The Vancouver Canucks and Carolina Hurricanes didn’t have much in common entering the season.
Now in the second week of the schedule, they’ve both experienced similar doses of successes and failures.
That’s the backdrop as Vancouver and Carolina head into Thursday night’s meeting in Raleigh, N.C.
The Hurricanes have won a pair of road games since beginning the season with a 0-1-1 mark in two home outings.
The Canucks have alternated wins and losses, with a break since Sunday’s 3-2 setback to visiting Vegas.
So this means that Vancouver has back-to-back games against last season’s Stanley Cup finalists, with the game at Carolina the beginning of a six-game road trip to Eastern Conference locales.
“We’ve had a couple great teams we’ve played against here early and going to continue to try and be better, and I think a road trip will help us,” Canucks forward Paul Cotter said.
Veteran defenseman Luke Schenn said the trips tend to be good for bonding, though winning games along the way tends to help.
“Getting to know one another a little bit on a personal level,” he said of time away from home. “I think the closer you are off the ice, the easier it translates on the ice.”
The Canucks are adjusting in several ways under first-year coach Manny Malhotra, who has generally expressed an encouraging tone by what he has seen so far from the team.
“We’re definitely seeing progress in different areas of the game,” Malhotra said. “Playing a different system takes a while to get used to.
The Hurricanes have most all of their roster in place since winning the Stanley Cup in June. But a new season has already brought certain challenges.
There have been encouraging signs for the Hurricanes since the lackluster beginning to the season. Special teams have been looking up.
“I think our penalty kill is kind of picking up where they left off in the playoffs,” forward Taylor Hall said.
Forward Sebastian Aho said the Hurricanes need to find ways to get rolling while parts of their attack are taking time to get untracked. So perhaps it’s the penalty killing that can ignite a spark.
“It’s just so huge and gives us so much momentum,” Aho said.
Aho has four goals out of the team’s 11 total goals this season.
For Vancouver, Cotter also has four goals to go with two assists. Teammate Elias Petterson also has six points, with two goals and four assists.
Cotter has at least one point in all four games.
“Obviously, the points are nice,” Malhotra said. “When you can contribute on that end of things, makes you feel good. The expectation of his game doesn’t change. We’re not expecting him to be on pace for 82 goals.”
This matchup will mark the lone home outing for the Hurricanes amid a five-game stretch. Last season, they didn’t experience a third home setback until mid-November, something they’ll look to avoid Thursday.
