No tricks, all treats: How Hurricanes battered Bruins to win fifth in a row

Chip Alexander, The News & Observer on Oct 31, 2024

Published in Hockey

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RALEIGH, N.C. — There were seven power plays and three power-play goals. There were three goals scored in 52 seconds. There were two players celebrating the same goal, five goals in all and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty called on Carolina Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour.

And all that in the first period.

After spending six games on the road, the Hurricanes were finally back home at Lenovo Center on Thursday, facing the Boston Bruins — and treating the home fans to an 8-2 victory.

The Canes (7-2-0) stopped taking penalties, starting scoring goals and kept it rolling, winning a fifth consecutive game.

Andrei Svechnikov scored twice. Jack Roslovic scored twice, Svechnikov assisting on the first goal. Martin Necas, consistently productive on the road trip. had a goal and three assists for his third career four-point game.

That made for a mostly stress-free night for goalie Pyotr Kochetkov, who picked up his fourth win of the season. Now in line for a lot of work with injured goalie Frederik Andersen expected to be out for a few weeks, the Russian netminder faced just 16 shots.

In the wild, wild first, Svechnikov scored on the power play, Dmitry Orlov at even strength and Necas on the power play. All came in a 52-second span. It was 4-1 Canes after the first.

In a weirdly fun sequence, Orlov’s goal had the defenseman and rookie forward Jackson Blake both raising their sticks and skating in opposite directions. Orlov got off a shot from the left circle that came close to glancing off Blake’s stick in front. Blake may have thought so, judging from his reaction, but the official scorer stuck with Orlov.

In the opening period, Canes fans were howling in anger about penalties called against the home team and then celebrating penalties called against the Bruins and Carolina power-play goals.

Boston (4-6-1) came to the Lenovo Center off a listless 2-0 shutout loss to Philadelphia that had Bruins coach Jim Montgomery asking more from his team — a lot more. He could not have liked much that he saw Thursday as the Bruins dropped their fifth game in the last six (1-4-1).

Boston forward Brad Marchand, never a popular guy in Raleigh, scored on a 5-on-3 advantage in the first period before Brind’Amour went off on the refs. His team also played with fire after that.

Hampus Lindholm scored early in the second to make it 4-2. But the Canes, still energized after winning five of six on the road, had too much jump, too much firepower this night in their first home game since Oct. 15.

After Lindholm’s score, Svechnikov and Roslovic each picked up their second goals of the night for a 6-2 lead. Svechnikov poked in a loose puck on a power play, then Roslovic ended the night for Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman with 10:28 left in the period as Joonas Korpisalo took over in net.

After Jordan Martinook won the puck on a forecheck battle, Roslovic had an open shot and did not miss. A free-agent signee, the forward has six goals in nine games.

Defenseman Sean Walker, another player acquired in free agency, notched his first goal of the season, and first with the Canes, in the third.

After Thursday’s morning skate, Brind’Amour updated the lower-body injury to Andersen, and it was not positive. Brind’Amour called the injury “week to week.”

“That’s a little more time than I was hoping,” Brind’Amour said.

That also meant it would be Kochetkov’s net, for the most part, until Andersen returns. At 25, the Russian goaltender is seemingly poised to push Andersen for the No. 1 slot in net and now has a chance to get a lot of work early in the season.

“I think he really wanted that, so we’ll see how it all works out,” Brind’Amour said. “He’ll be getting a good run out of it.”

Andersen played Saturday at Seattle, picking up the win, but came up a “little gimpy,” according to Brind’Amour. Kochetkov was in net Monday for the 4-3 overtime win at Vancouver in the final game of the trip.

The Canes quickly recalled goalie Spencer Martin from the Chicago Wolves of the AHL, and Martin likely will get a few starts.

The Bruins spent little time in the first period Thursday playing 5-on-5 and had two shots at even strength. Marchand’s power-play goal, his second of the season, made it a 1-1 game — Roslovic scoring the first goal of the game — but the Canes soon had the 52-second ignition.