The Carolina Hurricanes put on a power play clinic in Columbus, Ohio on Saturday, Oct. 23 as they disposed of the Blue Jackets in a 5-1 victory. Columbus spent 12 minutes in the penalty box and the Canes made them pay by scoring on three of their six power plays.

Carolina (4-0-0) spread the puck out well with four different goal-scorers including centers Vincent Trocheck and Jordan Staal, who both scored their first of the season. Both of their goals came on the power play, where the Canes’ unit shined over the course of the game, and Trocheck secured his second goal to give his squad a 5-1 lead over Columbus (3-2-0) in the third period.

“[My teammates are] gonna make things happen on every shift, every time they have the puck,” Trocheck said. “So for me, it’s just a matter of playing simple. Get to the net and watch them do their thing.”

Even though he didn’t score, right wing Andrei Svechnikov still found ways to make his mark on the game. In addition to assisting both of Trocheck’s goals, Svech went up and over with the puck while attempting to extend Carolilna’s lead. The goal was disallowed, however, because Svechnikov’s stick went above the net during the shot.

The Hurricanes seemed to take their foot off the gas in the second period and allowed the Blue Jackets to creep back into the game. A hooking call against defender Tony DeAngelo at the 6:45 mark and a holding call against defender Brett Pesce just 23 seconds later gave Columbus a 5-on-3 power play. The Blue Jackets utilized this chance to score their only goal of the game.

Conversely, the Canes put the game out of reach with a pair of power play goals, one coming late in the second period when center Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Pesce set up Staal’s goal and the other center, Sebastian Aho, scored the Canes’ third power play goal just over seven minutes into the third period.

With the exception of when they were two men down, the Canes didn’t make things easy on goalkeeper Frederick Andersen, coughing up the puck in inopportune places and giving the Blue Jackets chances to score. Despite this sloppiness, Andersen stepped up again to the tune of 27 saves.

“He’s been phenomenal,” Trocheck said. “He’s kept us in all these games where we’ve had a lot of flurries in the defensive zone.”

Andersen and the Canes will head back to Raleigh to defend their perfect record against Andersen’s former team, the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday, Oct 25 at 7 p.m. It remains to be seen whether Andersen will face off against his ex-teammates.

“He might play, we’ve got to think about it,” said head coach Rod Brind’Amour. “We’ll assess everything tomorrow, where everybody’s at, and then go from there.