The Carolina Hurricanes were dubbed by some observers in the preseason as the favorites to win the Stanley Cup.
So far, things haven’t panned for the Hurricanes, but the defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights are another story.
Vegas brings the best record in the NHL to Raleigh, N.C., to take on the Hurricanes on Tuesday night.
The Golden Knights have won five of their last six games after a 6-3 victory Sunday at Ottawa. They’ve had at least five goals in each of those victories, though twice they didn’t achieve that mark until after regulation.
Six players scored for Vegas in the Ottawa game.
“We sparked each other,” Golden Knights forward Mark Stone said. “Five guys breaking the puck out. Five guys forechecking. I think that has a lot to do with it.”
Jack Eichel has a 10-game points streak, the longest in Vegas franchise history.
“Jack’s certainly been on right now and feeling good about his game,” coach Bruce Cassidy said. “(He’s) healthy. Can’t say enough about him.”
The Hurricanes are probably reeling a bit from the weekend’s goalie fallout.
Antti Raanta was placed on waivers, and he cleared and accepted an assignment to the American Hockey League. Yaniv Perets has joined the roster, likely as a backup.
“A little reboot for him might be good,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said Raanta. “We know what he’s capable of.”
The situation, though, also got the attention of Hurricanes players amid a difficult season. Carolina has won just 16 of 31 games this year.
“This has to be a wake-up call to the locker room,” forward Sebastian Aho said. “Everyone has to take a deep look in the mirror.”
Vegas has some goaltending drama as well after Adin Hill exited Sunday’s game with a first-period injury after returning from a seven-game injury absence. Logan Thompson came on and stopped 20 of 22 shots despite showing some late-game discomfort.
“It’s good for (Thompson) to come in there and battle for us,” Stone said.
That means the Golden Knights might be in position for a goalie move before the game at Carolina.
The Hurricanes have a four-game points streak, but they’ve lost the first two games of this three-game homestand. They fell to Nashville in overtime and to Washington in a shootout.
“A couple of inches here and there, it’s a different story,” Brind’Amour said of the latest performance. “It wasn’t our night to get the win, but I loved how we played.”
The Hurricanes, who are 1-0-3 in their last four home games, have shown appreciation for some of goalie Pyotr Kochetkov’s efforts, particularly after the 2-1 shootout loss Sunday.
“It sucks we couldn’t bail him out in the shootout,” forward Seth Jarvis said. “He did a fantastic job of getting us there.”
Vegas is beginning a four-game road stretch, with the final game coming after Christmas. The Golden Knights have a three-game road winning streak.
–Field Level Media
