seconds into the period off of a shoulder deflection. Right wing Kirill Marchenko sent a shot to the net that bounced off Kochetkov’s pads, finally putting a score on the board. Six minutes later, the Blue Jackets scored again on another deflection — left wing Johnny Gaudreau brought the score to 2-0 in favor of Columbus.
The deficit didn’t subtract from Carolina’s intensity, but rather enabled more energy and brought out the type of offense that the Canes have been looking for all season. Kotkaniemi put the hosts on the board with 10 mins left, executing a turn-around look right in front of the Blue Jackets’ net to make it a one-goal game.
Kotkaniemi wasn’t alone on Carolina’s score sheet for long. Skjei put his third goal of the season past Merzlikins with some help from Svechnikov and center Seth Jarvis. Tied 2-2 with just four minutes left, many fans in PNC Arena started to hope for a full late-game comeback from the Canes’ bench.
Those fans got their wish just over a minute later, when Svechnikov slipped his first goal of the season past the bars and finished the comeback. Off of center Sebastian Aho’s 12th assist of the season, the Russian sealed the deal for the Canes, putting them back into the win column.
“There’s not much more we could have done right,” said head coach Rod Brind’Amour. “Our power play looked good, we got a ton of opportunities and you’re like ‘Okay, that’s good’. We were doing it the way we needed to do it”
While Kochetkov allowed two goals, he was still undoubtedly one of the best players on the ice throughout the 60 minutes of play. Finishing with a .913 save percentage, the young gun is making a name for himself in Raleigh and settling into his role well.
Next up, Carolina is set to take on the Flyers in Philadelphia on Tuesday, Nov. 28. Puck drop is slated for 7:30 p.m.