Hurricanes most to blame for heartbreaking 20T Game 3 loss to Golden Knights after 4-0 comeback

The Carolina Hurricanes are now down 2-1 in the Stanley Cup Final against the Vegas Golden Knights.  A second-period collapse by the Hurricanes put them in a major hole. The team was able to rebound, but still fell in double overtime.

The collapse started ten minutes into the second period, with the game still scoreless. Tomas Hertl would score on the power play to make it 1-0, and then Mitch Marner took over. Marner would score the next three goals of the game, making it four goals in under seven minutes as Vegas took the 4-0 lead.

The Canes made the comeback. Jordan Martinook scored just over seven minutes into the third period. Taylor Hall and Jordan Stall would score two more in the next forty seconds to make it 4-3. Then, Andrei Svechnikov scored on the power play with under two minutes left in the game to send the game to overtime. The game would go into a second overtime, where Shea Theodore won the game for the Golden Knights.

As the Hurricanes get over their heartbreaking loss, there are still players who need to shoulder the blame.

Frederik Andersen struggles again

Frederik Andersen struggled in Game 1 of the series. He gave up five goals on just 23 shots in the game, good for a .783 save percentage in the game. After the game, Rod Brind’Amour stuck by his netminder and expressed his confidence in Andersen. It paid off in Game 2 of the series. While Andersen was not at his best, he was much better. In the second game of the series, he stopped 23 of 26 shots, good for a .885 save percentage, and took the overtime victory.

Still, his poor form came back in Game 3. Andersen faced just 16 shots in two periods and made just 12 saves. This led to Brind’Amour pulling his goaltender and placing Brandon Bussi in the net. Bussi faced 19 shots in the game, including a penalty shot, which he stopped. He would save 18 of them, but give up the final goal of the game. Still, the Hurricanes would not have been in overtime had Andersen played as Bussi did in the game. His play has been below par for three straight games, and it may be time for the Canes to make a change in goal.

Alexander Nikishin made costly mistakes

Alexander Nikishin had a solid rookie campaign for the Hurricanes. He played in 81 games, averaging 18:11 of ice time. He also found the back of the net 11 times while adding 22 assists. He had seen his ice time dip in the playoffs, but he was still productive. This series, he has not been. Nikishin played just 19:16 in the double overtime affair, and had a minus-two plus/minus rating in the game.

He made a few major mistakes in Game 3. The first was an errant pass that forced Shayne Gostisbehere to attempt to close on Mitch Marner. Marner took a shot from distance and hit it for his third goal of the game. He was also on the ice for the game winning goal for the Golden Knights. Overall, Nikishin was responsbile for multiple high danger scoring opprotunites for the Golden Knights, and was a defensive liabilty for the team.

Andrei Svechnikov almost made up for his mistake

Andrei Svechnikov almost was a hero in Game 3. He tied the game late on a power play goal that forced overtime. Still, his play in this series has cost the Hurricanes. He does not have a regular strength point in the series so far, with a power play assist in Game 2 and power play goal in Game 3. He has multiple even strength high danger chances in Game 3, but did not convert any of them. Further, his four giveaways in the game led to two goals for the Golden Knights.

The biggest issue for Svechnikov was not credited to him though. He was the last played onto the ice when Carolina took the too many men on the ice penatly. While the penatly is deemed a team penatly, and may not been entirely his fault, he was the person that led to the penatly. The game had seen the two teams playing solid defense and feeling each other out for a period and a half. On the resulting power play, Tomas Hertl scored. That broke open the scoring, and the Golden Knights would score again just 16 seconds later, on their way to scoring four goals in under six and a half minutes.

If the Hurricanes are going to even up the series, Svechnikov has to be better, and he has to find away to creat an even strength goal.

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