The Carolina Hurricanes are having quite a week with a pair of scintillating comeback victories.
They’ll look for more thrills when the reigning Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers pay a visit on Friday afternoon in Raleigh, N.C.
“Right back to work, looking forward to it,” Hurricanes rookie Jackson Blake said. “It’s always fun playing these teams. They’re so good.”
Carolina racked up a total of seven goals in the third period across the past two games as the Hurricanes rallied to beat Dallas and the New York Rangers. Blake scored the winning goal on a power play Wednesday night against the Rangers.
“We made a couple of plays that we were able to score on,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said.
The Panthers haven’t been nearly as productive as Carolina across the past couple of weeks, but they posted a 5-1 home victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday. That marked Florida’s second win in its last eight games.
“We’re not as strong defensively from our net to our forwards as I would like us to be,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “We look like there’s potential there to get better.”
The Hurricanes have won nine straight home games since losing their opener to Tampa Bay. The home-ice streak matches the second-longest in franchise history.
Carolina has produced at least one power-play goal in five consecutive games.
“The power play is about execution,” Brind’Amour said. “You always have a plan, but they executed.”
Hurricanes forward Martin Necas moved into the NHL points lead with 37 by notching two assists Wednesday night against the Rangers.
Forward Seth Jarvis has two goals and two assists in two games for the Hurricanes since returning from an injury. Defenseman Dmitry Orlov, who’s in his 13th NHL season, has a career-high six-game points streak and ranks second among defensemen on the team with 14 points.
Carolina needs to maintain high offensive production with uncertainty at the other end. Goalie Spencer Martin has been pressed into duty as the Hurricanes wait to see how long Pyotr Kochetkov will be in the concussion protocol. Martin has played in four consecutive games.
“We put him into a bit of a tough spot, obviously,” Brind’Amour said. “Throw to the wolves a little bit, but he’s handling it. That’s crucial.”
The Panthers have offensive sources that will be challenging to contain. Sam Reinhart leads the NHL with 17 goals, including four short-handed tallies.
About a quarter of the way through the season, trends start to be established, Maurice said. The Panthers still have the components of an elite team, but it’s a matter of smoothing out certain areas.
“The challenge for this season is finding that energy source,” Maurice said. “Now we feel we’re a pretty good team. … You got a puzzle every day. You’ve got a puzzle every year and you’ve got to try to solve it.”
Maurice had two stints as Carolina’s coach. His visit comes just two days after another ex-Hurricanes coach, Peter Laviolette, was in town with the Rangers.
This will be the first game of a home-and-home set for the teams across a two-day period.
–Field Level Media
