The Carolina Hurricanes continued their winning ways with a 3-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday night at the Lenovo Center. The win gives Carolina an NHL best 11-2-2 record. They have won 11 of their last 13 games.
Pyotr Kochetkov earned the win with a 24 save performance in net. His 9-0-0 record so far this season is now the best start for a goalie in franchise history, surpassing Freddie Andersen’s 8-0-0 record previously. He has a GAA of 1.66 and save percentage of .919.
The home
team got off to a hot start and dominated play for the most part in the first period. They double-upped shots on goal, 16-8 and finally were able to get one past Jet Greaves when Jordan Martinook took a pass from Seth Jarvis and fired it on net. The puck was deflected but went in.
The Canes jumped to a 2-0 lead in the second after Nikolaj Ehlers found Logan Stankoven in the slot area. Stankoven buried his patented quick release shot to give him 9 goals already this season.
Early in the third period, Jarvis won a puck battle behind the net, then fed Mark Jankowski in front to make it 3-0. Jankowski now has seven goals this season, all in the last eight games.
The rest of the period was a bit of a fiasco as the Hurricanes took penalty after penalty. The Jackets outshot the Canes, 11-6 in this stanza. They scored their first of the game on a shot from the point, then had a puck bounce in the net off a skate to make it 3-2.
Jarvis broke in alone but was tripped when Charlie Coyle dove from behind him. It seemed like an obvious penalty shot, but alas, it was just a tripping penalty. Neither team scored on the ensuing 4 on 4.
The home team tightened up and held on the rest of the way to preserve the win.
The Hurricanes have Friday off and will return to practice on Saturday to prepare for their next match on Sunday afternoon at home against Winnipeg.
Game Summary – https://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20262027/GS020206.HTM
Event Summary – https://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20262027/ES020206.HTM
Interviews – https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/2qk3v0snit2lmuxgw6gvm/AN5ZZA0JVmP3hd6wuC5JZYk?rlkey=vymwm7gxrtdqv7z04nhohgs85&st=rtzakdve&e=1&dl=0
