On the second night of a back-to-back, the Hurricanes cruised past the Sharks 3-0 thanks to a hat trick from left wing Teuvo Teravainen, his third of his career. From start to finish the Canes dominated possession, outshooting San Jose 40-20.
Carolina (5-4-0) earned a massive win over San Jose (0-7-1) as it climbed back over 0.500. It was a showcase of Finnish talent tonight as center Sebastian Aho recorded two assists, goaltender Antti Raanta recorded his 20th career shutout and of course Teravainen’s hat trick.
“We felt like we needed to come home, play a couple of strong games here and get back on track,” Teravainen said.
Fan-favorite right wing Andrei Svechnikov made his first appearance for the Canes since March 11th, 2023 when he suffered a season-ending ACL injury. Every time he appeared on screen, the Caniacs cheered, happy to have him back.
“First couple of shifts, it was kind of nervous excitement and all that stuff, but after a couple shifts I was fine,” Svechnikov said.
Based on the way he played, it would have been hard to tell he missed any time at all. A 91 MPH wrist shot in the second period proved his shot wasn’t rusty at all.
“He was great,” said head coach Rod Brind’Amour. “He looked like he didn’t miss a beat. He’s the type of player that you notice every time he’s out there. Every shift he did something, a couple great passes, he could’ve had a goal for sure.”
Carolina got back to putting the pressure on early and started to pepper Sharks goalie Kaapo Kahkonen with shots on goal. Although Kahkonen was holding his ground early on, the Canes’ persistent pressure would eventually prove too much.
On the power play, center Seth Jarvis found Teravainen at the back post where his shot just fluttered in to break the 0-0 tie. The Jarvis-Teravainen connection was strong all night as the two found each other for two goals throughout the game.
It didn’t take long for Svechnikov to reacquaint himself with the referees as he got sent to the penalty box midway through the first period for a massive hit. Although a questionable call, the Russian served his two minutes.
Svechnikov was all over the ice making plays and physically punishing the Sharks. Laying hits like those is a key element to his game and for a Hurricanes team that doesn’t hit very much they were glad to see him back to his old ways.
“Oh yeah I love it. I missed [using the shoulder] that’s my game” Svechnikov said.
The second goal of the game came later in the first when defenseman Dmitry Orlov wired a cross-ice pass to Teravainen who slapped a one-timer, giving the San Jose goalie no chance at making a save.
“He’s got a great shot,” Brind’Amour said. “Over the years, [we’ve] wanted him to shoot more, you can see it tonight obviously he can score”.
A goal-less second frame was partly due to the show-stopping saves that both goaltenders were making. After a shaky start to the season, Raanta looked refreshed flashing the glove over and over.
Despite the shutout, Raanta wasn’t entirely pleased with his performance as he looks to shake off some early mistakes from the road trip and improve going forward.
“I don’t think that was the best I can be, there’s still some things I can do better, but you take what you get, move on and keep working” Raanta said.
The final goal of the game came 6:06 into the final period when Jarvis connected with Teravainen at the back post, roofing the puck into the back of the net. As the hats adorned the ice even Teravainen couldn’t hold back a smile.
The past two games have been the best stretch of hockey that Carolina has played all season. By staying out of the box for the most part the Canes could establish their forecheck which created opportunities for everyone in the lineup.
The Hurricanes will get a couple of days of rest before they travel to Philadelphia to take on the Flyers (4-2-1) on October, 30th at 7:00 p.m.
