The Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 9-2 on Saturday, Nov. 7, in an impressive performance by head coach Rod Brind’Amour’s team.
As many as seven players had a two-point night, while Sebastian Aho reached three points with his goal and two assists.
Another player who drew a lot of attention after the game was forward William Carrier. In addition to drawing attention for getting hurt during the game, he was also crucial defensively in freeing up his teammates on offense.
That is how ESPN’s Adam Gold described Carrier’s start to the season on the postgame edition of the “Canes Corner” podcast: “marvelous.”
William Carrier Earns First-Star Praise After Hurricanes Beat Blackhawks
He said, “I mean, he just does all those little things that make it easier for (Sebastian) Aho and (Andrei) Svechnikov to do their thing.”
“Because I thought both of those players were awesome tonight. Andrei, he got the two goals, but ultimately the second goal was with 13 seconds left. It was 8 to 2 when he scored to make it 9 to 2.”
“And he had two posts tonight, one of which he got the rebound and put it in. So you can’t really say he could have had another goal because he wouldn’t have had the goal if he didn’t get his own rebound off the post.”
“But it just, Carrier just clears space.”
“The play he makes at the blue line to keep the puck in, and they showed the replay. Essentially, the back edge of the puck might have been outside. The entire puck’s got to come outside the zone. So no big deal. But, I mean, he just barely keeps it in, then gets it to Andrei.”
“Andrei ends up scoring from the slot off the post, gets his own rebound. But then the defensive play he makes… And Carolina had a couple of these tonight. From forwards, they had a couple of them from defensemen, but that’s par for the course. They’re used to going down to the ice to block, you know, to break up two-on-ones or passes across. Will Carrier, you don’t see that a ton.”
“Carolina absolutely bossed the game again once they got their legs under them at the start of the second period. It’s just such a great defensive play.”
“The play where he got hurt was a continuation of the same shift. He’s just, you know, in position in the middle of the defensive zone when a pass across hits him on the outside of the knee. Goes straight down to the ice. Had a hard time getting up. Ultimately went to the locker room. And again, he came back and played.”
“I gave Carrier my first star. Two assists. He’s got, he’s almost, I think his career high for assists is 12. He’s just having a marvelous, marvelous start to the season. He’s got 12 points in, what now, 19 games? Hurricanes are 14-3-2. First team to 30 points and the only team with 13 regulation wins, Carolina. That is pretty remarkable.”
Hurricanes Handed ‘Marvelous’ William Carrier Claim After 9-2 Win