This round of NHL Predictions sees the Carolina Hurricanes returning home from a three-game road trip to take on the Chicago Blackhawks. This is the first time these two teams have seen each other this season. They also find themselves on two different sides of the NHL.
The Blackhawks sit near the bottom of the NHL with a record of 15-37-3. This also holds true for most other metrics. In their last ten, they are 2-7-1 but have been recently uplifted by the return of Connor Bedard from injury. The young phenom helped the Blackhawks pull out a 3-2 win over the Ottawa Senators in their last matchup. Even though he missed many games with injury, Bedard still leads the team in points with 36.
On the other side, Carolina is coming home after a three-game road trip that started with a loss to the Dallas Stars. They quickly turned it around and pulled out two wins over the Arizona Coyotes and Vegas Golden Knights largely due to the stellar play of goaltenders Pyotr Kochetkov and Spencer Martin.
While the fans at PNC Arena should be excited to see Bedard for the first time, they will hope to see Carolina pull out their third win in a row. Here are three keys to a Carolina victory.
NHL Predictions: Carolina Hurricanes vs. Chicago Blackhawks
Three Keys to Victory for Carolina
Another Connor, Another Threat
As mentioned above, this will be Connor Bedard‘s first-ever trip to Raleigh. Much like another generational talent in Connor McDavid, Bedard came into the league with a lot of hype. And so far, he has lived up to it. While McDavid’s and Bedard’s styles and strengths are different, both simply make things happen when on the ice. Bedard has an elite hockey IQ and seems to find himself in the right place at the right time consistently. More akin to Sidney Crosby, Bedard seems to get the puck and make a play that ends with it in the net. Against Ottawa, Bedard had one assist and one goal. He actually had another goal but it was called back due to offsides. The injury hasn’t seemed to have slowed him down.
Carolina will need to utilize their strong defence to shut Bedard down. It doesn’t mean they can ignore all the other Blackhawks, but Bedard is arguably their biggest offensive threat. Having last change at home should help them match Jordan Staal‘s line against Bedard. But is ultimately up to the players to track him and shut him down. If he is given any room at all, results for Chicago will happen.
Maintain The Goaltending
Goaltending has been a hot topic for Carolina this year. Between injuries, inconsistent play, waiver pickups, and multiple PTOs with no final contracts, goaltending has been a weakness. However, there have been flashes of positivity. Kochetkov has put up some stellar performances and has performed more consistently than in years past. He is still fairly young in his NHL goaltending experience but seems to be developing in a positive way. After starting the season near the bottom of the league in SV%, GAA and goals saved above expected, he has climbed his way back up to more respectable numbers. Most recently, he put up a shutout against the New Jersey Devils. He let in three against the Dallas Stars but bounced back with a solid 30-save performance against Arizona.
Then the Hurricanes followed their game against Arizona the next night against the Golden Knights in Vegas. With Antti Raanta hurt, the Hurricanes turned to waiver pickup Spencer Martin. He put up a great performance against the Boston Bruins in his only other start for the Hurricanes this season. His next matchup against Vegas was just as, if not better than, his Boston performance. Martin stopped 29 of 30 shots and kept the team in the game for the first and most of the second period when they were getting largely outplayed.
Whoever is in net needs to maintain this solid play. Yes, the team needs to play well in front of them to win. But this solid goaltending has provided the team with more consistency and confidence. As the last line of defence, solid goaltending can carry the team as it has in Carolina’s last two.
Play to their Strengths
This matchup is one that Carolina needs to embrace their strengths in to overpower the Blackhawks. The Blackhawks are rebuilding and at the bottom of the league. Carolina has Stanley Cup aspirations. This can be tricky at times as it is easy to play down to your competition. This means that Carolina absolutely cannot overlook Chicago, but that they need to do what they do best and do it consistently.
They need to play their aggressive, heavy forechecking game. Every loose and 50/50 puck needs to end in Carolina’s possession and the Hurricanes need to attack Chicago’s puck carriers consistently. By playing this suffocating style against what should be a weaker team, Carolina can cause turnovers, limit chances against, and generate chances for. As far as specific strengths, look no further than special teams. Even though they never had a power play chance against Vegas, they remain top three in the league in power play percentage with 27.7%. On the other side, their penalty kill is also top three in the league at 84.9% and was a major strength in their last four games as they have been perfect on the kill. Not to mention that Seth Jarvis‘ game-winner against Vegas came shorthanded.
Carolina playing their game confidently and not trying to be something they aren’t will be key to winning here.
Prediction Time
Carolina enters this matchup looking to maintain their position in the Metropolitan Division. It’s another matchup that can end up sour if the team looks past it. Bedard will be a threat every time he is on the ice and Chicago will look to build off of their victory over the Senators. If Carolina plays their game and gets solid goaltending, they should be able to secure the win. However, this doesn’t mean they can slack off.
Prediction: Carolina wins 3-1
Main Photo Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports
