The Carolina Hurricanes fell to the New Jersey Devils 5-3 in a disappointing midseason match on Tuesday, Jan. 10 at PNC Arena.
The loss marks the Hurricanes’ fourth-straight since snapping their 11-game win streak in New York on Jan. 3. With it, head coach Rod Brind’Amour and his team face a serious need for rehabilitation ahead of their upcoming inter-conference matchups against the Columbus Blue Jackets and Pittsburgh Penguins.
Although the loss can mostly be accredited to a shocking second-period comeback from the Devils, Carolina’s play went downhill after the first frame. A shorthanded goal from center Jesperi Kotkaniemi amid a well-played period from the Hurricanes gave reason for hope.
A 3-1 lead late in the second frame for the home team was pretty convincing, but goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov and Carolina’s defensive unit let two goals slip in 18 seconds, effectively shutting down any momentum the Canes had heading into the final period. After that shocking one-two punch from New Jersey to tie things up, the Hurricanes put up a measly four shots on goal in the third frame.
“That last minute killed us, there was no doubt, but we didn’t respond in the third,” Brind’Amour said. “It was a great two periods — playing a really, really good team and I felt like we just didn’t get anything out of it… I don’t know if we even had a really good scoring chance in the third.”
Carolina was rusty all around — from Kochetkov’s spotty performance, to defenseman Dylan Coghlan’s slip-ups, to an empty-net goal in the last minute to really add insult to injury, Brind’Amour’s crew just didn’t look good after a strong first-frame showing. Granted, there were some questionable calls in New Jersey’s favor from time to time, but you can’t blame a four-goal run on poor officiating.
“We’ve done a better job responding to stuff like that than we did in that third,” said center Jordan Staal. “We had a chance to get back in the game and win, and we kind of fell flat in that third period.”
The Hurricanes will look to their next game on Thursday, Jan. 12 against the Columbus Blue Jackets as a potential comeback match. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.
