Hurricanes finish NHL first half with a flourish, gaining momentum despite goalie injuries

You didn’t have to actually watch the first four months of the season. You could catch up on everything Thursday night, a rapid recap of everything that happened in the first 41 games.

The first half of the Carolina Hurricanes’ season ended with a sampler platter of so many themes from the previous 40 games, for better or worse: Erratic goaltending, an injury in net, a blown two-goal lead, yet another power-play goal and yet another Andrei Svechnikov goal, among other shenanigans.

But it was a win, keeping with more recent history, their ninth in the past 14 games, with points in 13 of those. Just as they let the Anaheim Ducks back in the game Thursday before recovering and rolling to a 6-3 win, that run has propelled them back up the standings from where they bottomed out a month ago. Amid their swoon, the New York Rangers seemed miles away. Now, they’re within three points.

For a Thursday night game in January against a Western Conference team near the bottom of the NHL standings it certainly exceeded expectations. As a conclusion to the first half of the season, it summed up the state of the Hurricanes nicely. A loss in Anaheim in the third game of the season was a harbinger of struggles to come. The win Thursday, while turbulent, showed just how much the Hurricanes have put all that behind them.

Still, they enter the second half with even more uncertainty in goal — kind of like the time Peter Karmanos asked fans for “even more patience” during the darkest days — after Pyotr Kochetkov was the victim of another friendly fire incident involving Dmitry Orlov, who collided with Martin Necas in practice last week, knocking Necas out of the lineup for three games and counting. This time, Orlov redirected Isac Lundestrom into Kochetkov’s head late in the second period.

Kochetkov had to be helped off the ice by Orlov and Stefan Noesen, bringing Antti Raanta into a 3-3 game. In the next minute, Noesen scored and Brendan Lemieux fought Sam Carrick after Carrick ran Jack Drury into the end boards. Fighting is on its way out of the NHL, and that’s for the best, but it needs to find a way to preserve and recreate the pro-wrestling drama of a helmetless Lemieux revving up the home crowd after winning a fight.

In terms of grand philosophical dilemmas, the Hurricanes will find Kochetkov’s situation of more immediate concern. With Frederik Andersen still working toward a return, what certainly appeared to be a concussion for Kochetkov may throw a goaltending situation that had finally resumed some semblance of consistency back into disarray, as well as Raanta played in relief in this one.

Also worrisome: Jaccob Slavin sat out the final five minutes, although he never left the bench.

The good news for the Hurricanes, is that unlike last month’s disastrous net instability, their offense is firing in a manner that can cure a lot of goaltending ills. Svechnikov scored his eighth goal in seven games, the power play converted for an eighth straight game — 14 for 28 since Christmas — and Sebastian Aho picked up his 16th point over that span.

Throw in multipoint nights from Seth Jarvis, Jordan Martinook, Teuvo Teravainen and Noesen and it continues to feel like the Hurricanes can score their way out of any trouble they might encounter. They certainly did Thursday, jumping out to a 2-0 lead while allowing just one shot on goal in the first period and scoring twice in 141 seconds after the Ducks caught up at 3-3.

Six goals will do it most nights, no matter who’s in net. Especially when Raanta only had to make three saves in 26 minutes.

The formula doesn’t change now, as the second half begins Saturday against the Pittsburgh Penguins as this homestand, both long and long awaited, rolls on. It’s been a long road for the Hurricanes to this point. It feels like they’ve endured far more than half a season already.

Things may not get any easier, but as the end starts to approach, it feels less and less like the Hurricanes are short on time to turn things around and more and more like they’re gathering momentum.

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