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Much like most of their season to this point, the Carolina Hurricanes’ month of December had its share of inconsistencies.
After starting the month with a convincing win over the Buffalo Sabres, the Hurricanes followed up with a disastrous Western Canada road trip, where they lost all four games. While they did follow-up with back-to-back road wins against Eastern Conference opponents in the Detroit Red Wings and Ottawa Senators, they managed just one win in their final five games before the holiday break (despite many single-point outings), registering a 1-3-1 record.
However, since coming back from the break, the Hurricanes have been heading in the right direction, picking up three straight wins over the Nashville Predators, Montreal Canadiens, and Toronto Maple Leafs. It marks the first time the Hurricanes have managed to string together three straight wins since late October, and there are a few key factors that point to the idea that this time, the Hurricanes really may have found their groove for good.
Perhaps most importantly, Pyotr Kochetkov looks to be providing the solution to the Hurricanes’ terrible goaltending woes. The lack of stability between the pipes has been Carolina’s most significant hurdle this year, with Frederik Andersen’s injury forcing the team to a Kochetkov/Antti Raanta tandem, which has been a nightmare. Raanta has posted an almost unbelievably bad .855 save percentage through 15 games, prompting him to be waived and sent to the AHL, before being recalled after two games. Meanwhile, especially early on, Kochetkov had some really tough outings as well where he was outdueled so badly in net that he more or less ending up costing Carolina a game.
However, over his last stretch of games, Kochetkov has been (mostly) lights out. Other than one poor game against the New York Islanders, the netminder has been very consistent, posting a .930 save percentage over his last eight games. It’s still a relatively small sample size, but Kochetkov finding his game has done more for the team’s chances than just about anything else.
That said, Carolina’s situation on the blue line stabilizing has helped as well. The bottom pairing, which was such an issue to start the year, has been drastically better, with Dmitry Orlov finding his game and Jalen Chatfield in the lineup regularly over Tony DeAngelo. Meanwhile, Jaccob Slavin now has the highest expected goals percentage of any defender on the team (after a pretty slow start), and Brady Skjei is currently on pace for the highest point totals of his career. The right side on the top-four is still less stable than expected, with Brent Burns showing some signs of decline and Brett Pesce not looking like himself through a lot of the season. But the Hurricanes have still done a better job recently of cutting down on defensive lapses.
Up front, Sebastian Aho is finding another gear in his game, now leading all other Hurricanes’ skaters by 15 points. Notably, he’s had three straight huge games since returning from the holiday break, with 11 points over the three wins. You can add Andrei Svechnikov to the theme of ‘post-break success’ as well, with the winger managing four goals and seven points over the last three games.
Seth Jarvis also continues to establish himself as a larger part of the team’s offense, while Michael Bunting has fit in pretty much as expected through his first half-season with the team, and Stefan Noesen remains a key part of the team’s depth scoring.
There are still a couple concerns up front, notably with Martin Necas, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, and Teuvo Teravainen all seeing their production and overall impact really slow down as of late. But with the likes of Aho, Svechnikov and Jarvis all going, it does buy some time for others to find their game.
Other than goaltending though, perhaps the biggest change for the Hurricanes has been their special teams turnaround. After their penalty kill surprisingly really struggled to begin the year, it’s now been one of the team’s biggest assets once again, ranking as the best penalty kill in the NHL through the month of December. Meanwhile, Carolina’s power play was only bested by the Boston Bruins last month, now ranking fifth in the NHL overall.
The Hurricanes’ penalty kill has been a key part of the team’s identity through much of the Rod Brind’Amour era, and the importance of finding success again can be understated. Now with the power play also contributing (at a level which it often hasn’t), it’s been a big source of the team’s offense.
So while there are still issues to work out, as of late, the Hurricanes have started to find their game. Goaltending has been better, special teams have been an asset, and the team’s three-game win streak couldn’t come at a better time.
They’ll have a tough test tomorrow, facing the top team in the Eastern Conference, as they visit the New York Rangers. It’s a huge matchup to see just where the Hurricanes stand, as competition gets tougher.
But after the road game against New York, then one other outing against the Washington Capitals, the Hurricanes will begin a stretch where they'll play 11 of their following 12 games at home. It's not an insignificant stat, given the Hurricanes' home versus away records: they've gone 10-10-1 in away games this year, but 10-3-3 at home.
So while the Hurricanes are in a tight playoff race, they're going to have a huge opportunity coming up to earn points and climb the standings. The improved goaltending, red-hot special teams and recent stretch of play point to the fact they may be able to take advantage.
Carolina Hurricanes Blogger • 
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