On Oct. 18, the Carolina Hurricanes (2-1-0) improved their record with a road victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins (3-3-0). While the Hurricanes haven’t been very active on the ice, now tied for the fewest games played in the NHL, they sure aren’t playing like it—they decisively beat the Penguins 4-1.
Pittsburgh got on the board first courtesy of Drew O’Connor. The bottom-six forward extended his goal-scoring streak to two games with helpers from Lars Eller and Jesse Puljujarvi. The latter is quietly having a solid season for the Penguins, trying to re-enter the days of being a top-sixer in his recent past.
A red-hot Evgeni Malkin (11 points heading into this one) and the Penguins were held off of the scoresheet for the remainder of the game, though. Hurricanes rookie Jackson Blake scored the second goal of his season—and career—thanks to assists from Eric Robinson and Jesperi Kotkaniemi.
Related: Evgeni Malkin Records 500th Career Goal
Carolina took the lead in the second period on a power-play goal from Martin Necas. He notched his first goal of the season while Seth Jarvis and Sebastian Aho got their first assists.
Neci’s first of the season was nice 🎯 pic.twitter.com/aevVHjPGWl
— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) October 19, 2024
Late in the period, Shayne Gostisbehere added to the fun with a power-play tally of his own. Andrei Svechnikov and Necas set him up.
To add some insurance, Jack Roslovic got his first goal (and point) in a Hurricanes uniform and made the score 4-1. Kotkaniemi’s primary assist made it a two-point night while Dmitry Orlov made it a two-game scoring streak with his secondary assist. There were still nine minutes left in the game at this point, but both netminders shut the door until the final horn.
Speaking of netminders, the Hurricanes’ Frederik Andersen turned aside 25 of the 26 shots he faced. Sacrificing four goals is never ideal, but 22-year-old rookie Joel Blomqvist made 35 saves on the 39 pieces of rubber that found their way toward his net.
Next up, the Hurricanes will go from two games in the first two weeks of the season to a back-to-back. They’ll visit the St. Louis Blues and aim to extend their winning streak to three games. As for the Penguins, they won’t be back in action until Oct. 20 when they visit the undefeated Winnipeg Jets.