The Carolina Hurricanes ended the San Jose Sharks’ three-game winning streak with a 5-2 victory Friday night at PNC Arena.
The Sharks (31-21-5) came into the game with the NHL’s second-best road record, but the Hurricanes (27-22-10), led by a two-goal night from Jeff Skinner, dominated puck possession to find the back of the net five times.
“It was a solid effort,” Skinner said. “I think the fact that everyone contributed really helped out. All four lines were going, all six [defensemen]. When you can share the workload like that, it makes it a little bit easier.”
Carolina lit the lamp first on a double-deflection that caused the puck to flutter over the head of San Jose netminder Martin Jones and into the net. Defenseman Noah Hanifin wristed a shot on net that was first deflected by a Sharks’ player, and then batted into the net by forward Chris Terry for his first goal since Jan. 8.
The Sharks responded toward the later stages of the opening frame after the Hurricanes turned the puck over in the offensive zone, leading to a San Jose rush in the opposite direction. Defenseman Brent Burns eventually fired a shot from the high slot that found it’s way past Canes goalie Cam Ward, who was unable to see the puck through traffic.
The Canes retook the lead in the second period en route to a dominating possession performance where they outshot the Sharks, 19-4.
Carolina forward Joakim Nordstrom blasted a slapshot past Jones to give the Canes a 2-1 advantage. While in the neutral zone, forward Jordan Staal found Nordstrom with a pass in stride as he rushed into the offensive zone before firing the shot. The assist was Staal’s ninth point in the eight games in the month of February.
The Hurricanes struck again within the first minute of the final period while on the power play. As chaos ensued with a loose puck in the crease, Jones attempted the cover the puck while it was resting on the goal line, but accidently pushed it into his own net to give the Canes a 3-1 lead.
The officials originally called the goal off as they ruled Carolina forward Eric Staal made incidental contact with the netminder. Hurricanes head coach Bill Peters used his coach’s challenge to review the play, which resulted in the call being reversed.
“I was glad we have that opportunity to challenge,” Eric Staal said. “I never touched him. [It was a] great play by Skinny, getting to the net and attacking. It was the right call and a big goal.”
The goal was ultimately credited to forward Jeff Skinner — his 20th of the season — as it was his shot that lead to Jones putting the puck in his own net.
While it looked like Carolina was in total control of the game, a costly mistake by the Hurricanes pulled the Sharks back to within one goal with less than 10 minutes to play.
Ward left his crease to play the puck behind the net when a San Jose forechecker stole it and passed it to Sharks forward Tomas Hertl who was all alone with a wide-open net to put the puck into.
“All the sudden you give one up and you’re still confident and comfortable on the bench,” Peters said. “Our guys are way more comfortable in these one-goal games than we were a month ago, two months ago, six months ago, a year ago.”
The Canes answered five minutes later as a point shot from defenseman Jaccob Slavin deflected off bodies in front, right to Skinner who finished it for his second goal of the night.
With Jones pulled for an extra attacker, Jordan Staal scored an empty-net goal to seal a 5-2 win for the Hurricanes.
“We’re fighting and scratching to pick up points,” Eric Staal said. “This is a fun time of year to be involved and to be playing. We’re in the mix; we’ve put ourselves in that opportunity. We’ve got to fight, we’ve got to win, we’ve got to pick up points every night because other teams in our division are doing the same.”
