The Carolina Hurricanes were barely able to get a crucial win over Philadelphia on Thursday, March 9, eking out a 1-0 win with an abundance of help from goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov, who shut out the Flyers.
It was an important two points for the Canes (43-12-8), who defeated the Flyers (24-30-11) to extend their lead in the Metropolitan division.
Right wing Andrei Svechnikov was the lone goal scorer on the night, which he achieved via a power play just 2:09 into the first period. Svechnikov’s power play goal reflects how much the Hurricanes have been able to improve in this area — they are now up to 13th in the league on the power play after struggling for the majority of the season.
Although Carolina was able to score early in the contest, it struggled to get anything going for the rest of the game. The Hurricanes often got caught holding on to the puck for too long and couldn’t find each other in front of goal, and although the Canes made their own fair share of mistakes, credit has to be given to Philadelphia for playing an impressive defensive game. The Flyers’ players laid their bodies on the line, accumulating a total of 22 blocked shots throughout the game.
The one bright spot in the game came from the Hurricanes’ netminder Pyotr Kochetkov who earned his fourth-career NHL shutout in his first game since being called up from the Chicago Wolves earlier this week. The Flyers weren’t able to generate enough offense, as demonstrated by their lack of activity on the scoreboard, but Kochetkov made important saves to hold the lead for the Canes throughout the game.
Kochetkov’s improvement down in the AHL was evident from his play both in the net and with the puck on his stick. He looked calm and collected and wasn’t scrambling to make sure he was doing the right thing like he was earlier in the year. Kochetkov was able to move the puck around with confidence when under pressure and lead the Canes past the Flyers.
The Flyers were noticeably without defenseman Tony DeAngelo, who missed today’s game with a suspension after spearing Tampa Bay Lightning right wing Corey Perry below the belt in his last outing. DeAngelo, an ex-Hurricane, currently has the most points for a Flyers defenseman this season and his absence was clear as the Flyers lacked good chances in both on five-on-five and special teams situations.
Despite two shaky wins from the Canes in the past two games, they will look to extend their win streak to five when they take on the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday, March 11 at 7 p.m. in PNC Arena.
