The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Calgary Flames for a much needed morale booster.
Scoring Summary
1st Period
CAR Goal (2:26) – Victor Rask (12), unassisted
Victor Rask gave the Canes an early lead by wristing a shot home between the hash marks. Rask caused a turnover in Calgary’s zone and out-muscled a defender to get the Canes rolling.
CAR PS Goal (17:27) – Elias Lindholm (7), unassisted
After being tripped on a breakaway, Elias Lindholm scored on his first career penalty shot. Lindholm did not hesitate with his wrist shot, which slipped through Karri Ramo‘s lower right side, giving the Canes an early 2-0 lead.
2nd Period
CAR Goal (2:26) – Kris Versteeg (9), assisted by Eric Staal (20), and Ron Hainsey (10)
Ron Hainsey zipped a breakout pass to Eric Staal. The captain then made a cross-crease pass to Kris Versteeg, who took a hard slap shot, landing the puck in the back of the net. The goal gave the Canes a 3 goal lead.
CGY Goal (11:15) – Jiri Hudler (6), assisted by Mark Giordano (20)
The Calgary Flames responded to the 3 goal deficient with a backhander by Jiri Hudler. The board pass to Hudler barely slipped past Justin Faulk before Hudler managed to get his stick on the puck, giving Calgary their first point of the game
3rd Period
CGY Goal (5:01) – Joe Colborne (6), assisted by Markus Granlund (2), TJ Brodie (20)
After Jaccob Slavin lost his footing and the puck in the offensive zone, Calgary quickly gained possession and created a two on one scenario. Granlund then passed the puck to Colborne who wristed a goal to force a 3-2 game.
CAR Goal (11:13) – PPG Kris Versteeg (10), assisted by Jeff Skinner, and Jordan Staal (13)
The Canes rebounded with a much needed powerplay goal. The puck rebounded off the back boards and bounced off the back of the net. Jeff Skinner then grabbed the puck and took a shot on net, which was followed by Versteeg finally pushing the puck into the back of the net as the replaced goalie, Jonas Hiller, fell backwards into the net.
CAR Goal (11:45) – Joakim Nordstrom (4), unassisted
A few moments later, Nordstrom scored his fourth goal of the season. Nordstrom recovered a rebound off the net and quickly whipped around and scored in the top right corner, restoring the Canes’ 3-goal lead.
Three Stars
1st Star – Kris Versteeg, RW (CAR)- 2 goals, 5 SOG, 15:24 TOI
2nd Star – Joakim Nordstrom, LW (CAR)- 1 goal, +1, 3 SOG, 15:41 TOI
3rd Star – Eddie Lack, G (CAR) – 35 shots against, 33 saves, .943 SV%
Recap
In a game with big playoff implications, the Carolina Hurricanes did what they needed to do against the Calgary Flames on Sunday night.
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The Canes had a near perfect first period as the offense maintained a consistent pressure throughout the period, leading to a two goal lead by the end of the period. They did have a lapse in defense as Michal Jordan turned the puck over on a sloppy turnover, but this was followed by an outstanding save by Eddie Lack.
The second period saw the same results as the Hurricanes continued their offensive pressure. The weakness of the Canes was the two penalties they committed. The third penalty was never implemented as Hudler scored on the delay.
Carolina Hurricanes
The Canes slowed down a bit as Calgary increased its offensive pressure early in the third period. After Calgary brought the game back to a one point game, Carolina quickly ended the comeback and won the game with two consecutive goals halfway through the third period. Calgary also committed three penalties within the final ten minutes of the game, solidifying the Canes’ victory.
Carolina committed a abnormal amount of penalties – 5 total. Calgary’s third period comeback attempt was sparked by momentum gained from these penalties. Luckily, the Calgary Flames have one of the worst special teams units in the league and were unable to capitalize on any of these penalties.
Coach Bill Peters made a slight line change before the game by switching Phil Di Giuseppe to the first line and Elias Lindholm with the third. The change seemed to work as both players made significant plays, both offensively and defensively. Most notable was Lindholm’s breakaway chance that led to a penalty shot. It will be interesting to see if Coach Peters keeps rolling with these lines going forward.
Eddie Lack played well and made many key saves, one of which was a brilliant diving save on a cross-crease pass to Sam Bennett in the second period. The majority of his saves came on Calgary’s 5 powerplays. The starting goaltender needs to sustain this level of play going forward to establish a presence in net.
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The Hurricanes will need to continue this success against the Central Division leading Chicago Blackhawks in Raleigh on Tuesday. The young defense will have a tall task against Patrick Kane, the league’s leading point getter.