Hurricanes at Islanders - The Recap

The Carolina Hurricanes entered the evening riding a four-game winning streak and they put that streak on the line tonight against the New York Islanders.  The vibes were already good heading into the weekend but were made even better by the additions on Friday night of Mikko Rantanen and Taylor Hall.  It was a move that most were surprised at, but in the end seemed to make sense. 

Raleigh, of course, was buzzing and was looking forward to seeing their new stars in action.  My questions heading into the game were how the lines would be situated and then if we could ensure a fast start to not get behind the 8-ball early, as we have in so many games recently.  If we could stay away from chasing the game, it could provide an opportunity for us to get some much-needed ice time with the new members of the team and the re-vamped lines that were put together in advance of the game without the pressure of coming from behind.

Below are my thoughts on the game:

• Many were speculating prior to the game about what the line combinations would look like, specifically that top line.  This is how Rod settled on everything:
• Blake-Aho-Rantanen
• Martinook-Staal-Jarvis
• Svechnikov-Kotkaniemi-Robinson
• Hall-Jaaska-Roslovic
• Some notes on the line combinations:
• As you can probably guess, I was beyond excited to see Jackson Blake keep his spot in the top line.  He’s really done an admirable job playing a 200-foot game, and I think it is admirable that Rod honored that.
• I know that Svechnikov and Kotkaniemi have played together some in the past and, if memory serves, they had decent chemistry when playing together.  Add Eric Robinson to that mix, who has seemed to make all his line-mates look better this season, and that is a pretty formidable line.
• The Staal line, as expected, stayed put for the time being.  Some were asking for Jarvis to move around on another line, but this seemed to make sense to see some already created chemistry after seeing all the new faces inserted.
• I think overall Rod will have some options on how he will want to deploy the forwards up and down the line-up.
• I thought it was cool that Mikko Rantanen and Jack Roslovic came to an agreement on the number 96 (Jack made the switch to 98).  Taylor Hall also reached out to the injured Jesper Fast to get the go-ahead to wear 71
• The Canes had some early jump, where we saw all the lines in action over the first 5 minutes of the game.  In particular, the Jaaska and KK lines looked solid, getting good chances and working hard to get on the puck early.
• The first goal of the game came on a great feed from Jesperi Kotkaniemi in the defensive end to Jack Roslovic who was darting through the zone on a partial line change, and he buried the puck top shelf to make it 1-0 early.  The play started with a 3-on-2 the other way for the Islanders, but Kotkaniemi got back in time to insert himself in the play, finishing off a shift with a seed on an outlet pass to Roslovic – the KK story continues.
• Less than 90 seconds later, our top line enters the plus column, starting with a pinch in the offensive zone by Jalen Chatfield, who fed down low to Sebastian Aho.  Seabass then found Rantanen and sent a pass his way, which ricocheted off an Islanders skate right through the five hole and into the back of the net.  The puck never reached Rantanen.  2-0 good guys.
• Pyotr Kochetkov has been solid throughout this game, calmly saving several high danger opportunities once the Islanders got to their game.  The two goals that were given up in regulation were a redirect off Sean Walker as he was coming across to stay on his man and a rebound opportunity after a solid save.  On that goal, Anders Lee beat Jaccob Slavin to the spot and tipped it in.  I generally liked the way PK played in this game, the 100^th game of his career.
• Jesperi Kotkaniemi was noticeable in good ways again tonight.  In addition to the primary assist on the Roslovic goal, he had some great shifts backchecking and forechecking and was sent to the box for a five-minute fighting major.  He came to the defense of Andrii Svechnikov on what looked to be a trip high (near the knees) by JG Pageau.  One thing that wasn’t his best effort – face-offs (which was a theme).  He was 1-8 at the face-off dot.
• Taylor Hall bounced around a couple lines tonight but finished with Kotkaniemi and Svechnikov.  That line looked great in the 3^rd period – Hall and Svechnikov seemed to feed off each other and had good chances.  In addition to the speed of Hall, he has a larger frame and really positioned his body well to maintain puck possession.
• I don’t usually comment on the intermission reports, but I thought Eric Tulsky talking through the trade, the departure of Necas and Drury and the situation being different with Rantanen than it was with Jake Guentzel last season was great.  It is nice that he is out in front of it and is looking ahead to our future.
• I thought Jaaska had good shifts tonight, winning some face-offs for us and getting some good minutes in with Jack Roslovic as a primary line-mate.
• The power-play looked decent – we didn’t score on the one opportunity we had, but did have some good chances.  With a 20% change in personnel on both units, we shouldn’t expect a ton in their first game.  That said, both Hall and Rantanen looked the part, and I’d expect them to be high-level contributors on each unit.
• I thought from about the halfway point of the first period until the end of the second period, the Islanders really took it to us.  They had several chances, which PK was up to the task in saving, but the big story was their advantage in the face-off circle.  At one point in the 3^rd period, the Islanders had a 71/29 advantage.  This is very unlike the Hurricanes, but the Islanders do own one of the best face-off groups in the league. 
• I don’t intend to make all these blogs Jackson Blake lovefests, but that dude looked every bit the part of a top line winger.  He was someone consistently a menace on the defensive end and in the right places on the offensive side of things alongside Aho and Rantanen.  For Rod to keep him in the top line grouping is a testament to how much he has grown this season, but also the teams trust in his 200-foot game.  Additionally, his IQ continues to grow with each game.
• More on the top line, the Rantanen-Aho-Blake line got progressively more comfortable together through the game.  By the third period, this line was buzzing around the ice and creating chances.  The third period was our best period by far, and I’d argue that this line had our best chances.
• The Staal line didn’t really get much going throughout the game, being pestered by the Islanders top line of Lee-Horvat-Barzal. 
• In the third, New York tied it at 2 –Anders Lee collected the puck when he beat Slavin to the net and ultimately sent a rebound tip over Kochetkov.  None of this happens if we win the face-off in our own end.  It’s been a story – the face-off draws have not gone anywhere near our favor.  The added element to this is that the draw in our zone is because of a high stick poke out by Brent Burns that we touched up which led to a defensive zone draw.
• The game winner was a Brock Nelson goal – it started with a great play by Andrii Svechnikov behind the net in his offensive zone to turn over the Islanders, but he proceeded to turn it over behind our net on what Tripp Tracy described as a ‘hope play’ pass to try beat two Islanders to get the puck out to Shayne Gostisbehere.  We must value puck possession there.  Of course, the Islanders regain possession and down the ice they go on a 2-on-1 breakaway.  Game, set, match.

In the end, after being up 2-0 early, we squandered a lead and ultimately lost 3-2 in a game where we never really got to our game.  Credit to New York for absolutely obliterating us in the face-off circle.  One thing to note – Rantanen and Hall got better and appeared to be more comfortable by the 3^rd period.  Both were buzzing – Hall being promoted to get more ice time and Rantanen starting to click some with Aho and Blake.  In a game where we didn’t know what we would have with our chemistry, we at least walked away with a point. 

Up Next:  We stay in New York and head to MSG to take on the Rangers.