Carolina Hurricanes’ Seth Jarvis (24) is double-teamed by Anaheim Ducks’ Cam Fowler (4) and Dmitry Kulikov (29) during the second period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
AP
Seth Jarvis gathered the puck for a shootout shot at practice and headed toward goalie Pyotr Kochetkov, slowing near the crease, using his best fakes and dekes.
And was promptly stopped by Kochetkov. And fell over the goalie’s right pad, landing on his backside, his feet flying up in the air.
No, things have not all gone smoothly for Jarvis in the forward’s second season with the Carolina Hurricanes.
A day later, Kochetkov was stopping all 16 shots he faced as the Canes again took to the road and shut out the New York Islanders, 3-0. That was Saturday as Carolina played with forwards Sebastian Aho and Jesper Fast both out of the lineup with injuries, using seven defensemen and 11 forwards.
Jarvis? He took a puck off his right skate blocking a Noah Dobson shot early, and later absorbed a crunching hit from Matt Martin. He left the game in the second period but was soon back as the Canes (15-6-6) closed out a victory.
“Not much has changed this year for me. Everybody still treats me like a rookie,” Jarvis, smiling, told the N&O last week before leaving for Long Island. “But I still feel like a little kid out here. That’s the fun part.”
Jarvis was one of the Canes’ feel-good stories last season, making the jump from junior hockey to the NHL, having some fun. He finished with 17 goals and 40 points in 68 regular-season games, scoring four game-winning goals, displaying some fearless play around the net.
He started this season with goals in two of the first three games, then had one in the next 18. He was getting his minutes and the effort was there, but not the offensive production as his shooting percentage has been well below last year’s 15.5%.
Not that it has overly bothered Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour.
“I think he’s been good,” Brind’Amour said. “You’re going to have ups and downs in your second year. Go back a hundred years ago and my second year was a tough year in the league after having a real good first year.
“Most of it is expectations. Everyone says, ‘Well, you scored 20 your first year so you’re going to get 30.’ That’s hard. If you take the expectation (part) out of it and you watch the play, I think he’s done really well. His game is just going to grow.”
A year ago, teams constantly prodded and tested the 5-10, 175-pound winger, the Canes’ first-round draft pick in 2020. And especially in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Jarvis, 20, had his front teeth rearranged after taking a stick in the mouth from Ryan Strome of the New York Rangers. Some friendly fire also hurt. He took a Brendan Smith shot just below the waistline, a painful sight for all who saw it.
But it’s all a part of being initiated into the NHL, and Jarvis believes he’s better for it this season.
“I think learning wise, I’m more mature, physically and mentally,” he said. “I think my game is more mature than it was last year, maybe more away from the puck where I can make better reads defensively.
“Just in general, being able to be out there in big moments and high-pressure situations is something I want to be a part of. I think this year I see myself being able to be trusted.”
It’s all about consistency. Jarvis said, and that’s something that was missing early in the season. And maybe some puck luck.
“Honestly, it was just the bounces and it was tough for me to create momentum for myself and for the team,” Jarvis said. “In general, the puck was kind of hopping away from me and I was having trouble kind of corralling it and getting my shots through.”
Jarvis ended a scoreless streak with a goal against Calgary on Nov. 26 and has two goals and four assists in his past seven games. Some of the bounces, he said, are going his way.
“I’m turning the tide a little bit and that comes with working hard,” he said. “That’s what’s changed. At the beginning of the year I was focused on scoring and I got away from what my game is, which is energy and effort.
“Now, the past 10 or 12 games, I’ve gone back to how I made this team, with energy and effort.”
Jarvis is both fast and feisty. The Canes’ Nov. 29 game at Pittsburgh was in overtime and Jarvis was coming off the ice when he bumped the Penguins’ Bryan Rust into the boards by the benches.
With the Pens screaming for a penalty and preoccupied with Jarvis, the Canes’ Andrei Svechnikov and Brett Pesce took off down the ice, Pesce scoring the OT winner.
Moments before, Rust had checked Jarvis into the boards. Jarvis bounced off the hit, took off down the left wing and got off a shot, only to take a stick high from Pens defenseman Brian Dumoulin as he rounded the net. Then, the hit on Rust.
“The puck squirted in the neutral zone and I’m not going to stop playing because (Rust) stands up straight or whatever and he slows down,” Jarvis said. “I’m out there to win a game. I felt like I finished my check, finished my play.
‘They didn’t like it. They tried coming after me and we had a two-on-oh. I think it was a hockey play.”
That’s what Jarvis is about: making hockey plays, helping his team win.