In acquiring superstar right wing Mikko Rantanen, the Carolina Hurricanes hoped he’d provide the scoring punch the team had been missing in the playoffs the last few seasons. Rantanen is on pace for his third straight 40-plus-goal season but has yet to provide the offensive firepower the Hurricanes traded for.
Since his arrival, the Canes are 2-3-1 and have scored two goals or less in five of those games. Rantanen hasn’t helped a struggling power play either. Since the calendar turned to 2025, the Hurricanes have converted two of their 46 power play chances and haven’t scored one since Rantaned entered the lineup. The result is the Hurricanes’ second three-game losing streak of the season after their offensive struggles continued in a 2-1 loss to the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center.
“We’ve got to capitalize, myself included,” said right wing Jackson Blake. “I’ve got to find ways to put it in the net. We’ve only scored one goal in the last two games. That’s not going to win you very many hockey games.”
When looking at the stat sheet, this seems like a game the Hurricanes should’ve won or at least scored more than one goal. The Canes outshot the Wild 38-24, won nearly 60% of the faceoffs and held Minnesota 0-for-3 on the power play. But in hockey, most of the time, it’s about who capitalizes on their chances, not who has the most.
That was the story in the first period. The Hurricanes controlled play most of the opening frame but one poor shift gave the Wild a 1-0 lead despite Carolina outshooting them 15-7 in the first 20 minutes.
Early in the first period, Wild defenseman Zach Bogosian cleared the puck from his own zone, and Canes defenseman Dmitry Orlov tried to stop the puck but missed. Orlov’s whiff allowed Minnesota center Marco Rossi to speed into Carolina’s zone while Minnesota center Yakov Trenin got behind the defense. Rossi put a pass right on the tape of Trenin’s stick and he had a one-on-one with goaltender Pyotr Kocketov. Trenin faked one way and went the other to give the Wild a 1-0 lead.
“I think we could’ve battled a little harder on that part to get a little second and third effort,” Blake said. “They’re so quick off of the rush. They had a lot of 2-on-1s and 3-on-2s tonight. We just can’t give those up.”
In the second period, Carolina had a prime opportunity to snatch the momentum back and tie the game up. With just under eight minutes left in the period, Minnesota defenseman Brock Faber was called for holding Blake on a breakaway, giving Blake a penalty shot.
On the attempt, Blake slowly made his way toward Minnesota goaltender Filip Gustavsson and had him beat with a fake shot but lost control of the puck, allowing Gustavsson to cover the puck before Blake could put one in the back of the net.
While Gustavsson most likely would’ve been beaten if Blake hadn’t lost the puck, he was on top of his game most of the night, stopping 37 of 38 shots with the only goal allowed coming when Carolina had an extra attacker. In the middle frame, Canes goaltender Frederik Andersen went save for save with Gustavsson as neither side scored.
But 49 seconds into the third period, the Wild doubled up its lead on what ended up being the game-winning goal. From just above the blue line, Minnesota defenseman Jared Spurgeon ripped a shot toward the net that center Vinnie Hinostroza tipped. Hinostroza’s tip careened off the right post and as Andersen tried to cover up the loose puck, he pushed it into the net, giving the Wild a 2-0 lead.
As they did in the first period after the Wild scored, the Hurricanes controlled the tempo, outshooting Minnesota 13-7 but the only time they could find the back of the net was when they put an extra attacker on the ice. With just under three minutes to go, center Seth Jarvis from just below the goal line made a no-look pass to center Sebastian Aho who ripped a shot past Gustavsson from the slot to make it 2-1.
Carolina continued to push, looking for the equalizer with three more shots on goal, but Gustavsson stonewalled all of them, giving Minnesota a 2-1 win and handing the Hurricanes their third straight loss.
“Tough night,” said head coach Rod Brind’Amour. “We definitely had enough opportunities to get more than one goal. Maybe we don’t win the game, but we certainly deserved to get something out of that. That’s kind of how it’s gone for us this whole year, to be honest with you.”
Next, the Hurricanes return to Raleigh to take on the Utah Hockey Club. Puck drop is set for 1 p.m. at Lenovo Center Saturday.
