The Carolina Hurricanes are in the middle of their 5,000-plus mile, six-game, 12-day road trip that has been a rollercoaster, to say the least. From dominant wins over the Calgary Flames and Pittsburgh Penguins to twists and turns against the Edmonton Oilers, it was an eventful trip to the North Carolina State Fair for the Raleigh team. Let’s catch up with the Raleighwood Bunch of Jerks with two games left on the road trip before matchups against the Seattle Kraken and Vancouver Canucks.

Hurricane task forces roll

The Canes’ special teams took an early season blow on opening night, allowing two power play goals (PPG) to the Tampa Bay Lightning on October 11 in a 4-1 loss. This also saw their power play go scoreless in the contest. However, since the start of the road trip which began in Pittsburgh on October 18, the Canes have chained four consecutive games with a power play goal. Over the last four games, the Hurricanes’ power play has been 5-for-12 (41.6%). Additionally, it helps when the defender Shayne Gostisbéhere scores three of those five in three straight games. On the other hand, the shots on goal have also been in fuego over the last four games, going 14 out of 15 (93.3%) to start the road trip. Although the special teams performed well in the first two games of the season, the trip to the North Carolina State Fair really boosted the team’s special teams who now sit sixth in power play (29.4%) and eighth shorthanded (83.3%).

Special teams, especially shorthanded ones, are the bread and butter of what makes the Canes a tough team to play against. Although they started slowly, just like in the 2023-2024 season during their trips to the West Coast and Western Canada, but eventually turned the tide to lead the league last season, it looks like we’re seeing this happen once again. Being able to start 4-for-6 (66.6%) to now hit 83.3% shows how quickly it is possible to go from the bottom third of the league to the top 10 when special teams is off. The power play finished third last season and currently being sixth with four straight PPG games gives head coach Rod Brind’Amour and his staff encouragement that they can capitalize when needed. Plus, it helps to have a power play specialist who was one of the team’s top scorers, even after one season with the Detroit Red Wings.

Do you believe in ghosts?

After six games into the season, who had Gostisbehere leading the Hurricanes in goals (4)? Probably not much, especially after playing with the Red Wings in the 2023-24 season. However, believe it or not, there have been plenty of sightings of “Ghost” this season, as he went on a four-game goal streak before being snapped Thursday night (Oct. 24) against the Flames. During the four-game streak, he has had three straight games with power play goals (team leads). To say Gostisbehere started the season on fire would be an understatement. He is seen as Brady Skjei’s replacement on the power play as the PP1 quarterback and it has paid off.

Martin Necas and Seth Jarvis are the only other Canes with PPG (1), so it paid off to have Ghost back on the roster for the next three seasons at an average annual value of $3.2 million. He is currently third on the team in points, behind Sébastien Aho (7) and Nécas (8). After 10 goals and 56 points in 81 games for the Red Wings last season, it appears Gostisbehere hasn’t slowed down and could be on track to reach a career-high in goals before the end of the 2024-25 season .

Related: Martin’s Thoughts: Hurricanes’ Blake and Gostisbehere Stay Hot, Kotkaniemi Milestone and More

His career-high is 17 goals with the Philadelphia Flyers during the 2015-16 season. Although he’s still 13 away from tying, having four games in six already gives some confidence that 18 to reach a new career high is very doable for the Pembroke Pines, Florida native.

Making your way through Alberta

The Hurricanes traveled to Alberta to face the Oilers (10/22) and Flames (10/24) and what a rollercoaster those games were. After being down 2-0 after two periods to the Oilers, both goals from Connor McDavid, the third period saw a familiar Cardiac Canes comeback with Gostisbehere scoring his third PPG in three straight games and his fourth total goal in four games for put them on the ground. advice. After a superb pass from Jesperi Kotkaniemi as well as a magnificent back-and-forth between Necas and Eric Robinson, Necas sent the puck into the outside of the wide-open net (after a magnificent cross-ice pass from Robinson) to tie the game. match. and force overtime.

With seven seconds remaining, it was Aho who was the hero to complete the comeback by scoring his 56th game-winning goal (GWG) to seal the score. win 3-2 in overtime for the Hurricanes. That puts him one GWG behind Ron Francis (57) for the most all-time in franchise history.

Related: 5 takeaways from the Oilers’ overtime loss to the Hurricanes

Luckily for them against the Flames two nights later, it wasn’t a comeback victory but one that was too close to be comfortable until the end of the game. The power play remained hot as Jarvis made it 1-0 for the Hurricanes in the first period on assists from Aho and Necas. Once the second period began, it was only Canes who scored two goals in the first two minutes. Jack Roslovic didn’t want to feel left out with new scorers as he scored his second of the season 41 seconds into the period. Brent Burns got his first point of the season with an assist. A minute and 18 seconds later, Necas made it 3-0 for his third of the season thanks to assists from Gostisbehere and Kotkaniemi, who is having a quiet five-point season so far.

However, the Flames didn’t go quietly as they made it 3-1 before the end of the second period and scored a little more than halfway through the third period after a defensive breakdown to give themselves a lead 3-2 to Canes. It wasn’t a place the Hurricanes wanted to be, especially after trailing 3-0 early in the second period.

Fortunately, Robinson put the final nail in the coffin with an empty-net goal to seal the game. Hurricanes win 4-2 against the Flames. It was his first career point with the Canes. Additionally, Pyotr Kochetkov collected his first NHL point with the lone assist on Robinson’s goal. He sent a nice pass with the boards to Robinson who ended up in the back of the net. That clinched the win and sent the Hurricanes on their way after two stops in Alberta and winning back-to-back wins. What a turnaround after a disappointing loss to the St. Louis Blues on October 19. That puts them at 3-1-0 after four games of the road trip with two games remaining.

Rods seek to tame the Kraken

The Hurricanes continue their road trip in the penultimate game against the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena. Play-by-play announcer Mike Maniscalco and color commentator Tripp Tracy will be on the call. Fans can watch the game at 10 p.m. Eastern on television on Fan Duel Sports Network South and on radio on 99.9 The Fan. Will they make it three wins in a row before finishing the road trip in Vancouver next week?