The Carolina Hurricanes finished the first half of their season with another hard-fought home win, edging the San Jose Sharks 2-1 on Sunday, Jan. 30. Goaltender Frederik Andersen spearheaded the defensive effort with 27 saves, while right wing Andrei Svechnikov provided the game-winning goal.
Andersen showed why he will be one of the three representatives of the Canes (31-9-2) at the NHL All-Star game. Andersen had given up eight goals across his last three starts, largely due to a leaky defense in front of him, but with a stout defensive effort against the Sharks (22-20-3), Andersen’s talent was on full display.
Carolina’s defense continued its return to form against San Jose after a 2-1 win over the New Jersey Devils a day prior. The Sharks managed to accumulate 28 shots, but their grade-A chances were few and far between as the Hurricanes worked to close passing lanes and nip the Sharks’ attacks in the bud.
“I thought it was a great game overall,” said head coach Rod Brind’Amour. “We defended well, the goalie played well and then we created a lot of opportunities, just didn’t quite cash in. We were around the net all night. It’s one of the better games that I’ve felt like we played because we didn’t get frustrated and we stuck to what we wanted to do.”
On the offensive end, center Vincent Trocheck opened the scoring action with an impressive solo effort to beat San Jose goalie and former Hurricane James Reimer within the first five minutes. After a scrappy second period, Rudolfs Balcers pulled the Sharks level again early in the third. The scrappiness continued late into the third, but a blue-line shot by defenseman Brett Pesce rebounded perfectly for Svechnikov, who buried the game-winner with 3:44 to go.
With the season at its midway point, the Canes are sitting pretty with a points percentage of .762. Carolina sits on top of the Eastern Conference in this regard and second in the NHL behind the Colorado Avalanche. With a tight schedule of 42 games in 80 days in the latter half of the regular season, having some leeway in the standings could prove crucial down the stretch.
“I think there’s room for improvement,” Trocheck said. “I think we obviously like where we stand. We’ve done a pretty good job in the first half, but there’s definitely room for improvement. We think we can get better from here.”
The Hurricanes will return to action with a four-game road trip starting in Toronto against the Maple Leafs on Feb. 7. Puck drops at 7 p.m.
