Hurricanes playoff win comes at a cost

The Carolina Hurricanes took a 2-0 series lead in their first round encounter with the New York Islanders on Wednesday. However, their overtime victory came at a cost. That is because Hurricanes forward Teuvo Teravainen of Helsinki, Finland broke his hand in the third period. Carolina went on to win the game 4-3 in overtime, but not having Teravainen is a huge loss moving forward.

How did the injury happen?

Teravainen was the recipient of a slash from Islanders center Jean-Gabriel Pageau of Ottawa, Ontario. He is the second Hurricanes forward to receive a serious injury in recent times. Just last month, Andrei Svechnikov injured his right anterior cruciate ligament and a a result needed reconstructive surgery. Teravainen and Svechnikov combined for 92 points in the regular season and were in an instrumental part of Carolina’s overall offensive production.

Overtime Winner

Jesper Fast of Nassjo, Sweden scored the overtime winner from Jordan Staal of Thunder Bay, Ontario, and Brent Burns of Barrie, Ontario. The goal came at 5:03 of the extra period. It was a strong offensive game for Burns as he had two assists and was one of two Hurricanes defensemen with more than one point. The other was Jacob Slavin of Denver, Colorado, who had one goal and one assist. The other two Hurricanes goal scorers were Paul Stastny of Quebec City, Quebec, and Stefan Noesen of Plano, Texas.

Tough Night for Referees

Both the Carolina Hurricanes and New York Islanders were dissatisfied with the referees, and have every reason to be disturbed. The duo of Jake Brenk and Francis Charron not only missed the Pageau slash on Teravainen, but a high sticking infraction by Hurricanes forward Jordan Martinook on Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield in overtime. It will be interesting to see if Brenk and Charron receive future assignments in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Unlike players, referees are not suspended. They just tend not to get considered for significant assignments later on in the postseason when they clearly miss calls.