The Carolina Hurricanes extended their win streak to eight games with a dominant 5-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins Thursday night at the Lenovo Center.
The Canes (10-2-0) made easy work of their Metropolitan Division rivals (5-8-2), handling the visiting team easily in a 5-1 win. The two teams have already met this season on Oct. 18 which saw a 4-2 Carolina win. With the win tonight, the Canes move to 2-0 in the series.
The star of the show for Carolina was goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov who got the start between the pipes and entered the game on a five-game win streak. Kotchetkov finished the night with a .972 save percentage and played almost 45 minutes of perfect hockey before allowing a goal.
“Nights like tonight, when we’re not all there, and he’s doing his thing, it’s nice to have him back there,” said left wing Jordan Martinook. “He’s been incredible, so kudos to him.”
It was a quick start for the Carolina offense, with Martinook getting the Canes on the board first only 52 seconds into the game. A cross-zone play from defenseman Jalen Chatfield and center Jordan Staal found the puck on Martinook’s tape who then snuck the rubber past Penguins netminder Alex Nedeljkovic — the Canes’ fastest goal of the season.
While the Penguins fired off shots quickly on Kochetkov, including a rocket from right wing Rickard Rakell, the visiting team couldn’t maintain any momentum in the Carolina zone thanks to the efforts of center Jack Drury and right wing Jackson Blake. The two forwards were blocking shots all night and breaking up any play the Penguins tried to get going.
“Those guys are establishing how they need to play together,” said head coach Rod Brind’Amour. “The second and third efforts, blocking shots, the little things, are the key saves and really the difference in the game.”
It was still in the first period when the Canes took a 2-0 lead courtesy of center Jack Roslovic. With a pass from center Sebastian Aho, Roslovic ripped a wrist shot to give Carolina a solid lead. Later in the period, the Penguins got the first man advantage on a high sticking call, which was in turn a double minor resulting in a Canes player being in the box for four minutes, but the Canes successfully killed the penalty.
Early in the second period, the Penguins got a second power play chance on a tripping call on right wing Andrei Svechnikov, but Kochetkov continued to make clutch saves on the Penguins’ scrappy plays once again allowing the Canes to kill the penalty.
Roslovic got his second goal of the game during the second frame, helping the Canes take a 3-0 lead, on an assist from Svechnikov who stretched his point streak to seven games. Before the buzzer sounded to signal the end of the period, defenseman Jaccob Slavin scored his first goal of the season with six minutes left to make it 4-0.
The Canes had an 8-0-0 record when leading after the second period and tonight they stretched that streak to nine games. Left wing Eric Robinson scored his third goal of the season to make it 5-0 Carolina and helped Chatfield secure his first-ever three-point night. The Penguins would score their singular goal thanks to center Blake Lizotte five minutes into the final frame, ruining Kotchekov’s chances at his first shutout of the season.
Next, Carolina is set to go on a three-game road trip, starting in Colorado on Saturday. Puck drop is set for 9 p.m.
