3 Takeaways From Hurricanes’ Overtime Loss Against Islanders

After a whirlwind Friday night (Jan. 24) where the Carolina Hurricanes made their blockbuster trade, they set their sights on their next game. They were set to take on the New York Islanders at UBS Arena for a Metropolitan Division tilt in their 50th game of the 2024-25 season.

Early in the morning, newcomers Mikko Rantanen and Taylor Hall met the team at the hotel to get acquainted with their new teammates. As things got closer to the game, the excitement grew to see how the new numbers 96 and 71 were going to play for the Hurricanes. Jack Roslovic changed his number to 98 to let Rantanen have his 96 while Taylor Hall reached out to Jesper Fast about wearing 71. As a class act like usual, Fast said Hall could wear the number.

The puck was finally dropped and the fans were able to see the new guys with the Hurricanes for the first time. Unfortunately, they lost the game 3-2 in overtime. However, they did extend their point streak to five games despite snapping their four-game winning streak. What stood out in the Hurricanes’ first game with Rantanen and Hall?

Quick Start for Hurricanes

What made this game interesting for the Hurricanes was that they had a two-goal lead for a good portion of the first period. Before the seven-minute mark, Jack Roslovic and Sebastian Aho scored both Hurricanes goals just 1:12 apart. Roslovic’s goal came after a beautiful pass from Jesperi Kotkaniemi to score his team-tying 18th goal of the season. It was a great snipe over the shoulder of Islanders netminder Marcus Hogberg. Aho got his 16th goal of the season as he was trying to set up Rantanen for his first goal for his new team. However, it went off of a home player’s skate for a lucky bounce.

It seemed that the game was going to be all Carolina, scoring two goals in quick succession. That was not the case, as Alexander Romanov was able to get his first of the season by beating Pyotr Kochetkov to make it a 2-1 game after twenty minutes. Despite being outshot 10-9, there was a good amount of chances for the Hurricanes to extend their lead past the two goals, even with the Islanders scoring one.

New Guys Making an Early Impact

Mikko Rantanen

Despite not getting on the scoresheet, the new additions of Rantanen and Hall came out flying for the Hurricanes in this one. Rantanen showed why he is an elite power forward that the Hurricanes needed to get to the next level. In his first game, he played 18:54 of time on ice (TOI) with 23 shifts. Furthermore, he had a plethora of grade-A chances, as he finished the night with five shots and was a plus-1. Rantanen even had a blocked shot to his credit. As the game progressed, Rantanen was getting more comfortable with his shot. He played on the top line with Aho and Andrei Svechnikov.

In the second period, it was clear Rantanen was ready to score because he had three close chances with one of them going off of the post. Even in the third period, he was creating chances for himself and his linemates. Plus, he was able to use his big frame to battle for the puck along the boards.

It will take some time to get used to the system in Carolina since Rantanen played for the Colorado Avalanche his entire career before coming over in the trade. Once he gets going, there is no telling where this team will go. They went all in for a top 10, maybe even top five, player in the whole NHL.

When asked about the last 24 hours during the postgame, Rantanen stated, “Finding out last night, not a lot of sleep, a lot of emotions going through because it was 10 years in Colorado. It was a long time. That’s the hardest. But I felt pretty good, obviously, I’ve kind of been better for sure, but there’s a lot of good players around here and this team is good, so it should be good.”

Taylor Hall

Hall spent most of the last couple of seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks. It was a quick turnaround for him, as he got up early in Chicago to get to Long Island to meet the team. In his Hurricanes debut, the Calgary, AB native had 11:36 of TOI with 16 shifts. While he did not register a shot, he had a blocked shot and three hits. He finished with an even rating.

He started on the fourth line with Juha Jaaska and Roslovic but gradually made his way to the third line with Jordan Staal and Jordan Martinook. Also, he saw a couple of shifts on the second line with Kotkaniemi and Svechnikov. Hall was slotted on the second power-play group, replacing Jack Drury.