The Carolina Hurricanes made the second stop on their four-game road trip on Wednesday night, battling the Minnesota Wild on TNT. The Canes began their trip with a 3-1 victory over the Bruins on Monday, losing a shutout win in the final seconds. They shot for a season sweep against the Wild, who they bested in Raleigh on November 6th, 4-3.

Despite the positive developments surrounding Jalen Chatfield’s status, the Hurricanes rolled with the same 18 skaters, leaving us to wait for the defenseman’s return. Frederik Andersen was in the net, trying for a better start than his last encounter against Minnesota. The Wild countered with Jesper Wallstedt. The rookie netminder entered the night with a 141:09 shutout streak.

The first period didn’t go very well for the Hurricanes. The Wild opened the scoring on a fluky bounce. Mats Zuccarello’s shot was heading wide, but it hit Brock Faber’s skate and beat Andersen. Then, Sebastian Aho gift-wrapped a short-handed breakaway goal for Matt Boldy, having his pass picked off and skated the other way. The Canes had their looks, but they finished the period down by two.

Jackson Blake and Logan Stankoven tried as hard as they could to pull the team back into the fight in the second period. Blake had a chance hit squarely off the blocker-side post. Just when it felt like they weren’t going to get a bounce, Stankoven’s pass from the boards found Sean Walker, and his shot was redirected past Wallstedt by Blake. Just like that, the Canes had life heading into the third.

The kid from Eden Prairie finds a way 🚨 pic.twitter.com/Ziyah9R0bq

— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) November 20, 2025

The Canes’ hard work seemingly disappeared when Zuccarello scored 15 seconds into the third, but they fought back. Aho buried a beautiful transition chance, and Blake added his second of the night with 1:06 left to get the Canes a point. After neither side scored in overtime, the Wild prevailed in the shootout. Boldy scored the only goal, and Wallstedt stopped all three Hurricanes to earn the win.

One save changes the entire game for the Hurricanes

Almost the entire online discourse surrounding this game was the performance of Frederik Andersen. Two things can be true. Andersen did not have a good night, but his teammates certainly didn’t give him much help on the second and third Minnesota goals. The first goal was a bad bounce, so I can’t fault him for it. The final two were breakaways created by a turnover and a collision at the blue line.

It’s one of those situations where you just need your goalie to make one stop. Minnesota certainly got that tonight from Jesper Wallstedt. The rookie might’ve lost his shutout streak at just over 175 minutes, but he was incredible, finishing with 42 stops. Andersen only faced 18 shots in 65 minutes. He saw just eight shots in the final two periods and overtime, and one of them was a goal.

The obvious solution is to left Pyotr Kochetkov run for a bit. I’d imagine he’ll get the net in Winnipeg on Friday, and it wouldn’t be crazy to suspect that Brandon Bussi gets a chance on Sunday to close the trip. Andersen needs a reset. Since his 44-save performance in Denver, he’s only had one really good game, which was the teams’ 2-1 loss in Boston. He just hasn’t been good enough since then.

The entire team should owe Jackson Blake dinner

With each passing game, Jackson Blake’s contract extension looks better and better. He was leaps and bounds the best Hurricane on the ice tonight, recording the second multi-goal game of his career in front of a ton of friends and family. His line helped will the team back into the fight in the second period before getting them a point with his second of the night.

Blake had a few Grade-A chances to win the game in overtime and complete his first hat trick. Unfortunately, he ran into the Wall of St. Paul. Still, he looked like a man possessed the entire time. His four shots were third to Logan Stankoven (6) and Sebastian Aho (5), but his effort levels were off the charts. He earned the team this point.

Additional Thoughts

The power play continues to be a calamity for the Hurricanes. Not only are they not scoring consistently, they’ve now allowed a short-handed goal in two of the last four games. Aho made a terrible decision to pass on an entry, allowing Boldy to intercept it and score. The fans are growing restless, with Alexander Nikishin being called upon to be its savior online.

Honestly, the top line did not have a very impactful game for most of the night. Aho and Seth Jarvis looked very disjointed at times. They found the scoresheet with a beautiful transition goal finished by Aho, but they needed to be more impactful. They weren’t nearly as good as Minnesota’s top players, with Kaprizov, Boldy, and Zuccarello running the show for most of the night.

Up Next: With the trip now halfway done, we’ll get to experience a very cool moment on Friday night as Nikolaj Ehlers returns to Winnipeg as an opponent for the first time. After a decade with organization following his selection in 2014, Ehlers is sure to get a warm reception. The trip concludes with a Sunday matinee in Buffalo before the Canes begin a seven-game homestand.