RALEIGH, N.C. — The last thing the Carolina Hurricanes wanted was a worrisome three-game losing streak heading to Colorado to face the Avalanche, last year’s Stanley Cup champions.
But Andrei Svechnikov would have none of that, putting on a show, scoring three times for his second hat trick of the season against the Edmonton Oilers. to spur a 7-2 victory. Svechnikov’s third goal, in the third period, was the 100th of his career and had the hats flying onto the PNC Arena ice.
Brent Burns, Jordan Staal, Jordan Martinook and Jesper Fast each scored and goalie Pyotr Kochetkov, in his first NHL start of the season, had 20 saves for the Canes (9-4-1).
The Oilers’ Connor McDavid, the NHL’s leading scorer, did some Connor McDavid type things with his speed and displayed his skill and puckhandling wizardry in scoring in the third period. Zach Hyman had a power-play goal in the second.
Quick takeaways from the game:
— Kochetkov denied Dylan Holloway on a penalty shot in the first and then pushed out of the crease to poke away the puck and stymie a breakaway by Hyman in the second.
Is he unorthodox? Kochetkov can be and he was in one early sequence when he was flopping about the crease. But the goalie has one job: stop the puck. He did.
— Most Eastern teams are happy having to face the Oilers’ McDavid just twice each season. The Oilers should feel the same about Svechnikov, who had his first regular-season hat trick in the Oct. 20 game in Edmonton.
Svechnikov’s second goal Thursday was a near replay of one of his goals in Edmonton, No. 37 unloading a shot from the crease that the goalie had no chance of stopping. His third, which had hats flying, came on a short backhander in tight.
— McDavid? No. 97 can fly and did it a few times, beating Kochetkov with a backhander in the third for his 15th goal of the season. But he often ran into D-man Brett Pesce and Brady Skjei waiting for him and the end of the runway.
— It can be deflating allowing a goal in the final moments of a period and the Oilers did it twice Thursday. Svechnikov’s first goal came with 20 seconds left in the first and Staal’s nasty backhander just beat the horn to end the second period.
— Where’s Freddie and how long will he be out? Good question. Goalie Frederik Andersen, who left practice early Tuesday, “tweaked something” according to Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour and has a lower-body injury that resulted in Kochetkov’s recall. Brind’Amour didn’t call it a day-to-day injury. Nor did he call it a week-to-week issue. So it’s anyone’s guess for now.
— After the Canes were shut out Wednesday by Florida, Brind’Amour said he would juggle the lines. He had Sebastian Aho centering Svechnikov and Teuvo Teravainen and Jesperi Kotkaniemi at center with Seth Jarvis and Martin Necas against the Oilers. Rookie Jack Drury, called up this week from Chicago, stayed in the lineup and centered Paul Stastny — a scratch at Florida — and Stefan Noesen.
The Staal line stayed the same, Staal centering Martinook and Jesper Fast, and produced.
— Tough break for Teravainen. The winger was fully engaged and having a strong all-around game — assisting on Svechnikov’s first goal and the Burns power-play goal — before suffering an upper-body injury in the second period. Teravainen did not return to the game.
