Recap: Canes Drop Wild One In Colorado, 7-4

DENVER, CO. -The Carolina Hurricanes suffered a 7-4 defeat to the Colorado Avalanche Saturday, while also losing two key players to injury on the way.

Three Things:
1) On The Game...
The Canes came out of the gate strong, quickly dictating the pace of play and taking a 5-0 shots advantage. They also got the game's first power play of the night, but after a penalty of their own washed away some of the time, the Avs then struck on their side of the man advantage to claim the game's first lead on their first shot of the night.
From there things went downhill for Carolina, eventually falling behind 4-0 after just 22:41 of play.
Rod Brind'Amour took his timeout and the Canes seemed to gain a little bit of life after it, getting two goals from Jordan Staal to make it a 4-2 game. The teams traded goals over the remainder of the frame but two goals was as close as Carolina would get the rest of the way, eventually reaching a final score of 7-4.

2) On The Injuries...
Both Jordan Staal and Frederik Andersen left the game with injuries during the final 20 minutes.
Staal left the ice visibly hurt after being hit by Cale Makar amid a rush into the Colorado end. Then, just minutes later, Andersen left the game after a shot from Ben Meyers left him down on the ice in discomfort.
Andersen needed the assistance of both Head Athletic Trainer Doug Bennett and Jesperi Kotkaniemi to leave the ice.
Because both injuries happened late in the game, no updates were available immediately post-game.
3) If There's A Positive...
The Canes entered tonight's contest 0-for-17 during the month of April on the power play.
Thanks to Andrei Svechnikov in the third period, the 0-for no longer exists. The marker was the 30th of the season for the 22-year-old, etching the first time in his career he's reached that number.

They Said It:
Sebastian Aho'sopening remarks after the defeat...
"We gave up too much to them. They're a good team, they're highly skilled and fast. We're not happy with the way we played."
Ahocontinuing on what the emotions of the locker room were like post-game...
"It's never fun to watch your leaders go down. We're facing some adversity right now. What are we about? Things haven't gone our way lately and a couple very big players go down for us tonight. These are the moments that our team has to come together. We'll come back stronger and I'm 100% confident that's what will happen."
Rod Brind'Amouroffering thoughts on the special teams...
"Our power play was good. So there's a bright spot, but our penalty kill was no good. That was the difference in the game. They got their power play goals that put us behind. We were too sloppy, we gave up too many good chances and that team is way too good to play like that against."
What's Next?:
The team flies to Phoenix post-game ahead of a Monday meeting with the Arizona Coyotes.
Bonus Notes:
Worth A Click:
Mailbag #24: The Power Play, In Particular
Writers Roundtable: Wrapping Up The Regular Season
CanesCast Episode 208: Who's Peaking?
In, But Not Done: Canes Clinch Playoff Spot
Hurricanes April Schedule
NHL Standings