A Wink and a Smile: Jarvis Returns, but Hurricanes Are Done in by Oilers Power Play Dominance

Well, the Carolina Hurricanes’ 6-5 shootout loss to the Edmonton Oilers was certainly not short of action, storylines, and…controversy. Because even late October, cross-conference games can have some controversy, eh?

The Storyline: Return of the ‘Manitoba Mad Man’

Let’s start with the storyline, first.

Seth Jarvis, the Hurricanes’ leading goal scorer for the past two seasons, made his return to play after being activated from the injured reserve Wednesday afternoon – his first game back since undergoing surgery to repair his shoulder. Quite frankly, upon his return, he didn’t seem to miss a beat from my view behind the screens. Midway through the game, he even got the Hurricanes a go-ahead goal!

But, from his own perspective, he spoke on what he felt was a lacking game from himself – and in classic Jarvis fashion, pinned the loss onto himself.

“One of my biggest things is defense, and being responsible,” he said after the game, “and I thought that part was kinda lacking tonight, and that’s a big reason why we didn’t kinda pull this one out.”

The Controversy: A Wink and a Smile

Before I dig into the action of the game, let’s get into the controversy – because I know that is likely one of the reasons you are still reading.

Of course, it wasn’t anything massive – nothing like chanting disdain for a player or throwing the sweater of said player onto the ice en masse – but it was certainly an eyebrow raiser.

In the third period, Zach Hyman took a shove from K’Andre Miller, dropping to one knee as he tried to maintain his hold on the puck. During that slide, Sean Walker put a little check to the upper back of Hyman. In response, Hyman…played it up, sprawling onto the ice, sliding on his face, and remaining there as if badly injured. The referee pretty quickly called a cross-checking penalty on Walker, who was understandably irate due to the lack of severity of his hit – and the clear embellishment on Hyman’s part.

As for Hyman? He, in fact, got up just fine, looking at his teammate and giving a wink and a smile – something caught by the Hurricanes’ broadcast. Needless to say, people on social media were pretty quick to share their opinions on the matter.

“League should suspend players for this. Protect Integrity. We are one wink closer to soccer folks.” said one hockey fan.

“Stripe’s gotta help’em out B Freakin S” said another.

“Cross check to the neck of a guy who’s already down, but sure.” said one, pointing out the hit itself.

The Action: How the Game Went Down

And finally, let’s get into the action of the game, shall we?

The first period saw a power play goal apiece, with Leon Draisaitl scoring first, soon followed by Jackson Blake to tie things up. As a brief correction, the linked clip post lists the goal as Blake’s 100th point. It was, in fact, only his 99th – a failure to verify the stat on my end of things during coverage.

As for the second period, it saw three even-strength Hurricanes goals – one by Sebastian Aho, an ever stylish one by Jarvis, and one by Logan Stankoven. Additionally, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins also scored on the power play.

In the third period, the Oilers got their first (and only) even-strength goal of the night, by Connor McDavid, just 26 seconds into the frame – seconds after the Oilers lost Mattias Ekholm to injury. A couple of minutes later, Draisaitl lit the lamp yet again – tying the game on the power play acquired by Hyman and his aforementioned shenanigans.

Juuso Valimaki, though, found the back of the net for his first goal in a Hurricanes sweater, giving his team the lead.

In the waning minutes of the game, Hyman thought he’d scored the game-tying goal with goaltender Devon Levi back on the bench – but it was quickly poofed away by the refs due to a highstick. Nonetheless, McDavid scored soon after anyway, sending it to overtime.

After a scoreless additional frame, the shootout commenced, with Nugent-Hopkins being the only player to find twine.

The Hurricanes still left with a point, with their next game – versus the St. Louis Blues – being the final of their Western Conference road trip.

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