The Carolina Hurricanes traveled from Raleigh to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in their 19th road game of the season — the most road games so far of all teams in the NHL. Despite winning a game against the reigning Stanley Cup champions two days prior, the Canes fell 2-1 to the Penguins in a tough shootout matchup.
Carolina (17-12-4) put up an even performance against Pittsburgh (15-13-3) with both teams finishing with 24 and 25 shots on goal, respectively. Canes netminder, Pyotr Kochetkov, got the start in the Steel City, just four days after fellow Carolina goaltender Annti Raanta was assigned to the AHL. Kochetkov put on a stellar performance, stopping 24 of the 25 shots he faced and putting up a .960 save percentage.
The first period started off quickly for Carolina’s offense, with the team making quick work to move the puck into the Penguins zone. Pittsburgh netminder Alex Nedeljikovic robbed center Jesperi Kotkaniemi on a glove-hand save five minutes into the game, stopping his first of four Carolina shots throughout the first frame.
Despite a quick start from the Hurricanes, the Penguins got on the board first courtesy of center Sidney Crosby. Right wing Rakard Rakell received the puck from left wing Jake Guentzel and fired a behind-the-back pass to Crosby, who snuck the rubber past Kochetkov to put the home team on the scorecard.
With both offenses slowing down by the end of the first period, momentum was hard to build heading into the second frame. Pittsburgh quickly got some energy back on a brief power play five minutes into the period but were unable to build onto their lead. With 13 seconds left on the man advantage, defenseman Kris Letang fired a shot that was quickly picked up by Kochetkov, keeping the Canes in the game.
It took 35 minutes for the Canes to get on the board, scoring their first goal with five minutes left in the second period. A shot by defenseman Jaccob Slavin was deflected wide by Nedeljkovic but was picked up by center Jack Drury, who slipped a pass to center Teuvo Teravainen. Teravainen, now with 12 goals on the season, made a lucky bounce past the Penguins’ netminder to tie the game at 1-1.
The third period went by with little fanfare from either roster. Both goalies made incredible saves to keep their teams in the game, but the offensive drive was not there. Even in overtime, the rosters could not finish the game in sudden-death play.
With neither team finishing the game in overtime, the game moved to a shootout. While typically rare in the NHL, the shootout has been common for the Hurricanes, who have now played in three shootouts so far this season and have lost two of the three. The Canes have now lost three of their past four games that have gone past regulation time, creating a pattern of dropping when the moments count more than ever.
All three Carolina players who went out for the shootout — Teravainen, right wing Andrei Svechnikov and right wing Stefan Noesen — missed their respective goals. Crosby scored the one goal needed for the Penguins to secure the win.
After traveling back to Raleigh, the Hurricanes play against the New York Islanders, looking to head into the holidays with a win. The matchup starts at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 23 at PNC Arena.
