3 Takeaways: Carolina Hurricanes Hand Vegas Golden Knights First Home Loss

ryan henkel

Tue, Nov 12, 2024, 8:53 a.m.·2 min read

The Carolina Hurricanes got back in the win column Monday night with a 5-2 win over the Vegas Golden Knights.

The Canes had five different goal scorers on the night and Pyotr Kochetkov turned aside 30 of the 32 shots he faced for the win.

Here are my three takeaways from the game.

Some Damn Good Goaltending

When Frederik Andersen went down with injury, Pyotr Kochetkov was handed an opportunity to prove he can be the number one netminder in Carolina and so far, he's been up to the task.

Kochetkov has been dynamite for the Canes and has now won each of his last seven starts, a career high.

While there's been some rough patches throughout that stretch, his last two games especially have been really, really good with 30+ save performances in each.

Kochetkov has been exactly what the Hurricanes have needed and he's certainly making a strong case for himself.

So Who's Really The Top Line?

Another game, another Carolina Hurricanes second line master class.

The trio of Eric Robinson, Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Martin Necas have been dynamite for the Canes since their joining and they've really become the Canes' best scoring option.

With two goals tonight, a redirection in front by Robinson and a Kotkaniemi self-rebound goal, the trio is up to 12 5v5 goals on the year and just three against.

"You talk about contributions, it's not just one guy," said Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour. "All three are now really dialed in and have really almost been our number one line. That's been a real positive for us."

While the line has been a bit weaker in terms of overall chance generation/suppression than some of the others, you can't ever argue against results and they're getting results.

Necas also extended his point streak to 10-games and his 24 points place him third overall in the league scoring race all while he's averaging five to seven less minutes of time on ice per game than the players ahead of him.

Contributions Up and Down the Lineup

The biggest thing though overall is that the Canes are continuing to win by committee.

There's not just a single player or line carrying the team (even though there is one that's doing very well). Everyone is chipping in whether it's offensively or defensively.

Take the goal scorers from last night for example.

They had a combined goal total of nine before the game, with Martinook accounting for four of those.

"We need contributions from everybody every night and we had that from different guys tonight which is great," Brind'Amour said.

The Canes are a very balanced team that has good players throughout the lineup that are well coached.

And when you have all that, you're going to win a lot of games.

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