Brandon Bussi made seventeen saves in his best performance since the Olympic Break, The Canes shook off a slow first period, and dominated the New Jersey Devils from the second period on to win 5-2 at Lenovo Center Saturday.
The Hurricanes had been off since a 5-2 loss to Montreal on Tuesday—a team that will be in Raleigh for the last meeting of the regular season tomorrow—and used the rare lengthy break to rest up. The break was good for one Hurricane in particular as when the team returned to the ice for practice Friday, Shayne Gostisbehere joined them for the first time in nine games, and on Saturday his presence was felt.
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As can be expected after a long break against a team that had won five of their last six, the Canes had trouble getting going in the first period, and about halfway through had to kill off what was essentially a double minor. Jordan Staal would take a penalty for hooking at 9:50, and just 26 seconds after that penalty ended Taylor Hall went to the box for tripping. While Brandon Bussi was sharp in making saves the Canes were able to take care of both penalties, the wear eventually got to them as Timo Meier scored at even strength with less then three minutes left to give New Jersey the lead 1-0. Despite the two penalties and the giving up the lead, the Canes still led in shots on goal 8-6.
Carolina woke up in the second period and took over. With a ridiculous shot edge of 15-5, the Canes were able to dominate the zone, and it very quickly paid off. It led to Taylor Hall taking a trip, and on the ensuing power play Nikolaj Ehlers took a feed from Alexander Nikishin and slapped it past Jacob Markstrom to go up 1-0. As noted on the broadcast, Ehlers was out there as he is the one who stays on the bench in favor of Jordan Staal to win the faceoffs, but that also allows him to jump in with the second group, giving that group skill they had been lacking and the red hot Ehlers got the Canes running.
The Hurricanes took over from there, as just three minutes later, Jackson Blake was the beneficiary of some strong wall work and an amazing keep in by Gostisbehere. He used it to create a quick rush with Logan Stankoven. Blake blasted the shot, falling down, and it beat Markstrom to give the Canes the lead they wouldn’t relinquish at 2-1.
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Just about ninety seconds later, the red hot Ehlers showed that placing him on the Staal line was one of the best moves of the season. Instead of a full checking line, that line now has some skill to go up against a lot of other teams’ top lines, and the confidence showed as he took a feed from Martinook, threw it at the net, and Jordan Staal was in the right place to tip it past Markstrom for a 3-1 lead. The goal was Staal’s nineteenth on the season, and he’s on the first of his first 20 goal season since 2015-16 season.
As the second period had been one of horrors for the Canes, they looked to take advantage of the fact that they had one of the best in recent memory by sustaining that momentum in the third. Despite the desperation from New Jersey, Brandon Bussi stood tall and the defense played well around him as they were able to keep the Devils off the board for almost the whole period. Gostisbehere then fully announced his return by snapping a shot right by Markstrom to give the Canes a 4-1 lead.
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Gostisbehere would take a charging penalty not long after this, but even with the goalie pulled New Jersey wouldn’t be able to muster much of any offense. Bussi again stopped a chances, and his rebound control was solid. Eventually, the puck would be worked free and Seth Jarvis officially joined the 30 goal club by tapping in a bounce off the boards to get the short handed empty net goal making it 5-1.
Bussi was on his way to having his best statistical performance since the shutout against the New York Rangers before the break—but New Jersey managed to get a two on one that Evgenii Dadonov managed to bury to make the final score 5-2.
The Canes outshot New Jersey 34-19, and Carolina ended the season series sweeping the Devils 4-0. It’s a bit of a final nail in the coffin for what had been a season filled with injuries for the Devils as the two were expected to compete again for the Metropolitan Division title. Carolina is well on their way to taking that crown, as New Jersey is looking at the NHL Lottery.
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The Canes will end Saturday nine points ahead of the now-second place New York Islanders, though with two games in hand. They were the only Metro team to win on Saturday as both Pittsburgh and Columbus lost their matchups. Carolina welcomes Montreal on Sunday, whose face off was two hours after the Canes and will have to travel in.