The Carolina Hurricanes eked out a fittingly thrilling win on Halloween, overcoming an early 1-0 deficit to defeat a scrappy Arizona Coyotes squad 2-1 on Sunday, Oct. 31 in PNC Arena.
With right wing Nino Niederreiter out due to injury, center Seth Jarvis, the Cane’s first round pick in 2020, made an immediate impact in his NHL debut. A critical power play in the third period saw Carolina score the go-ahead goal while Jarvis was on the ice.
“In the first shift, I was like ‘holy crap, I’m in the NHL,’” Jarvis said. “But after that I calmed my emotions and it was just another hockey game.”
The game-winning goal was the only power play goal of the game. Despite eight power plays between the two teams.
With 2:44 left in the third period, Jakob Chychrun got called for cross-checking right wing Andrei Svechnikov, giving the Canes their fifth power play of the afternoon. Just 17 seconds later, defender Brett Pesce sent a rocket towards the net that got past Coyotes goalkeeper Karel Vejmelka to give Carolina a 2-1 lead.
The Canes only found themselves in a tie game late in regulation because the Coyotes came to Raleigh ready to play. Even though Arizona remains winless on the season, head coach Rod Brind’Amour knew that his squad would have to fight for every puck if they wanted to win.
“It was obviously a tough game,” Brind’Amour said. “[Arizona] played really hard. Coming into this game, it almost worked out exactly how we said it was gonna. … We’re going to have to grind. They play hard, that was clearly evident from the start.”
The Canes had plenty of chances to put themselves on the board in the first two periods, but a tenacious Arizona defense and a solid outing from Vejmelka kept Carolina in check for quite a while. Arizona blocked 23 shots and laid out 28 hits throughout the game, and Vejmelka stepped up early and often when the Hurricanes created scoring chances.
As fate would have it, center Martin Necas broke the seal on the Coyotes’ net in the second period. Necas and Vejmelka were teammates on HC Kometa Brno in the Czech Extraliga in the 2016-2017 season.
“I was telling him during one break… that he’s gonna let me let me score one,” Necas said. “He’s playing really good; it was great to see him there.”
Although Svechnikov’s point streak came to an end, peaking at seven games, the Hurricanes remain in high spirits after sweeping a four-game homestand.
“Especially our team, especially right now, we’re oozing confidence,” Pesce said. “We believe that we can win every game we’re in, so I think that’s a big factor.”
The Canes now hit the road for their second matchup this season against the Chicago Blackhawks. Puck drop is set for 8:30 p.m. ET on Nov. 3.
