Hurricanes vs. Islanders – The Recap

Last night, the Carolina Hurricanes welcomed the New York Islanders to the Lenovo Center for a Metropolitan Division tilt.  This would be the last game of the season against the Islanders – and with the Islanders just a couple points back of playoff positioning, I could only suspect that they (much like the Canadians two nights prior) would be hungry for a win, playing a little desperate. 

Most fans talking had the belief that this one would be a playoff clincher should we get a win over the Islanders – that, in fact, was not true.  We would still awaiting some unfinished business from the Blue Jackets after the game – if THEY lose another game and we win this one, then we would seal our playoff fate. 

Jordan Staal would be out of the line up tonight, so we would have to do work without the captain on the ice.  Tyson Jost would draw in on the 4^th line and Jesperi Kotkaniemi would draw into the Staal spot.  Jack Roslovic would center Hall and Svechnikov.

Below are my thoughts on the game:

• Pyotr Kochetkov played between the pipes during the game and had some decent saves during the game, but I could tell he was still fighting it some.  If tonight was some sort of dress rehearsal for some playoff starts, this likely wasn’t going to be the game that sealed that up for him.  He will have a couple more chances, but this one wasn’t his best outing.  I noted during the game that we’ll need to outscore them if we were to win.  That's never a good endorsement for the netminder.
• Kochetkov, however, didn’t really have the defensive support that the Hurricanes have provided over the last several games.  It was a sloppy game by the defense (except Jaccob Slavin – that dude is always doing the right thing).  Several turnovers by the defense trying to do too much east-to-west instead of direct north-south hockey.  It created a lot of transition chances for the Islanders.
• I have been raving about the 4^th line ever since the trade deadline deal to bring Mark Jankowski over – and tonight, he got the party started.  It all started with Jankowski retrieving a puck behind his own net and feeding it up to Jost, who one tapped it to Eric Robinson with speed.  Robinson was able to get it down the boards and stopped to create some space and await – wait for it – Mark Jankowski – with pace down the ice.  Robinson whipped the puck to Jankowski, and he buried it upstairs – 1-0 good guys.
• Not fifteen seconds later, Logan Stankoven made it 2-0 – Joran Martinook and Jesperi Kotkaniemi worked on the forecheck to get to the puck.  Martinook also did some great things on so many shifts behind the net, and in this instance, he found Stankoven in his office with a backhand to him at the near post.  This line played for about thirteen minutes and looked, overall, decent.  The Martinook/Stankoven combo looked good, generated some chances, kept the pressure up and played solid defensively.  
• The line combination of Svechnikov-Roslovic-Hall had me concerned early defensively.  While they were able to keep the puck in the attacking zone some, it just seemed as though any time Roslovic and his linemates were out there, they were hemmed up in their own end. 
• The Islanders played desperately, as I suspected, from the middle of the 1^st period until the middle of the 2^nd period, accounting for three tallies during that time.  The lowlights (from our perspective):
• Pierre Engvall got the Islanders on the board with speed that generated a 2-on-1.  Gostisbehere took out the passing lane, so Kochetkov needed to be positioned to stop the shot – instead, it goes 5-hole.  Sean Walker got caught in front of the puck off of a face-off – Still 2-1 us.
• Andrii Svechnikov got called for not one but two penalties in the 1^st period, one of which directly leading to a goal.  Kyle Palmeri buried it on a rebound we gave up.  This one wasn’t entirely on Kochetkov – he did need better rebound control, but we needed to seal up Palmeri.  2-2.
• Early in the 2^nd, Orlov had a giveaway at his blue line that leads to – you guessed it – a 2-on-1 breakaway.  Stop me if you heard this one – the defender took out the passing lane and Pierre Engvall buried it (this time top shelf, blocker side).  And just like that, it is 3-2 bad guys.
• At around this point, I noted that the Blake-Aho-Jarvis line needed to take over.  They were good out there, defending well and maintain possession a good bit during their shifts.  Blake drew the first power play of the game for us doing some heavy lifting down low.  But I was ready for this line to pounce – it seemed like this was the time of game when it happens.   And they didn’t disappoint because their next shift, they had a couple good looks and created some relentless pressure in the attacking end, maintaining possession throughout. It’s like they have a switch they can flip. 
• Special teams played a role in this one – the Canes started out on the power play early (Blaker drawing it).  Overall, the power play looked pretty good – I thought three of the four power plays generated several solid looks, we moved the puck around nicely and were moving our feet to get to different spots on the ice to create some angles towards the net.  Additionally, the net front presence was good most of the night but was noticeable on the power play – Jarvis, Blake, Kotkaniemi (who took one to the face early) and Stankoven all did some heavy lifting down low.  It’s nice to see it all come together some.  Finally – the entry into the zone – that has looked a thousand times better than it had just 10 games ago. 
• The one power play that didn’t really look that great was the one we scored the goal on.  Interestingly enough, we were out of sorts for about a minute to start that power play but ultimately was able to gain entry into the zone and set up – Blake retrieved a puck and sent it to Jarvis, who fed it to Aho and he buried the one timer.  I honestly liked the other three power plays better than this one, but this one is the one that counted.  Tied at 3.
• We had to kill off a couple penalties – five on the night.  One of which went in (outlined above), but we made up for it with 4 other kills and one shorthanded goal that gave us the lead again.  It started with Jaccob Slavin – because of course it does – who steals the puck and sent it up ice to Aho, who started in the opposing zone and eventually sent it up ice to Jarvis on a breakaway and he wound up burying it top shelf blocker side.  What a great shorthanded goal – but even better kill the rest of the way.  Did I mention it was a double minor that we had to kill off.  Kochetkov did have a few solid saves in that stretch.  One additional thing to note – Mark Jankowski played the lion's share of the kill where Jordan Staal would have played.  Such a good addition to the group.  After the kill, it is 4-3 good guys.
• A few things to note in the third period:
• Rod had moved Hall and Jost – making the Robinson-Jankowski-Hall line the defacto 2^nd line and the Svech-Roslovic-Jost the defacto 4^th line.  Robinson and Jankowski played well – Svechnikov wasn’t great – he took two penalties in the 1^st and didn’t really contribute in a way that a power forward should (bring some energy and some physicality dude).
• Anders Lee buried one and we were knotted at 4.  Brent Burns was the issue here – he has played well for several games in a row, but this one left more to be desired.  He did fine on the penalty kill and was OK over all – I need a bit more of the steady play that I have seen over the last few weeks.  A couple turnovers and a couple instances where he was beat.  Just overall underwhelming.
• Dimitri Orlov buried one to make it 5-4 good guys.  But make no mistake, Orlov was no good tonight.  He had plenty of issues defensively (noted above).
• The Islanders had a solid push for stretches, but we were able to hem them in and do what needed to be done.

After around the midway point in this one, it was clear that Blake-Aho-Jarvis needed to be on the ice more.  They were fantastic.  They played some hard, solid minutes of dominating hockey in our offensive end, one such opportunity generated clanged right off the far post by Aho and another one that was saved by their goaltender.  Blake was working hard in the middle of the ice out front.  So much to the good.  Eventually this line sealed things up – and it was a spectacular goal by Seth Jarvis that starts with him keeping a puck in at the offensive zone blue line and got it to Aho.  Jarvis then makes a dash to the net after his feed and Aho puts it right on the tape – a brilliant pass.  6-4 good guys, and that would be our final.

I'd prefer if we had played a little more soundly in net and defensively - the reality is, if we play like that in the playoffs, we're probably cooked.  I don’t really know what to do about the Svechnikov and Kotkaniemi conundrum.  KK has played well in stretches and we have seen Svechnikov do it over the years.  The fact remains, if they can’t get it done when it matters, then what is the point of having them.  I have been a firm Kotkaniemi defender – but his play has been bordering on lazy really ever since his "demotion" against the Predators (up to that point I thought had a pretty solid game).  I am not sure what to do in the short term, but in the long term, it might be worth finding a trade partner for him (and for Svechnikov – for better or worse). 

If I had to dole out 3 stars, it would be:  1^st – Jarvis – his goals were great, but his forecheck and defensive game were outstanding.  2^nd – Aho – he’s starting to find his groove at the right time – that’s 5 points in two games against two teams that are fighting for playoff position.  3^rd- Jaccob Slavin – he was awesome (as he is every night). 

Next up:  The Washington Capitals come to town on April 2.