Life without Jordan Staal isn’t going to be easy for the Carolina Hurricanes.
The Canes have lost their captain for a month, maybe two. They’ve lost their best defensive center, best faceoff man, one of their best – if not the best – penalty killers.
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Against the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday, it didn’t matter. The Canes won big. Against the Washington Capitals on Tuesday, it was a lot tougher.
The Hurricanes took a 4-2 victory over the Caps at Lenovo Center as forward Andrei Svechnikov had a pair of goals and an assist, running their winning streak to six games.
Svechnikov’s second goal, on a power play with 6:04 left in regulation, gave the Canes the lead and proved to be the game-winner. But the winger, named the game’s first star, was quick to note the absence that will be felt without No. 11, Staal, who has suffered a partial calf muscle tear.
“Obviously it’s a big loss,” Svechnikov said. “He’s our ‘Sheriff.’ He’s a huge part of what we do, and it’s going to be hard to play without him, with the penalty kills and all the five-on-five stuff, playing against the best lines.
“We’ve just got to stick with our game and play our game. Whatever happens, happens. But obviously it’s a big loss for us.”
The Canes (6-1-1) have played the first eight games without winger Seth Jarvis, who continues to work his way back from offseason shoulder surgery and is close to a return.
Now, Staal is gone. And forward Taylor Hall left Tuesday’s game with an upper-body injury in the second period.
Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour did not have an update on Hall’s condition but said it “does not look good.”
The Canes, who leave later in the week for a West Coast trip, recalled forward Bradly Nadeau from the Chicago Wolves of the AHL after the game.
“That happens in this league,” Brind’Amour said of the injuries. “You’ve got to deal with it. That’s the only thing you can do. Everybody goes through it.”
Goalie Pyotr Kochetkov earned his fourth win of the season, and his 20 saves included some timely ones early in the game as the Canes fought through a slow start.
Svechnikov nearly had hats flying in the final minutes of the game. After the Caps pulled goalie Logan Thompson for an extra attacker, Svechnikov zoomed down ice after the puck as Canes fans rose and cheered, expecting the hat trick.
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Unable to get a shot on net, Svechnikov spotted Mark Jankowski open and got him the puck for an easy score.
“He’s been great,” Brind’Amour said of Svechnikov. “This is the kind of player that we all know he’s capable of being. He’s been on a hot stretch to start the year, and we’ve needed it with the guys we’ve lost.”
For Jankowski, it was his fifth goal in the past five games. The center has been moved into Staal’s spot between Nikolaj Ehlers and Jordan Martinook, and also has been used in penalty killing and on the power play.
Told he had big shoes to fill, Jankowski smiled and said, “Conn Smythe shoes to fill.”
Staal was named the Conn Smythe Trophy winner after the Canes’ torrid run to the Stanley Cup. If Brind’Amour had to pick one player he would not want to play without, it likely would be Staal.
“We’ll do it by committee,” Jankowski said. “Not one guy can do it.”
The Canes took time in the first period to recognize the Caps’ Alexander Ovechkin, who will retire after this season. The man they call “Ovi” and the “Great 8” was drafted in the arena in 2004 and the NHL’s all-time goal scorer was making his last scheduled appearance in Raleigh, barring a return for the playoffs.
The two teams traded goals, glares, hard shoves and penalties in the first two periods. Boone Jenner and Justin Holl scored, twice giving the Caps the lead. Svechnikov and Eric Robinson answered for Carolina – Robinson’s goal with 1:11 left in the second for a 2-2 tie.
Washington scored first after a three-on-one rush into the zone. Kochetkov stopped Jenner’s first shot, but the Caps retrieved the puck and Boone found the net with a second chance.
Brind’Amour was steamed late in the period after Nicolas Deslauriers was called for cross-checking and then Svechnikov was sent to the box for unsportsmanlike conduct. But the Canes penalty killers got the job done.
Holl, making his debut for the Caps, scored his first goal of the season – and 15th of his career – in the second for a 2-1 lead. But the Canes had more offensive mojo in the period to pressure goalie Logan Thompson.
Svechnikov attacked a rebound and knocked a loose puck past Thompson. Cap coach Spencer Carbery challenged for goaltender interference but the call was upheld on review.
With the second period winding down, Robinson put a shot on net from the left circle, the puck catching the stick of Caps defenseman Martin Fehervary in front and getting through Thompson.
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