0

Final 1 2 3 Tot Ottawa 0 0 0 0 Carolina 2 0 2 4

4

4:00 PM PT5:00 PM MT6:00 PM CT7:00 PM ET0:00 GMT8:00 5:00 PM MST7:00 PM EST4:00 UAE (+1)19:00 ETNaN:� BRT, February 24, 2023 PNC Arena, Raleigh, North Carolina  Attendance: 18,788

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Streaking Hurricanes aim to stay hot vs. Senators

Andrei Svechnikov doesn't have to score plenty of goals to make an impact for the Carolina Hurricanes.

But it sure does help when he makes it into the scoring column.

Svechnikov's most productive game in more than three months came earlier this week, and he'll try to build on that Friday night when the Hurricanes host the Ottawa Senators in Raleigh, N.C.

Svechnikov scored two first-period goals to snap a 19-game scoreless streak in Tuesday night's 4-1 victory against the St. Louis Blues.

"Everybody gets fixated on the goals, and I get it," Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "He has been really good this year, even this last however many games he went without scoring. He was pretty impactful pretty much every night."

The Metropolitan Division-leading Hurricanes have plenty of players falling into that category. They hold a four-game winning streak and are 13-1-1 in their last 15 games.

However, Svechnikov has goals in back-to-back games only twice this season while racking up 21 total goals.

Second-year player Seth Jarvis of the Hurricanes has two career three-point games, and they have come to pass over the past three games.

Carolina continues to look to shore up certain areas. It has had perfect penalty-killing numbers in three of the last four games, though like Svechnikov's case, those statistics might be misleading as well.

"It wasn't probably as good as we'd like it," Brind'Amour said. "We gave up a couple of really good opportunities. With penalty killing, the goalie is always the best penalty killer and (Frederik Andersen) made some really good, unreal saves."

The Hurricanes have killed off 82.0 percent of their opponents' power plays this season.

The Senators have been idle since dropping a 3-1 decision to the Boston Bruins on Monday.

Ottawa hasn't allowed more than three goals in regulation in its last five games (3-1-1).

Senators coach D.J. Smith said goaltender Cam Talbot will rejoin the action after being out since Jan. 25, an absence of nine games with a lower-body injury.

"Tabs is our guy and he has been great for us all year," defenseman Jake Sanderson said. "I know he's itching to get back."

Yet the Senators were 6-2-1 while Talbot was out.

Ottawa inserted forward Julien Gauthier in the lineup for the first time on Monday after he was acquired in a weekend trade from the New York Rangers. That's notable for this game in Raleigh because Gauthier is a former first-round draft pick of the Hurricanes.

"I wanted a fresh start, a new opportunity with a new, young team," Gauthier said. "Getting that opportunity is huge and I'm really grateful for it."

Gauthier was minus-1 with two shots on goal in his debut for the Senators with less than 10 minutes of ice time.

There will be another Ottawa lineup change at Carolina after Wednesday's trade of defenseman Nikita Zaitsev to the Chicago Blackhawks. Zaitsev was with the Senators for four seasons, playing in 28 games this season with five assists.

The Hurricanes are close to a week removed from the hubbub of their historic outdoor game as part of the Stadium Series. It has taken time to shake free from the euphoria that was connected to that experience in front of about 57,000 fans.

"It has kind of come down," Svechnikov said. "We just have to play our game."

On Friday, the Hurricanes will be playing the fourth contest of their five-game homestand.

--Field Level Media

Updated February 24, 2023