Carolina Hurricanes Stun Chicago Blackhawks, Pick Up 2-1 Win on the Road

The Carolina Hurricanes went into a hostile environment and stunned the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday, winning by a final score of 2-1.

Scoring Summary

1st Period

No Goals

2nd Period

CAR Goal (19:41) – Justin Faulk (14), assisted by Jeff Skinner (4), Phil Di Giuseppe (4)

On a late 2nd period rush, Skinner entered the zone and dropped the puck back to the trailing Faulk, and he sent one of his patented smooth wrist shots past Crawford to give Carolina a 1-0 lead.

3rd Period

CAR Goal (4:48) – Victor Rask (10), assisted by Brett Pesce (8), Jeff Skinner (5)

Rask won an offensive zone faceoff, and some good movement by the Canes following the draw opened up Rask for a quick shot from the top of the right circle, and he made no mistake, giving the Canes a 2-0 lead.

CHI Goal (19:57) – Brent Seabrook (6), assisted by Andrew Shaw (8), Jonathan Toews (11)

The Blackhawks were able to chip one past Lack in the dying seconds of period three to break the shutout. Toews won an offensive-zone faceoff, and Seabrook came in and flipped the puck into the Canes goal, making it a 2-1 game.

Three Stars

1st Star – Justin Faulk, D (CAR) – 1 goal, 2 shots, 5 hits, 5 blocked shots, 24:30 TOI

2nd Star – Eddie Lack, G (CAR) – 36 shots faced, 35 saves, .972 save percentage, win

3rd Star – Victor Rask, C (CAR) – 1 goal, +2, 5 shots, 1 hit, 70% faceoffs, 16:58 TOI

Recap

It was a playoff-type atmosphere on Sunday night in Chicago, but the Carolina Hurricanes came, saw, and conquered the Hawks and picked up a 2-1 win.

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This matchup was as tight as could be for the better part of 40 minutes. Each team’s defense was kept in check, and they were able to keep the offense away from their goalies. That was until Justin Faulk was able to break the ice late in the 2nd period.

The energy from that goal carried over for Carolina in the 3rd period, and Victor Rask put a much needed cushion on the lead, giving the Canes a 2-0 advantage in the early stages of the final frame.

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Sunday night was the Justin Faulk show for the Carolina Hurricanes. Faulk didn’t just play well, he absolutely dominated all night against the reigning Stanley Cup champions. He netted the big 1st goal of the game, delivered 5 hits, blocked 5 shots, and logged 24:30 of time on ice. He continues to rise as one of the premier blue liners in the game, both offensively and defensively. What he did against the Blackhawks can not be underestimated. I’ll go as far as to say that this was his best game in the National Hockey League.

When the defense couldn’t come up with the big play, Eddie Lack was there to bail them out in net. In his best game as a Hurricane, Lack stopped 35 of 36 Chicago shots, allowing the only goal with just 3 seconds to go in the 3rd period. His stellar performance makes Tuesday tough for Bill Peters. He will have to choose between two extremely hot hands in Lack and Ward in net.

This was an ultimate team win for the Hurricanes. They had to band together as a unit in a hostile environment to get a big win over a team that won hockey’s holy grail just over 6 months ago, and that is exactly what they did on Sunday.

Next: The Canes Have Found their Odd-Man Out on Defense

The Carolina Hurricanes will now go to New Jersey for another matchup against the Devils on Tuesday night. The Canes defeated the Devils on Saturday by a final score of 3-1 in Raleigh.