The Carolina Hurricanes seek to extend their three-game winning streak when they open a brief road trip Saturday against the floundering Chicago Blackhawks.
The defending Stanley Cup champions are coming off a 7-2 home thumping of the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday as not only have the Hurricanes been winning, they have been firing on all cylinders.
Against Vancouver, they opened the scoring in the first three minutes for the third consecutive game. They went on to convert all three of their power-play opportunities and dominated play until the final buzzer.
“We got to our game early and got some goals, and that helps a lot,” said defenseman Sean Walker, who tallied a career-best four assists. “I think the most important thing is we stuck to our game the whole night. We didn’t really stray away from it.”
Carolina, which has beaten the Blackhawks in nine of their last 10 clashes and 18 of their 22 meetings since 2018, has a big list of players rolling.
Top-line forwards Sebastian Aho (four goals, four assists) and Andrei Svechnikov (three goals, three assists) are riding four-game point streaks. Fourth-liner Mark Jankowski has scored in consecutive games.
The dominant player against Vancouver was Logan Stankoven, who netted his first career hat trick — and he did it while tallying short-handed, on the power play and at even strength in an 18-minute, 43-second span.
“I want to be a more versatile player, and I think getting the opportunity to penalty kill now is awesome,” Stankoven said. “I’m still learning and trying to grow. … It’s nice to be out there in different situations and cash in.”
The Blackhawks are on the other end of the spectrum right now.
Chicago, which had high hopes of turning the corner after being a bottom feeder the past few seasons, has lost four of five to start the campaign.
The Blackhawks, who have been outscored 21-10 in their five games while playing without Connor Bedard (shoulder), are back in action after a 4-1 road loss to the New York Islanders on Thursday.
Though the final score appeared one-sided, it was an even clash through much of the first period until the Islanders scored. Then, not long after Cole Smith was unable to convert a breakaway — a play that video review could not confirm he had put the puck across the line — the Islanders extended the lead early in the second period and never looked back.
“You feel like you are in control of the game,” said Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane. “Then, they get one off the power play and they get one off a turnover and it’s 2-0 and you’re chasing the game. It’s little situations like that where we can do better.”
The Blackhawks are kicking off a seven-game homestand with hope they can build positive momentum.
“We did a lot of positive things throughout the game but probably didn’t get enough out of it,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “I thought we were the better team and then in one sequence of events, we beat ourselves.”
Chicago center Frank Nazar, who scored the lone goal against the Islanders, had a hearing with the NHL Department of Player Safety on Friday after he was assessed a match penalty for an illegal check to the head of New York’s Bo Horvat late in the game.
