Carolina Hurricanes 4, Vancouver Canucks 1 – Tidy Takeaways

NHL Final Score: Carolina Hurricanes 4, Vancouver Canucks 1

Notes Heading In:

Jaroslav Halak got the nod to start in net for the Vancouver Canucks until a positive Covid test Saturday morning derailed things. Thatcher Demko started instead with travelling taxi-squad member Spencer Martin backing him up. Head coach Bruce Boudreau mixed up the D-pairs as well. He said prior to the game he wanted to open things up a bit more for Quinn Hughes.

Hughes, Tucker Poolman

Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Tyler Myers

Brad Hunt, Luke Schenn

Canes Aggression

The one characteristic you’ll often hear about Rod Brind’Amour’s Carolina Hurricanes team is ‘aggressive’. Similar to Boudreau’s philosophy of pressuring all over the ice, the Canes epitomize it. It’s extremely noticeable on the penalty kill. Few teams if any attack the puck in their own end like Carolina. They’re constantly sending two men to the puck, even at the points. If you can skirt that pressure and find the open man it leads to opportunities, but even those are hurried.

The work paid off in the first period for the Canes, who own the top penalty kill in the NHL. The Vancouver Canucks went 0-for-3 on first period power play chances, 0-for-5 in the game, and are now 0-for-12 on the road trip. Carolina has killed off 35 consecutive opposing power plays, one short of their franchise record.

Goal Scorers

1st Period: 1-0 Carolina – Sebastian Aho (16) – Teuvo Teravainen, Tony DeAngelo (8:17) Power Play

1st Period: 1-1 Vancouver – Bo Horvat (12) – Luke Schenn (13:24) Even strength

2nd Period 2-1 Carolina –  Vince Trocheck (8) – Andrei Svechnikov, Martin Necas (1:02) Even strength

2nd Period 3-1 Carolina – Martin Necas (8) – Andrei Svechnikov, Vince Trocheck (4:49) Even strength

3rd Period 4-1 Carolina – Steven Lorentz (6) – Brady Skjei, Brett Pesce (4:09) Even strength

Not in the Hunt

Moments too numerous to list, Brad Hunt is out of place. He works hard but he represents the glaring lack of depth presently on the Canucks NHL blueline.

Gabby Said It:

“They (Carolina) don’t give you any room at all, and that’s a sign of a good team,” said Boudreau postgame. “It’s difficult to make plays when you’ve got people in your face all night long and they do a great job with that.”

Simmer’s Vancouver Canucks 3 Stars:

3) Brock Boeser – Shared the Canucks team lead with five shots on goal. Involved throughout.

2) Quinn Hughes – A calming influence for the Canucks playing hockey in the Hurricanes beehive. 23:26 time on ice.

1) Bo Horvat – Brought everything he had and was the team’s lone goal scorer. Five shots on goal.