Ice Breaker: Carolina won't lose, and the Rangers' new net holds
Sebastian Aho stretches his point streak to six, Tye Kartye scores twice for New York and Seattle wins late in Washington.
Carolina played the second night of a back-to-back in Philadelphia and still looked like the considerably fresher, more organized team. The Hurricanes have won five straight and outscored teams by 14 over that run, by our count. The Room's locks for the week are here, and the Panthers open the week with a 1 PM matinee in Buffalo.
Hurricanes 4, Flyers 1
Nobody scored for the first 30 minutes, and then Carolina scored three times in 6:38 of the second period. Andrei Svechnikov opened it, Shayne Gostisbehere made it 2-0, and Sebastian Aho answered Christian Dvorak's goal 88 seconds later. Mark Jankowski added one late, and Pyotr Kochetkov stopped 18 of 19.
Lind's read: Carolina is 4-0 on the road with a penalty kill at 92.9 percent, by our count. That's a team constructed to win in other people's buildings, and seven games into the season, it's doing precisely that with whichever goaltender is available.
Tye Kartye scored 27 seconds in. Defenseman Elias Pettersson tied it 2-2 with a shorthanded goal late in the second, and Kartye restored the lead 89 seconds later.
New York pulled away in the third with goals from Alexis Lafrenière on the power play, Gabe Perreault and Will Cuylle, his second of the night. Dylan Garand, the Rangers' goaltender now that Igor Shesterkin is out for the season, stopped 19 of 21 and has a .945 save percentage through three appearances, by our count.
Sully's chirp: Kevin Lankinen gave up six on 25 shots and is at .786 for the season, by our count. The toll booths on the Mass Pike stopped more traffic than that, and they've been gone for years.
Kraken 5, Capitals 3
Washington outshot Seattle 36-27 and still lost in its own building. Alex Ovechkin gave the Capitals a 2-1 lead in the first, and Boone Jenner tied it 3-3 just 46 seconds into the third.
Jared McCann scored the winner at 14:33, and Ryan Winterton added insurance 2:47 later. Frederick Gaudreau scored the go-ahead goal in the second and set up Winterton. Joey Daccord made 33 saves on 36 shots for Seattle's third road victory.
Lind's read: Jakob Chychrun played 27:23 and put eight shots on goal without a point. Seattle's depth forwards did the scoring instead, and McCann now has points in four consecutive games.
Three stars of the night
- Sebastian Aho, CAR — a goal and an assist, and the streak keeps going.
- Tye Kartye, NYR — two goals, including the one that broke the 2-2 tie.
- Frederick Gaudreau, SEA — the go-ahead goal and the assist on the insurance.
By our count
Aho extended his point streak to six games, the longest active run on either side of last night's three games. He has 11 points through seven, and Mark Jankowski carries a four-game streak of his own on the same Carolina roster.
Lind's number of the night
3.6 percent. That's Florida's power play through five games, by our count. Buffalo's sits at 5.9 percent, and its penalty kill is at 62.5. If the Panthers' power-play unit is ever going to remember how this works, an afternoon against that penalty kill is the opportunity.
Sully's take of the morning
Look, the Flyers are 0-4-1 in their last five, outscored by 12, and winless at home, by our count. They had 19 shots in their own barn against a team on no rest. Philly fans once threw more than that at Santa Claus. Grade: D. I said what I said.
Tonight
The Panthers play at Buffalo at 1 PM ET on Scripps Sports, and Matthew Tkachuk brings a four-game point streak.
Ottawa, 4-1-0, visits New Jersey at 7 PM on NHL Network, against a Devils penalty kill operating at 63.6 percent. Vegas, 5-1-0, plays at Minnesota at 8 PM. Watch the Wild: their power play is at 37.5 percent by our count, the exact opposite of Florida's problem this afternoon.
