12.23.22 Recap

RALEIGH, NC. -The Carolina Hurricanes are heading into the holiday break with some new franchise history, moving their point streak to 14 games with a 6-5 win over the Philadelphia Flyers.

The Story

Playing on home ice just 24 hours after earning a 4-3 overtime victory in Pittsburgh, Antti Raanta was once again tabbed to hold down the fort for the Carolina Hurricanes.
Rod Brind'Amour shared pre-game that rookie sensation Pyotr Kochetkov was not 100%, thus prompting the services of the veteran for the second game in as many nights.
Although it would be a challenging night, the Canes would need a breakaway stop from Raanta inside the first four minutes to keep the game scoreless. As it turned out it would be an incredibly timely effort, as just 18 seconds later the Canes were able to open the scoring at the other end of the ice.
On the very first shot faced in his NHL career, Philadelphia netminder Samuel Ersson was beaten by Jesper Fast for the first of what would become two times in the opening frame.
Philadelphia was able to get one past Raanta to bring the game back even, but the tie would last just 3:29.
Stefan Noesen earned his team-leading fifth power play goal of the year to put Carolina back out in front and Fast's second of the period gave the team a 3-1 lead after one.

PHI@CAR: Fast fires home a shot from the circle

The trend of four goals per period would carry over into the second, first starting with a familiar face.
Former Hurricane Tony DeAngelo pulled Philadelphia back within one, but then Carolina began to pull away. Or so they thought.
Andrei Svechnikov showcased his elite-level release to reclaim Carolina's two-goal lead and then Jordan Martinook extended his line's impressive night with his third point of the evening. A power play goal from Jesperi Kotkaniemi made it a 6-2 game after 40 minutes of play and it looked like the Canes would be able to ride the effort out to the final horn.

PHI@CAR: Kotkaniemi cuts through traffic to score PPG

John Torterella's club had other plans though.
Refusing to take their foot off the gas, Philadelphia would score three times in 12:24 to start the third period, making it a one-goal game.
Two came via the shorthanded variety and instead of the Canes walking to the finish line, they were forced to hang on for the final 7:36, including over two minutes of extra attacker play.
When all was said and done though the Canes were able to take the end result, using a few more timely stops from Raanta to reach the final horn.

They Said It

Jesper Fastoffering his thoughts on what it says about the group to now have set the franchise record with points in 14 consecutive games...
"It just proves what type of group we have here. We trust in what we do, we believe in what we do and we know we're a very hard team to beat when we play good hockey."
Jordan Martinookdescribing his line with Jordan Staal and Jesper Fast, who combined for eight points tonight...
"Workers. We're just three workers, that's all. I love playing with those two. You know what you're getting every night and it makes my job easy. Guys getting goals and getting points up and down the lineup, it just builds team chesmitry."
Sebastian Ahoon his return after missing seven games to a lower-body injury...
"It felt awesome. I'd been missing some time here and I was anxious to get back to battling with the guys. I think they did an awesome job winning seven in a row without me, so I have to think the guys for hanging in there. It's been impressive."

Bonus Notes

  • With Sebastian Aho and Brady Skjei returning to the lineup for Carolina, Jack Drury and Dylan Coghlan came out of the lineup. For Drury, it was his first game out since being recalled in early November.
  • Philadelphia netminder Samuel Ersson was pulled from his first NHL game after allowing five goals on 22 shots. However, Carter Hart was hurt in relief after just 9:54, meaning that Ersson had to come back into the game.
  • Tonight was the second three-point game of the season for Jordan Martinook and the fourth of his career.
  • This evening was just the second time in his career that Jesper Fast scored two goals in his period. Both have come at PNC Arena.
  • Making 26 saves, Antti Raanta advances to 7-2-2 on the season.
  • The Canes now move to 22-6-6 with the victory.

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What's Next?

The Canes will now have the next three days off for the league-mandated holiday break. The team will return to action on Tuesday, December 27 for their morning skate ahead of an evening matchup against the Chicago Blackhawks at PNC Arena.
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