The NHL's Best Team Isn't Who You Think — and They Just Proved It Again
The Carolina Hurricanes improved to a league-best 11-2 with a 3-2 win over Columbus, riding Pyotr Kochetkov's 24 saves and a strong two-way night from Seth Jarvis.
While most of the hockey world's attention is on the usual contenders, it's the Carolina Hurricanes quietly putting together the best record in the NHL. Carolina beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2 on Thursday night, improving to 11-2 on the season — a .800 win percentage that leads the league and has the Hurricanes sitting atop their conference's playoff seeding just 15 games in, according to ESPN's official scoreboard and team statistics.
Goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov was named the game's first star after stopping 24 of 26 shots for a .923 save percentage, anchoring a Carolina defense that has allowed the fewest goals against per game of any team in the league this season. Center Seth Jarvis, who logged two assists and was named second star, and Mark Jankowski, who scored a goal and was named third star, rounded out Carolina's offensive night.
A Hot Start Builds on a Hot Fall
Thursday's win extended a stretch that has seen Carolina win three straight and continues a broader surge that began in mid-October — the Hurricanes had already strung together an eight-game winning streak earlier this month before a pair of losses briefly interrupted the run. With 11 wins against just two regulation losses, Carolina's 24 points through 15 games put them on pace for one of the best starts in franchise history.
24 SAVES. A .923 SAVE PERCENTAGE. AND THE LEAGUE'S BEST RECORD.
Columbus, by contrast, continues to search for consistency, dropping to a losing record on the night despite pushing Carolina into the third period before the Hurricanes pulled away. The result caps a week in which Carolina played some of its most complete two-way hockey of the young season, limiting Columbus's offensive chances while getting timely secondary scoring from its depth players rather than relying solely on its top line.
With the NHL season still in its early stretch, plenty can change between now and the playoffs — but for a Carolina team that has often been the league's quiet overachiever in recent years, an 11-2 start is about as loud a statement as a team can make without actually saying a word.