South Raleigh News

The Carolina Hurricanes faced a setback in their recent match against the Los Angeles Kings, losing 7-2 at Crypto.com Arena. Despite entering the game with momentum, the Hurricanes quickly fell behind as the Kings established a 3-0 lead in the first period. This was despite Carolina having a shot advantage of 13-6.

In the second period, Los Angeles extended their lead with three more goals within just over two minutes. Dmitry Orlov managed to break David Rittich's shutout attempt with a slap shot assisted by Logan Stankoven's presence near the net.

The third period remained scoreless for most of its duration until both teams scored eight seconds apart in the final minutes. Mark Jankowski scored Carolina's second goal, marking his fifth goal in six games.

Pyotr Kochetkov experienced his first loss after five consecutive wins, saving 18 shots during the game. The Hurricanes played without Jordan Staal due to a lower-body injury and Shayne Gostisbehere who was ill. For Staal, it was his first missed game of the season.

Scott Morrow returned to play for Carolina, contributing an assist and spending over 21 minutes on ice. Juha Jaaska also rejoined from Chicago and played for 12 minutes, marking his longest ice time in his career so far.

Despite Jankowski's shooting streak ending, he continues to perform well since joining from a trade on March 7th. Saturday's defeat marked only the second occasion since Rod Brind'Amour became head coach that Carolina conceded six goals within two periods.

Reflecting on the match, Coach Rod Brind'Amour commented: "The first two periods, I didn't mind... The third period was trash... They made some nice plays and made some great shots." He emphasized moving forward: "You have to turn the page... It's turning the page and making sure we don't let the bad vibes out of this game leak into the next one."

Sebastian Aho noted: "We gave up too many scoring chances for them... It didn't feel like we were down three after the first." Looking ahead to future games he added: "That's the beauty of this league. You get a next chance real quick."

Following this loss, Carolina will travel to Anaheim for their next game scheduled on Sunday night before returning home to face Nashville on Tuesday.