It took just 30 seconds for the Carolina Hurricanes to get all the goals they would need Sunday afternoon, as the Canes beat the New Jersey Devils 2-1 after scoring twice in the opening half-minute of the game.
It was the fastest two goals to open a game in Hurricanes’ (9-8-3) franchise history, and also made Carolina just the sixth team in NHL history to score twice in the first 30 seconds of a game. It was a much-needed win for the Canes, who were coming off a blowout 4-1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets the night before.
“That’s the game,” head coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “We talk about it all the time how you can have a good game, but that one shift or you take a breath and it will cost you. I thought it was the other way tonight. We got lucky that they had their two worst shifts of the game to start the game. It benefitted us, obviously.”
Canes’ captain Justin Williams scored the game-opening goal on the Devils (8-9-2) just 22 seconds in, and forward Micheal Ferland tallied eight seconds later to make it 2-0. New Jersey fought back with a strong rest of the first period, which included the Devils’ lone goal from forward Pavel Zacha.
“I mean, who would have thought that that would be all the scoring just in the first period, and certainly just in the first 30 seconds,” Williams said. “Every game is a surprise, and not all are the same. That was a battle and a grind. It’s good for us to play some close games like that to have some confidence later on in the season.”
In net, Curtis McElhinney had a great game for Carolina. McElhinney stopped 33 of 34 shots faced and made a number of good saves to keep the Devils from tying things up.
“The biggest thing is when your team sets you up for some easier reads versus the two-on-ones, the breakaways and stuff like that,” McElhinney said. “The odd-man rushes are where things get hairy. I thought we did a great job overall, and I was able to see the puck and make the saves.”
For the Devils, Cory Schneider was impenetrable for the final 59:30 of play. However, the two early goals against Schneider were enough to give the Devils’ net-minder his 17th straight loss dating back to December of last year.
Williams’ goal came 22 seconds after the puck dropped, on the first shift of the game. Williams slotted the puck through Schneider’s five-hole after receiving the puck in open space from forward Jordan Staal, who made a great play at the blue line to keep possession, draw defensemen and get a pass away. For the Canes’ captain, it was just his second goal of the season.
“Hopefully that can springboard me to have some better offensive stats,” Williams said. “Our line certainly hasn’t contributed a lot offensively lately. We had a lot of chances tonight.”
Eight seconds later, Ferland made it 2-0. Defenseman Dougie Hamilton intercepted a pass in the neutral zone immediately out of the faceoff and fed it to forward Teuvo Teravainen. Teravainen made a great pass across the ice to Ferland, who rifled it past Schneider.
Despite the strong start, the rest of the first period was an absolute rollercoaster for the Hurricanes. New Jersey controlled the puck and the scoring chances throughout the rest of the opening frame and made it a 2-1 game six minutes after Ferland’s goal.
The Devils got out quick in transition, and a great pass from forward Jesper Bratt through the Canes defense found the stick of Zacha, who baited McElhinney with the forehand before firing a backhanded shot into the roof of the net.
The Canes took the 2-1 lead into the first intermission, but it easily could have been a different story. New Jersey had a number of good looks that didn’t find the back of the net in the first period, including one shot that got past McElhinney but didn’t cross the line before the Canes netminder was able to recover.
Carolina looked much better in the second period than it did to end the first, as the middle 20 minutes went by without either team adding to the scoreboard. For the Canes, the story of the second period was strong penalty killing, which is something that hasn’t been the case all season. Carolina killed off three penalties in the second period alone.
The Canes finished the game out in the third period, playing arguably their best frame of the game. While the Devils couldn’t get much going against the Canes, Carolina also struggled heavily to create chances after its initial offensive onslaught.
“[Last night] wasn’t our game, but tonight wasn’t our game either,’’ Brind’Amour said. “I really didn’t like this game for a lot of it. I did like that our guys were competing. We didn’t give up a ton, but we didn’t create very much.”
The Canes will now have a couple off-days, before returning to the ice Wednesday to host the Toronto Maple Leafs. Now a quarter of the way through the season, the Hurricanes have spent the year straddling that .500 line.
“Winning is a lot more fun, isn’t it?” Williams said. “A better attitude and just a lot more fun around the dressing room. We need to start something rolling here. We need to get it going soon.”
