The Carolina Hurricanes appear to be an unstoppable force right now. Defeating the Ottawa Senators 7-2 on a Sunday-night showdown, the red-and-black have won six of their last seven games. Twelve Canes players tallied a point throughout the matchup, with six from that group getting two or more. Defenseman Dimitri Orlov led the team with four points off of two goals and two assists.
Carolina (42-20-6) came into the game riding momentum from a late-game surge while playing Toronto a day earlier. Winning that matchup in a shootout — won by trade deadline acquisition left winger Jake Guentzel — the Canes played like a whole new team on the ice. The Senators (28-34-4) on the other hand are still recovering from a seven-game losing streak that stretched throughout late February to mid-March.
It was a memorable night for Guentzel, who scored his first regulation goal in a Carolina uniform. After joining the team less than 10 days ago, the Nebraska native has already etched himself as a crucial part of the lineup. Against the Senators he tallied one point and one assist, and he now has five points in four games since joining the Hurricanes.
The defense shined for Carolina on both offense and their puck protection plays. Five out of the six defenseman on the roster tallied a point in the matchup, with Brett Pesce being the odd man out of the group. Orlov got the Canes on the scorecard first with a wrist shot seven minutes into the game. Taking on Ottawa netminder Anton Forsburg, Orlov cruised down the ice into the Senator’s zone with no defenders on him to make it 1-0 in favor of Carolina.
Ottawa got on the board in the first period as well, courtesy of a wrist shot from defenseman Thomas Chalbot, and tied the matchup 1-1 heading into the first intermission. It took long into the second period for Carolia to take the lead back.
Center Evgeny Kuznetzov — another trade deadline addition — scored two minutes into the period to bring the score to 2-1 in Carolina’s favor. In his six games played in the Hurricanes uniform, Kuznetzov has tallied four points and won the hearts of Caniacs across the league.
Ottawa got the game tied up against two minutes later, but a goal from center Seth Jarvis with less than 30 seconds left in the frame got Carolina back up 3-2. The snapshot that breezed past Forsburg was Jarvis’ 23rd goal of the year and was assisted by center Sebastian Aho and Guentzel, who have 45 and 34 assists on the year, respectively.
It was in the third period where the Hurricanes really took off, scoring four goals through 20 minutes of play. Defenseman Jalen Chatfield got the goal party started with a wrist shot less than five minutes into the frame, and was quickly followed by Orlov’s second goal of the night three minutes later. Even being up 5-2, the Canes did not take their foot off the break and put two more goals into the net.
Guentzel’s goal was next. Caught in a one-on-one battle with Senator defenseman Artem Zub, Guentzel worked his stick to let off a snapshot past Forsburg and bring his season total to 23 goals and the score to 6-2. Finally, left wing Brendan Lemuix got on the scorecard and brought the final score to 7-2.
The Canes look to keep this hot streak going, taking on the New York Islanders on Tuesday, March 19. Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m.
