So apparently the Hurricanes still thought the preseason had six games and the regular season had 82 games?
The first two games of 26-27 had all the hallmarks of the Canes still trying to warm up to the regular season, with a flat offensive showing on both sides against Florida and just a total domination by Washington. It wasn’t really until the last two games that we saw real shades of the team that won the Stanley Cup last year, and arguably it’s taken until game four for us to point to the team and say
“THAT is a team that can contend for the Cup.”
Caveats galore apply of course. Without Seth Jarvis out there the team is skating down a pretty important piece and is still trying to figure out how to fill it. Right now it seems as if they’ve settled on Jesperi Kotkaniemi filling in the role with William Carrier playing with Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov. That chemistry is going to take time, and this team also is well aware of just how long of a marathon the regular season is, and how healthy they need to be in order to win it all.
One who is seemingly playing like the weight of the world is off his shoulders is Sebastian Aho. One of the big storylines of the Stanley Cup was how Aho wasn’t putting up the points like a team’s star player should, and while Rod Brind’Amour would say he contributed in other ways—and he did—at some point someone who’s effectively skating as the Center on the top line should have the stats to back up the position.
Now, though, you wonder if the weight of the world had been on him for so long and lifting the Cup in June actually lifted that weight right off. He’s scored a goal in three straight games, has three points in each of the two wins, and has been playing with a much more aggressive shoot-first mentality. Honestly, if we think about it we saw just how much weight had come off him during the celebration when he led the crowd in the Jordan Staal chant. He was just so happy, and now that he’s not only won the Cup for Raleigh that he wanted to win, he’s also not having to carry the burden of representing his country in a competition this season. Remember, he was a focal point of the Four Nations in 2025 before the Olympics last year. All that is gone now.
What does this mean when a fully healthy Seth Jarvis returns and hops back into the lineup? You’re allowed to get excited thinking about it. Speaking of which, that day may be closer than we all thought. At today’s Morning Skate he was out of the yellow non-contact jersey and in a white jersey. He still skated as an extra, but it would appear as if he’s close to getting back in the lineup. Here’s hoping he’s not hopping into it before he’s ready as he’s nursed that shoulder for two years, and it’s a long season.
As expected after a couple wins in a row, no changes for the Canes except in net as the rotation continues:
Tonight, the Hurricanes finally take a break from playoff rematches by welcoming the Vancouver Canucks into Raleigh, Carolina as the Canucks social media called it. Vancouver didn’t really have any aspirations about making the playoffs this season, as they’ve seemingly embraced the rebuild. They are 2-2-0 on the young season, but that also includes a truly bonkers game against Edmonton that finished as a 9-7 Oilers win. That one followed a 6-5 OT win against those Oilers, and then they followed that by scoring four goals against Calgary in a win before losing to Vegas this past Sunday, all at home.
We’ll see after Vancouver’s morning skate, but expect Leevi Meriläinen to get the start in net. He last played in their win against Calgary, only surrendering one goal, and also only gave up one goal when he came in for Kevin Lankinen against Edmonton.
Yes, your math is right, Lankinen gave up eight goals. To be fair he rebounded pretty well against Vegas, only surrendering three and earning a more respectable .893 save percentage. Still, expect fellow Finn Meriläinen to start as he’s been the stronger of the two and hasn’t played since Saturday. Vancouver’s road trip has them playing six games in ten days all up and down the east coast, so they’ll be using both.
So in all this Vancouver team has scored 19 goals in just four games so far this season. A full seventeen players on the roster have at least one point on the season. Two have six! Six players have at least four points, compared to just two for the Hurricanes. They are setting up for another high-scoring game, but keep in mind how Vegas was able to shut them down to just two goals. If Carolina plays their game they should be able to limit opportunities against a rested Canucks team.
Unless anything changes here’s what to look for in terms of the lines:
If you aren’t going to be in Raleigh tonight to watch the game, here’s how you can catch the action:
Time: 7 PM Eastern
Location: Lenovo Center—Raleigh, NC
TV: Hurricanes Hockey Network. Hanna Yates and Shane Willis handle the pregame duties at 6:30, and then Mike Maniscalco handles play-by-play with Tripp Tracy providing color—we’re still waiting for the NHL and DirectTV to work out whatever it is holding up them getting this channel on there.
Streaming Video: Hurricanes Hockey Network on Prime Video in the Hurricanes Footprint. Outside you’ll need to use the ESPN app and have at least an ESPN Select subscription, which comes with ESPN Ultimate.
Radio: The pregame Storm Watch with Adam Gold on 99.9 The Fan starts at 6:30 PM, At 7 PM the Hurricanes Radio Network (consisting of 99.9, 730 The Game in Charlotte, ESPN New Bern 107.5/1490, and ESPN Greenville 107.5/1570) will pick up the Mike Maniscalco and Tripp Tracy HHN simulcast.
Lines: (Per DraftKings) Hurricanes -325, -1.5 (-125) /Canucks +260, +1.5 (+105). O/U 6.5 -102/-118
