RALEIGH, N.C. — The Carolina Hurricanes opened the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs Monday
The weather was perfect and the first tailgaters turned out just after noon to enjoy it. There was pregame music and kids games and the atmosphere was lively, outside and then inside PNC Arena. It was playoff time.
The game, as so many have been between the Canes and Islanders, was tight-checking, with both teams having to work hard for their offensive chances.
Game 2 will be played Wednesday at PNC Arena before the best-of-seven series shifts to Long Island.
Some quick takeaways from the game:
— The Canes, whose power play was said to be a “work in progress” much of the regular season --Carolina was 20th in the NHL -- quickly proved they can score 5-on-4 in the playoffs. They did it twice Monday as Sebastian Aho and Stefan Noesen each had power-play goals.
It was the first time since March 5, when the Hurricanes were 4-for-5 on the power play against the Tampa Bay Lightning, that they scored twice in a game. That was 22 games ago.
Aho’s goal came after he won a faceoff in the left circle in the Isles zone, the puck going to Brent Burns at the left point as Aho slipped moved to the right dot. Burns made the cross-ice pass and Aho slammed it home for the first goal of the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs and a 1-0 lead.
Noesen’s goal came when he first went to the front of the net and screened goalie Ilya Sorokin, then deflected a Burns shot to make it 2-0.
— For those keeping count, it was Aho’s 19th career playoff goal. That tied him with Eric Staal for the franchise record, breaking his tie for second with Rod Brind’Amour.
Aho holds the Hurricanes record for most points in the playoffs.
— A lot of the pregame guesswork centered on which goalie Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour would start: Antti Raanta or Frederik Andersen. He went with Raanta to face the Islanders’ Ilya Sorokin.
Both goalies got all they could handle and were forced to make some high-quality stops. Sorokin faced more shots but the scoring chances were pretty even.
— The mark of a resilient team is the ability to rebound quickly when things start to go sideways, and the Isles did just that in the second period after Noesen’s power-play goal.
The Canes led 2-0. The arena was very loud. How would the Isles, playing on the road, in the din, respond?
This way: Ryan Pulock scored 21 seconds after Noesen’s goal. The defenseman all but whiffed on the puck but got enough of it, the puck hitting off Raanta’s stick and landing in the net.
— Never underestimate the “last change at home” part of a team’s game strategy.
Brind’Amour, as the home coach, could manage the matchups as he wanted for the most part, which meant using the Jordan Staal checking line against center Bo Horvat and wingers Anders Lee and Mathew Barzal, who was playing his first game since an injury in February. Defensemen Brady Skjei and Brett Pesce also saw a lot of the Isles’ top line.
Raanta gets the nod
Antti Raanta was the starting goalie Monday for the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 1 of their Stanley Cup playoff series.
Raanta had a 19-3-3 record in the regular season as the Hurricanes won the Metropolitan Division. He finished with a 2.23 goals-against average and .910 save percentage, and was 16-1-2 in his last 19 decisions.
Brind’Amour tried to stick with a goaltender rotation late in the season, alternating Raanta and Frederik Andersen. Raanta stated the Canes’ final regular-season home game against Detroit last week, making 20 saves in a 4-1 win, and Andersen then started the finale against Florida with the Metro title on the line.
Andersen allowed four goals on 34 shots as the Canes held on for a 6-4 win over the Panthers. He had a 21-11-1 record with a 2.28 GAA and .903 save percentage.
Brind’Amour had been noncommital on the starter for Game 1 after practices Saturday and Sunday, at one point quipping it would be “either” Andersen or Raanta.
But it was Raanta.
“I thought in this last little stretch of games (Raanta) has been pretty solid,” Brind’Amour said Monday.
Andersen was injured last year and unable to compete in the playoffs as Raanta and rookie Pyotr Kochetkov handled the goaltending in two series against the Boston Bruins and New York Rangers.
Raanta made 13 playoff appearances last season, posting a 6-0 record at PNC Arena and leading the NHL in goals-against average (1.18) and save percentage (.958) on home ice.
Congressman risks sauce on series
In what may be a Carolina Hurricanes record for earliest political wager, Rep. Wiley Nickel has a first-round bet with a New York counterpart on the outcome of this series.
Nickel, a Democrat whose district includes Johnston and southern Wake counties and is the father of a Junior Canes youth-hockey player, wagered eastern North Carolina barbecue sauce against the Long island pizza put up by Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, a Republican who represents Nassau County — including Elmont, the site of the Islanders’ new arena.
Canes recall Kochetkov
The Canes on Monday recalled goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov from the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League.
Kochetkov, 23, had a 12-7-5 record, 2.44 goals-against average, .909 save percentage and four shutouts in 24 NHL appearances during the regular season, improving to 15-7-5 in his NHL/Hurricanes career.
Kochetkov was named the NHL’s Rookie of the Month for December after posting a 7-0-1 record, 1.63 goals-against average, .939 save percentage and two shutouts in eight games.
The Canes’ Sebastian Aho was asked about the goaltending Monday and noted Carolina had two good ones. “Three actually,” he quickly added, smiling.
Scouting the Islanders
Brind’Amour said the Islanders were one of the teams at the end of the season that was “dialed right in.”
“They knew what they had to do and they did it,” he said. “You’ve got to give them a ton of credit for that.”
After a 2-1 loss to the Canes at PNC Arena on April 2, the Islanders won three of their last four games to secure the top wild-card playoff berth in the Eastern Conference. Forward Mat Barzal rejoined practice last week and is ready for the playoffs after being out since Feb. 18 with a lower-body injury.
Barzal had 14 goals, including five game-winners, and 51 points in 58 games before the injury.
“He has speed, a high skill level and he attacks,” Islanders coach Lane Lambert said. “Obviously we’re hoping he helps our power play out, which he has. Prior to his injury, just before the All-Star break, we were having some success.”
The Islanders ended the regular season 30th on the power play at 15.8%.
No morning skate for Canes
The Canes, after holding practices the past two days, did not hold a morning skate Monday before Game 1. There were three skaters on the ice: forward Jesse Puljujarvi and defensemen Dylan Coghlan and Calvin de Haan, with Andersen in net.
Brind’Amour said it was not definite that Puljujarvi would be a healthy scratch in Game 1, saying, “He may go.”
Islanders coach Lane Lambert had no update on injured defenseman Alexander Romanov, who missed the last five games of the regular season.
