(Photo credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports)
After splitting the first two contests of a three-game western road trip, the Carolina Hurricanes head to Las Vegas to complete the second half of a back-to-back set with a clash against the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday night.
The Hurricanes, who opened the trip with a 4-2 loss to the DallasStars on Tuesday, bounced back to hand the Arizona Coyotes their eighth straight loss, a 5-1 decision on Friday night in Tempe, Ariz. The result moved Carolina into sole possession of second place in the Metropolitan Division.
Pyotr Kochetkov stopped 30 of 31 shots and Jordan Martinook and Jalen Chatfield both scored in the first five minutes as Carolina cruised to its sixth victory in eight games. Martinook’s backhanded rebound of a Brady Skjei shot came just 16 seconds into the contest, tied for the fifth-fastest game-opening goal in Hurricanes history.
“We started really well, which was great to see,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “Our goalie played really well, too. ‘Kuch’ made some really good saves early, and then we got ahead and kind of sat back and that happens. But I thought the start was really good, and I thought that was the difference.”
The Hurricanes had little time to celebrate the victory, heading straight to the airport for the short flight to Las Vegas ahead of a contest that will start about 22 hours later.
In the first of the two regular-season meetings between the teams this season, the Hurricanes defeated the Golden Knights 6-3 on Dec. 19 in Raleigh, N.C. Michael Bunting produced a goal and two assists for Carolina, Sebastian Aho had three assists and Kochetkov turned aside 30 shots.
“It’s huge getting a win (in Arizona) and bringing that momentum into Vegas,” said Bunting, who scored one of the Hurricanes’ five goals against the Coyotes. “They’re a tough team and they’re going to be a tough team (Saturday) night. We’re looking forward to the challenge and excited to get to Vegas.”
The Golden Knights will be well rested, having had a four-day break since a 5-3 home loss to the Minnesota Wild on Monday. The Saturday game, just the second in a nine-day span for Vegas, kicks off a stretch that sees the club play five games over eight days.
“The break I think was good for us because we had an illness going through the room, and the energy level wasn’t great,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “It’s good to get tested and we’re going to be tested tomorrow. If we’re not ready to play, it’s going to be problematic.
“I think coming out of that game Monday, most of our guys to a man weren’t happy with their performance overall.”
Second-place Vegas trails the Vancouver Canucks by 12 points in the Pacific Division and is just five points ahead of third-place Edmonton, which has three games in hand.
Golden Knights goaltender Adin Hill, who had a personal five-start winning streak snapped by the Wild, is looking forward to playing a busy schedule.
“I’ve always found the more you play, the more of a rhythm you get in,” said Hill, who leads the league in save percentage (.933) and is second in goals-against average (2.00). “It’ll be nice to play three, four games a week the rest of the year. It’ll be good for us. I’m kind of excited to play more hockey.”
–Field Level Media
