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Associated Press
18-05-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
The Carolina Hurricanes keep leaning on their penalty kill in another deep postseason push
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — There's a moment of frustrated dread for any hockey team that comes with an official raising an arm to call a penalty triggering a power play. For the Carolina Hurricanes, that moment quickly flips to next-play belief. Their penalty kill has been the NHL's best going back to the start of Rod Brind'Amour's coaching tenure seven years ago. Fittingly, that unit has helped push Carolina through two playoff rounds and to the Eastern Conference final for the second time in three seasons. 'We don't obviously want to use it,' forward Seth Jarvis said Sunday. 'You don't want to be on the penalty kill. But when the opportunity arises, we are fully confident in what we can put out there.' The Hurricanes have had multiple days to rest and regroup after closing out the Washington Capitals as the conference's top seed in five games Thursday. They'll face either the Toronto Maple Leafs or the reigning Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers; they play Game 7 of their second-round series Sunday night. The next series starts Tuesday, either in Toronto if the Maple Leafs advance or Raleigh if the Panthers win. The Hurricanes have the No. 1 penalty kill over those seven regular seasons under Brind'Amour with a rate of 84.8%. And they've been the best of this postseason so far, turning away 28 of 30 power plays — a 93.3% conversion rate — while notching a shorthanded goal from veteran forward Jordan Martinook. It's an extension of Carolina's aggressive-forecheck approach that seeks to maintain puck control in the offensive zone, both to pressure opposing defenses and smother chances going the other way. Ask assistant coach Tim Gleason, who oversees the kill, what it takes to be successful and his immediate answer ignores Xs and Os. It's mentality, he says, workmanlike and driven by the simple motivation of 'what I'm going to do for my buddy.' 'What are you going to do? You're going to mope on it? You're going to be sour that you took the penalty? Then you're living in the past,' said Gleason, a former defenseman who played 1,944 shorthanded minutes during an 11-season NHL career that included at least parts of nine seasons with Carolina. 'So it's all about what you're doing, what's right in front of you. That kind of goes back to the mentality. You've got to get your mind right, right now. ... It's all about here and now. I think the guys do a great job of that.' Jordan Staal, Carolina's captain, pointed to that got-your-back focus, too. 'It's part of my job, I take pride in it,' Staal said. 'It's not that you want to have penalties, but you know they're going to happen, no matter what. So when I'm in the box, you're hoping the boys bail you out. And I kind of feel the same thing. Jumping over the boards hoping to bail my brother out and try to get back to square and back to moving in the right direction.' Carolina's postseason started with a 15-for-15 showing in Round 1 against New Jersey, while one of Washington's two power play goals was NHL career goals leader Alex Ovechkin banging in a one-timer on a 5-on-3 advantage in Game 4. Overall, the Devils and Capitals combined for 33 shots on goal on 30 power plays, a meager 1.1 per attempt. And contributions keep coming. Frederik Andersen leads all goaltenders with more than one postseason start in goals-against average and save percentage. Staal is a mainstay and a two-time finalist for the Selke Trophy for the league's top defensive forward, alongside Martinook's grinding presence. There's the long-running presence of Jaccob Slavin, with Washington coach Spencer Carbery saying after the last series that Slavin deserves more accolades and 'it doesn't seem right' that the 31-year-old isn't more heavily in the mix every year for the Norris Trophy presented to the league's top defenseman. There's also a former Norris winner in Brent Burns. Jarvis and Sebastian Aho as proven strong two-way players with eight shorthanded goals in the regular season. And Carolina has gotten contributions from defensemen Jalen Chatfield, Dmitry Orlov and Sean Walker; as well as forwards Eric Robinson and Mark Jankowski in a sign of its deep rotation. The trickiest part, Slavin said, is embracing the reality that there's always going to be someone open with the extra man. That comes as penalty killers spend tense shifts in scrambling rotations in pursuit of a quick-moving puck, with the hope of getting control long enough to clear it to the far end of the ice and kill precious seconds. But the payoff is worth it once the penalty-box door opens in a return to even strength. 'There's a willingness to go out there and do a job that's tough, that a lot of times you're going to have to sacrifice your body,' Slavin said. 'I mean, you're down a man, right? And the odds are kind of stacked against you. 'So it's just fun to go out there and compete, kill it off and get the momentum. Because when you have a big kill, you feel the momentum on your side — and that can be a huge turning point in a game.' ___ AP NHL playoffs: and
Reuters
23-04-2025
- Sport
- Reuters
Jordan Martinook, Canes grab 2-0 series lead vs. Devils
April 23 - Jordan Martinook continued to haunt the Devils in the postseason, posting a goal and an assist as the Carolina Hurricanes beat New Jersey 3-1 on Tuesday night in Raleigh, N.C., to take a 2-0 lead in their Eastern Conference first-round series. Game 3 of the best-of-seven series is Friday night in Newark, N.J. Martinook has four goals and 13 points in seven career playoff games against New Jersey. Defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere and Seth Jarvis also scored for the Hurricanes. Fredrik Andresen stopped 25 shots. Jesper Bratt got the goal for the Devils. Jacob Markstrom made 25 saves. Carolina, which has held New Jersey to two goals in the series, scored twice in the first six minutes of the second period to take a 2-1 lead. Gostisbehere tied the game 2:57 into the second when he converted his own rebound. Three minutes later, Martinook's short-handed goal gave the Hurricanes a 2-1 lead. He scored from the left circle off the rush after taking a backhand pass from defenseman Dmitri Orlov in the neutral zone. Jarvis added an empty-net goal with 37 seconds left. It could have been worse for the Devils in the second period but defenseman Brett Pesce, a former Hurricane, knocked the puck away from the goal line when it was inches away and cleared another that was heading toward the net out of the crease. New Jersey got off to a fast start and took its first lead of the series 3:51 into the game, when Bratt put in the rebound of Erik Haula's shot off the rush. When Carolina got chances late in the first period, Markstrom made the saves, including one on stopped Jack Roslovic at the left post during a power play. The Devils were without defensemen Luke Hughes and Brenden Dillon because of undisclosed injuries suffered in Game 1 on Sunday. They were replaced by Simon Nemec and Dennis Cholowski, who made their Stanley Cup playoff debuts.
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Hurricanes top the Red Wings
DETROIT (AP) — Jordan Martinook had a goal and an assist, and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Detroit Red Wings 2-1 on Tuesday night. Jordan Staal also scored for Carolina in its third win in four games. Frederik Andersen stopped 24 shots. Detroit has dropped three in a row and five of seven overall. It was the first game for the Red Wings since a 5-3 loss to Columbus on Saturday at Ohio Stadium. Elmer Soderblom scored for Detroit midway through the third period. But that was it for the Red Wings against Andersen and the Hurricanes. Alex Lyon made 28 saves in the loss. PREDATORS 6, BRUINS 3 BONSTON (AP) — Ryan O'Reilly scored twice and had an assist, Steven Stamkos had a goal and two assists and Nashville picked up a rare road win with a victory over Boston. Tommy Novak and Jonathan Marchessault also scored for Nashville, which entered the game with an NHL-worst six wins on the road this season. Mark Jankowski added an empty-net goal late in the third period for the Predators. Nashville goalie Juuse Saros finished with 18 saves as the Predators kept the Bruins from generating any energy from the start. Charlie Coyle, Jordan Oesterle and Morgan Geekie scored for Boston. David Pastrnak, whose 17-game point streak ended Sunday in a 1-0 shutout at Minnesota, had two assists. Jeremy Swayman had 24 saves for Boston, which lost for the sixth time in seven games. FLAMES 6, FLYERS 3 PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Connor Zary scored twice and Nazem Kadri had a goal in a 1:52 stretch midway through the first period for a three-goal lead and Calgary beat Philadelphia. The Flames also defeated the Flyers 6-3 on Oct. 12 in their only other meeting this season. Yegor Sharangovich, MacKenzie Weegar and Matt Coronato also scored for Calgary. Dustin Wolf made 26 stops. Noah Cates, Andrei Kuzmenko and Matvei Michkov scored for the Flyers. The Flyers pulled Samuel Ersson after he gave up three goals on five shots in 9:32 and replaced him with Ivan Fedotov, who finished with 25 saves. LIGHTNING 6, BLUE JACKETS 2 TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Victor Hedman scored twice and had three points to lead Tampa Bay to a victory over Columbus. Nikita Kucherov had a goal and two assists while Jake Guentzel scored twice. Brayden Point and Darren Raddysh each had two assists. Mitchell Chaffee also scored for Tampa Bay. Jonas Johansson made 31 saves for the win. Zach Werenski scored both goals for Columbus, which had won four in a row. Elvis Merzlikins finished with 34 saves. The Associated Press
