Colorado Avalanche center Nathan McKinnon, second from left, is congratulated by Mikko Rantanen (96), Samuel Girard (49) and Valeri Nichushkin (13) after taking on Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Andersen (31) during the third period of an NHL hockey game on Saturday, April 16, 2022, in Denver. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)
PA
The Hurricanes lost a game on Saturday night, but they potentially lost a lot more than that.
Trusty starting goaltender Frederik Andersen, whose 35 wins this season are among the best in the NHL, and Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal left the team’s road game against the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday night, adding injuries to the insult already listed on the scoreboard.
JT Compher and Nathan MacKinnon scored twice apiece for the Avalanche, who led up to four goals and never let the Hurricanes back in the next two, in a 7-4 win at Ball Arena.
In a game featuring two of the league’s best goaltenders, it was offense that dominated the night in Colorado, with the teams combining for 11 goals on a pair of goaltenders with sparkling records this season.
But the injuries — and the potential ramifications for the Hurricanes heading into the playoffs — were the real story.
“We obviously didn’t like the result,” Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said after the game, “and then we had a few guys get injured, that’s our main concern. It’s not a good night for us, that’s for sure.
Andersen and Staal injured
Andersen appeared to adjust his left leg on a streak midway through the third, and he stumbled back into the net making an awkward save. As he tried to get up, he did a push-up-like exercise, shook his left leg, and resumed his goalkeeping position.
Later in the period, another shot came from long range and the keeper flashed his right pad. His left leg was dragging awkwardly, and he immediately winced in pain.
After a brief conversation with the team’s coaching staff, during which he flexed his left knee several times, he was helped off the ice, putting no weight on his left leg.
Antti Raanta played the last minutes of the match.
The streak came just minutes after Staal, the team’s catalyst for the past two weeks, also left the ice injured.
As the Canes furiously tried to get back into third, Staal, who had already scored two second-half goals and whose line was a spark plug all night – and had been for a month or more – slowly skated out of the ice and then walked slowly down the hallway behind the Hurricanes bench and towards the locker room.
The reason: As he was about to throw and chase the puck down the left wall near the free pass circle in the Avs zone, Cale Makar walked into the Canes captain with his shoulder square on the upper chest of Staal. The jolt stopped Staal in his tracks, his head jerking forward briefly before his whole body collapsed onto the ice.
He landed on his back and his head never hit the ice, but he was knocked out nonetheless. He skated on his own to the defenders’ gate at the Canes bench and returned to the team locker room.
Brind’Amour didn’t get an immediate update on injured players after the game, but he didn’t sound optimistic.
“No, we don’t have (an update),” Brind’Amour said, “but it doesn’t look good. Like you say, it’s a tough night.
Difficult first part
Another slow start – something that has plagued the Canes on and off for the past month – gave the Avalanche a two-goal lead after 20 minutes, a lead that swelled to four in the opening minutes of the game. second. Frustrated, Brind’Amour used his time out to calm the team down, but he said very little, instead leaving the players to stew over the situation and rest. Staal had a few words for the rest of the squad and Brind’Amour stepped in towards the end of the break.
Staal then put the puck where his mouth was, scoring a pair of goals to bring the Canes to life.
“They’ve been our best line all year,” Brind’Amour said. “They do it well, shift after shift. They’re big, so they can kind of control things, especially in games where it gets tight, their game doesn’t change.
But as the teams combined for five more goals in the second half of the game, the Avs made sure to hold their advantage.
Still, Brind’Amour said, it was the kind of game he expected against a team like the Avalanche.
“They’ve got good players, they’ve had good one-on-one battles, they’ve put the puck in the net,” Brind’Amour said. “I don’t know if it was a total gong show for us, but it was just…
“We gave up too soon,” he continued. “We fought back, we still do, but you can’t spot a team with that many goals and expect to be successful.”
Special teams report
The Canes’ power play, which was stealing and in the NHL’s top four for much of the first half of the season, went cold when power-play quarterback Tony DeAngelo had to miss time due to injury. He’s since returned, but the team mojo with an extra skater has only shown flashes of its own.
On Saturday, the Canes notched a power-play goal from three chances, one of which was cut short by their own penalty. On the first power play of the night, which the Canes didn’t score on, they controlled the tempo and saw several good scoring opportunities.
The Canes’ touted shorthandedness, still the NHL’s best at 88.6% heading into Saturday, has been a bit off-kilter lately. It was for a while this season floating above a 90% clip.
On Saturday, the unit struggled again, giving up two goals on five power plays for Colorado.
“Our power play was good,” Brind’Amour said. “So that’s a bit of a positive in this game. But our power play was not good. It was really the difference in the game. You allowed two power play goals that left us behind. We We were too sloppy, we gave too many good chances, this team is too good to play that way.
Spotlight on Guardians
One of the main talking points ahead of Saturday’s showdown between Colorado and Carolina was the goalie duel. Andersen and Darcy Kuemper have both been mentioned this season as possible Vezina Trophy candidates, and there’s no doubt why.
Andersen has been the backbone of the Canes’ success this year and teamed up with Raanta to post the league’s lowest team goal average. His personal GAA was 2.07 heading into Saturday’s game, with a sparkling .926 save percentage to go with a 35-13-3 record. Andersen also has four shutouts.
On the other side, Kuemper has also been outstanding this season, going 35-9-3 going into Saturday with a 2.38 GAA, .926 save percentage and five shutouts.
On Saturday, however, the offenses stole the show, with the Avs and Canes combining for 11 goals on 70 shots, a combined save percentage of .840.
“It was just one of those nights, everything was happening,” Brind’Amour said.
This story was originally published April 16, 2022 11:58 p.m.
