After dropping the first of two games on a Western Conference road trip, the Hurricanes looked to rebound with a win over a struggling Calgary squad. But after scoring two goals within the first 10 minutes of the game, the Canes gave up three unanswered goals in the third period and dropped their third game in a row by a score of 3-2.
Following this unanticipated loss, Carolina (14-11-1) has fallen to fourth place in the Metropolitan division. Calgary (11-12-3) stuck with it throughout the entire game and it paid dividends in the final frame. Flames goaltender Dustin Wolf made just his third career NHL start and stopped 28 of 30 shots on goal.
In the second game of an Alberta back-to-back, the Canes looked to improve their performance after losing to Edmonton 6-1 the night before. At the start of the first period, Carolina jumped off to a much better start and played with a lot more energy. It was clear there was an increase in effort to win the puck battles along the boards and get a net-front presence.
An established net-front presence is what got the Hurricanes their only two goals of the night. Off of a won faceoff draw, defenseman Jaccob Slavin shot the puck from just below the blue line, and right wing Stefan Noesen deflected it past Wolf. It only took the Canes a little over two minutes to find the back of the net.
Six minutes later, center Martin Necas snagged a loose puck in the offensive zone and put the itpuck on a tee for defenseman Dmitry Orlov. As Orlov unleashed a 95 mph clap-bomb from the point, left wing Michael Bunting got to the net and redirected the puck past Wolf to double the Canes’ lead in under 10 minutes.
For the rest of the first and into the second period, both teams failed to get anything on the scoresheet. Each team struggled to develop sustained pressure in the offensive zone as the puck got stuck in the neutral zone, giving each other little space to work with. The Flames had a few power play opportunities but nothing came of them as the Canes continue to improve in that area of special teams.
Canes goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov got his second-straight start of the road trip and looked determined to close this game out after getting pulled six minutes into the game the night before. He looked more composed and wasn’t giving up as many rebounds, but he still had multiple close calls while handling the puck — including one time he froze the puck on top of the back of the net.
Once the third period began, the game started to unravel for Carolina and Calgary pressed the attack. Off a face-off in the Carolina zone, Bunting got turned around and lost Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson open at the back post six minutes into the period.
Just 1:21 later, Calgary tied the game at two apiece courtesy of center Connor Zary. DueThanks to some tired legs from the Canes, Calgary got a breakaway that Kochetkov appeared to save but the puck squeaked through his pads and Zary poked it home for his fifth of the season. In the blink of an eye, the Hurricanes went from having a two-goal lead to being knotted up at two.
Center Sebastian Aho drew the Flames’ only penalty of the game right at the halfway mark of the period and gave Carolina the man advantage. Instead of using this opportunity to reclaim the lead, the Hurricanes gave up a shorthanded breakaway chance to center Blake Coleman, who wristed it past the glove of Kochetkov. Coleman’s score makes seven shorthanded goals the Canes have allowed this season, the most in the NHL.
Carolina will look to get back in the win column on Saturday, Dec. 10 when they take on the Vancouver Canucks (17-9-1) at 10 p.m.
