The Carolina Hurricanes looked a little different in their play on Thursday, but they didn’t put a halt to their offensive surge and beat the Chicago Blackhawks 7-2. In doing so, more than a half-dozen Carolina players achieved milestones.
first period
When the game started, it was already a milestone for Josiah Slavin, who is the younger brother of their star defenseman Jacob Slavin. For the first time, he appeared in a regular season game for the Hurricanes. Ironically, this was the only NHL arena he called home to face his former team, with whom he played 15 games as a member.
Things started quickly, as Sean Walker put the Hurricanes on the board in just 19 seconds. Midway through the first period, Anton Frondel tied the game, after which Skyler Brind’Amour – son of Rod Brind’Amour – would have scored a tip-in goal – had it not been for interference by Blackhawks goaltender Spencer Knight.
Head coach Brind’Amour decided not to challenge it and soon after, it was avenged as Logan Stankoven gave the Hurricanes the lead once again. As he did so, he recorded the first 20-goal season in his NHL career, giving the Hurricanes a total of six 20+ goal scorers this season.
second period
In the second period, Stankoven followed up with another accomplishment, adding a few milestones as Jackson Blake achieved his first 30-assist season, and Taylor Hall achieved his first 30-assist season with the Hurricanes. Later in the frame, Mark Jankowski extended the lead on assists from Alexander Nikishin and William Carrier.
third period
In the final frame, K’Andre Miller scored directly out of the penalty box with a brilliant pass from Carrier, before Frondel scored once again, making the score 5–2.
However, Hall added another boost to the Hurricanes’ tally with a stylish spin-o-rama goal, scoring on his former team in his first game in his barn.
The final goal of the game came from Jankowski, who notably recorded his first 10-goal season with the Hurricanes. The receivers were Seabs Carrier and Nicolas Deslauriers, the former scoring his first three-point game in his NHL career, and the latter scoring his first points with the Hurricanes.
By the end of the night, 11 players found themselves on the scoresheet, with seven of them achieving milestones. what a night!
who was outside and who was inside
Going into the matchup, the Hurricanes were missing seven of their usual players, as Sebastian Aho, Seth Jarvis, Andrei Svechnikov, Jordan Staal, Jordan Martinook, Jacob Slavin, and Jalen Chatfield were all ruled out for undisclosed reasons. Staal and Martinook were both absent from Sunday’s game against the Ottawa Senators for the same undisclosed reason, while Chatfield left their previous game against the Boston Bruins with a lower body injury.
Filling those open spots on the roster were Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Bradley Nadeau, Nicolas Deslauriers, Josiah Slavin, Skylar 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 pairing of Shayne Gostisbehere and K’Andre Miller 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.
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