Ethan Rimolt
Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Brent Burns looks to pass the puck during the game against the Boston Bruins in PNC Arena on Sunday, Jan. 29, 2023. The game marked Burns' 1300th career game. The Hurricanes beat the Bruins 4-1.
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.