The Carolina Hurricanes suffered an excruciating 3-2 overtime loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday, Nov. 17 in PNC Arena. This was the Canes’ second loss to the Avalanche in six days after falling 4-1 in Colorado on Nov. 12.
Despite outshooting the Avs (9-5-1) 48-15, the Canes (10-5-2) just couldn’t get the job done against the reigning Stanley Cup champs. Carolina went 0-for-4 on the power play, including a flurry of big chances at the tail end of regulation, but couldn’t cash in. In the end, those missed opportunities made the difference.
“It really doesn’t matter, you’re scoring or you’re not,” said center Sebastian Aho. “Obviously we haven’t scored in tight games like this. That was the game.”
On the flip side, Colorado drew first blood in the first period when center Evan Rodrigues found himself undefended in the slot with possession after a mad dash for a contested puck veered over to him. Rodrigues made no mistake, beating goaltender Antti Raanta for the opening goal.
That peculiar puck movement eventually became a staple of the game. At times, the Canes fired on all cylinders but the puck refused to go in the net. Other times, the Canes and Avs scrambled for a puck on the loose for extended periods of time.
A couple of oddities between players occurred as well. Colorado center Alex Newhook capitalized on Canes center Martin Nečas letting his guard on the defensive end, leading to a 1-on-1 with Raanta which Newhook won to make it 2-1 Colorado.
With 9:37 left in the third, Nečas evened out the score himself by slipping the game-tying goal past a stickless Avalanche netminder, Pavel Francouz. Francouz lost his stick after an impromptu collision with his own teammate behind the net.
Despite carrying a ton of momentum thereafter, Carolina still couldn’t complete the comeback. A high stick by Newhook gifted the Hurricanes a power play with 1:49 to go in the third, but the puck simply wasn’t going in. One overtime miscue by center Seth Jarvis later, Colorado left wing Artturi Lehkonen scored the game-winner.
It was one of those nights for the Canes. Even though the result wasn’t ideal, they still came away with one point and a substantial amount of silver lining. Even if the score didn’t reflect it, Carolina looked like the better team on the ice for the majority of the night. Holding the defending champs to 15 shots is a positive takeaway on its own.
“We’ve had a few losses like that over the years,” said head coach Rod Brind’Amour. “But to me, that’s the way you have to play, especially against a team like that. You just can’t try to open it up, you can’t give them opportunities. … We didn’t get the extra point, but I love that we fought back and just got one out of it.
The Hurricanes will hit the road looking to get back in the win column in Minnesota on Saturday, Nov. 19 when they take on the Wild. Puck drop is set for 8 p.m.
