The Carolina Hurricanes suffered their first overtime loss of the season in a 3-2 defeat against the Calgary Flames on Saturday, Oct. 22.
Fueled by goals from center Sebastian Aho and defenseman Calvin de Haan, the Canes (3-1-1) put on a strong showing in the first 11 minutes of the game. However, the Flames (4-1-0) slowly crept back into the game, cutting the lead to 2-1 before the first intermission and ultimately taking the win on Calgary right wing Tyler Toffoli’s game-winning goal.
“Still had a pretty good first period,” said defenseman Jaccob Slavin. “But then obviously that second period, we were just grinding in our end the whole time. We got to be better on special teams is what comes down to at the end of the day.”
That second period saw Calgary turn up the heat on Carolina by outshooting the Hurricanes 14-2. The Canes did themselves no favors in easing the pressure, going on the penalty kill twice in the middle period and rarely escaping their defensive zone. Flames right wing Brett Ritchie finally knotted things up a 2-2 just 2:31 before Carolina could escape to the second intermission.
The Hurricanes PK performed well enough all things considered, only letting up one power play goal on four chances, but the same can not be said for Carolina’s power play. Before Flames center Nazem Kadri netted the only PPG of the evening, the Canes squandered a golden opportunity to score when a double minor for slashing sent Calgary defenseman Rasmus Andersson to the box for two minutes.
The Canes mustered just two shots across those four minutes, struggling to enter the Flames’ zone, much less find the net.
“You got to give them credit,” said head coach Rod Brind’Amour. “They didn’t let us get in. It’s not a lack of urgency; our guys played hard.”
The result marks the fourth leg in the Hurricanes’ five-game road trip out west. After wins in San Jose and Seattle, the fatigue of this lengthy stretch of away games is starting to show in a 6-4 defeat in Edmonton and this result in Calgary.
“It’s been a long trip,” Slavin said. “I think that’s the biggest takeaway, it’s been a long trip. We’ve had good hockey, we’ve had bad hockey, so we just gotta keep grinding. Grinding away, finding our game and finding what makes us successful. We know what that is, so it’s just [a matter of] sticking to it.”
Carolina will stay in Canada for the last leg of its West Coast stint, a game against the Vancouver Canucks. Puck is set to drop in Rogers Arena at 10:30 p.m.
