With a 2-1 victory against the New York Islanders, the Carolina Hurricanes finished their regular season on Tuesday with a final record of 53-22-7 and 113 points. Carolina is set to face the Ottawa Senators for the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Carolina has faced them three times this season, winning twice (Jan. 24, 4-2, and Feb. 3, 4-3), and losing once (Apr. 5, 6-3).
As noted in our earlier preview, Pyotr Kochetkov was ruled ineligible for tonight’s game due to a roster technicality (yet to be explained), leaving Brandon Bussi to start on the back end of a back-to-back. Bussi was phenomenal, stopping 28 of 29 shots and earning the game’s third star. Head Coach Rod Brind’Amour called him “probably the difference-maker” tonight. Bussi made several big saves early, including a sequence where he denied Calum Ritchie twice and then stretched out to rob Matthew Schaefer from the low slot rebound.
Bussi finishes the regular season with a 31-6-2 record. Only six goaltenders in NHL history have won more games in their first NHL season.
Nikolaj Ehlers opened the scoring at 3:05 of the first period, beating David Rittich blocker-side from the circle. Bo Horvat tied it at 1-1 in the second on a one-timer off a feed from Mathew Barzal. Mark Jankowski broke the tie at 14:38 of the third, curling into the right circle and roofing a snap shot over Rittich’s glove for the game-winner and second star.
Tonight also saw a pair of NHL debuts: Felix Unger Sorum, who picked up the primary assist on Ehlers’ goal, and defenseman Ronan Seeley. “That’s what I’ve been dreaming about since I was a little kid,” Seeley said after the game.
For the Islanders, Schaefer finished the regular season still tied with Brian Leetch at 23 goals for a rookie defenseman. He had four shots tonight but couldn’t find the back of the net. Taylor Hall, who needed two goals to give the Canes a record-tying eight players with twenty goals, finished the season at 18.
The Hurricanes close out the regular season on a five-game point streak (4-0-1) and will carry home-ice advantage through the first three rounds of the playoffs, sitting behind only the Colorado Avalanche (who won the Presidents’ Trophy) in the overall standings. The Senators clinched the second wild card in the East, and while they were strong when we visited Ottawa on April 5th, the two wins earlier in the season showed that we match up well when we’re at full strength. With Kochetkov still playoff-eligible, the potential for three strong goaltenders heading into the postseason is huge, especially when combined with fully-rested top lines.
Dates for the first round haven’t been announced yet, but brackets open on the NHL Bracket Challenge once all seeds are finalized on April 16th. If you haven’t already, join our league!