The Carolina Hurricanes lost a crucial game on the West Coast, falling to the Vegas Golden Knights 3-2 on Wednesday, March 1. Although center Jordan Staal’s tying goal late in the third boded well for a potential comeback, Carolina failed to get off the ground in a high-stakes match.
“We had a great third period,” said head coach Rod Brind’Amour. “We did everything we had to do to get back in it there, and I think we gave up two or three shots the whole period. Unfortunately, we … went to sleep just for a second, and it’s in the back of your net. Tough — we had a good start to the game, a little low in the second.”
With the win, Vegas fended off a challenge from the Dallas Stars for first place in the Western Conference. Alternatively, Carolina’s spot atop the Metropolitan Division is now threatened by the New Jersey Devils, who captured a 7-5 win over the Colorado Avalanche earlier in the day.
The difference between a win and a loss for the Hurricanes was Vegas center Jack Eichel — Carolina gave him an inch, but he took a mile. Eichel scored the Golden Knights’ first two goals, both in the second frame, giving Vegas the go-ahead lead that propelled the team to victory in the final period.
In a fairly straightforward game — no penalties, except for a hooking call against center Martin Necas in the first frame — the Canes played inconsistently, bouncing up and down between sleepy, skillful and somewhere in between. Carolina didn’t produce a shot on goal in the second period until eight minutes in but totaled 11 shots in the third frame; the blue line skillfully killed off a power play but let Eichel score a breakaway goal to give Vegas the lead.
“There was just a lull in our game — we turned way too many pucks over,” Staal said. “They’re kind of on you, kind of not on you, and you think there’s a play, and then they do a good job of countering off of some soft plays.”
Game-tying goals by center Martin Necas and Staal kept Carolina neck-in-neck with the Golden Knights, but Vegas right wing Reilly Smith took advantage of the cracks in the Canes’ defense to put one past goaltender Frederik Andersen with 3:42 left to play. Andersen’s game wasn’t stellar, either — although the Hurricanes were iffy across the board, the Danish netminder boasts a meager 0.832 save percentage over his last two games.
Carolina didn’t go on the man advantage once in Wednesday night’s game, a point of contention for Caniacs and Brind’Amour himself.
“It’s five years of it,” Brind’Amour said. “I’m not complaining — just check the facts. … I mean, at some point, it’s gotta be even — that’s what they tell me. … It’s concerning, because you’ve got a game like this, a tight game. There was a couple there, for sure. But anyway, that’s not about this game. This game was just us giving their best player a little too much, and [we] can’t do that.”
The Hurricanes will continue their West Coast tour with another late-night match against the Arizona Coyotes. Puck drop is set for 9:30 p.m.
