Thanks to a well-rounded effort on both sides of the rink, the Carolina Hurricanes snapped the Pittsburgh Penguins’ seven-game win streak at PNC Arena on Sunday, Dec. 18. The Canes (19-6-6) beat the Penguins (18-9-4) 3-2 in a back-and-forth match that didn’t have a clear winner until the bitter end.
“We managed to kind of right the ship and get into a good flow,” said head coach Rod Brind’Amour. “We kind of survived that first, I’d say, 10 minutes. And then it settled down, and we actually put together a decent period. And then that second period was weird, and the third period was actually, I thought, pretty solid.”
Both teams entered the match with something to gain or lose — Pittsburgh hadn’t lost since their last meeting with the Canes on Nov. 29, and Carolina looked to continue their 10-game point streak.
Goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov returned to the net after fellow netminder Antti Raanta took over at PNC Arena the night before. Although Pittsburgh outshot Carolina 11-7 in the first period, Kochetkov looked to be one of the best players on the ice throughout.
The Hurricanes exercised their burgeoning power play kill twice in the first frame, mostly thanks to the likes of Kochetkov and defensemen Brett Pesce and Brady Skjei. Although the penalty kill hasn’t been abysmal — Carolina is currently sitting at 79.4%, 15th-best in the league — it could certainly stand improvement, especially after Dallas scored two power play goals on Saturday evening.
Carolina kicked into high gear at the top of the second period thanks to center Derek Stepan’s go-ahead goal past Pittsburgh goaltender Casey DeSmith. The Hurricanes quickly matched their first-frame offensive performance, outshooting the Penguins 9-2 in the first 10 minutes of the second period, and their tough defense prevented a tied game while center Martin Necas sat in the box for hooking.
That being said, the Hurricanes didn’t sit pretty for long. Four seconds after defenseman Jaccob Slavin was sent to the box for Carolina’s fourth penalty of the game, Pittsburgh right wing Rickard Rakell put the Penguins on the board. The remainder of the second period ended without a goal for either team, but Pittsburgh left wing Brock McGinn gave the Penguins their first lead of the game five minutes into the third frame.
Luckily for Carolina, McGinn’s goal would be Pittsburgh’s last of the evening. Three minutes later, Skjei scored his fifth goal and 13th point of the season, garnering assists from Stepan and center Jordan Staal.
A tied game with seven minutes to go is reason enough for hope, but captain Staal sealed the deal after sending a bullet past Pittsburgh defenseman Chad Ruhwedel to regain the Hurricanes’ lead and leave the final minutes of game up to Kochetkov and the rest of Carolina’s defense.
“[Staal’s] phenomenal,” Skjei said. “He’s huge for us every night. He does all the little things so well that probably go unnoticed by some or most people, but night in, night out, he brings his game, and he’s hard to play against.”
With an empty net and a few minutes left for Pittsburgh to net the extra goal they needed, tensions were high in Raleigh — most of all for Kochetkov, but the young goalie kept his cool. Despite some close calls, the Hurricanes weren’t able to widen their lead to 4-2, but their slim victory was all Carolina needed to end Pittsburgh’s winning streak.
“We’ve played really, really well,” Brind’Amour said. “That’s indicative of where we’re at.”
The Canes will take a 48-hour break before returning to PNC Arena on Tuesday, Dec. 20 to face the New Jersey Devils. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.
