On a day when their cross-state NFL counterparts played for the NFC championship, the Carolina Hurricanes kept pounding, defeating the Calgary Flames 5-2 at PNC Arena.
The win was a good bounce back effort for the Canes (22-20-8) after their 4-1 home loss to the New York Rangers Friday night. The team got a particularly strong game from its penalty kill units, going 5 for 5 on the kill to shut down Calgary’s (21-22-3) power play.
“We had a tough time staying out of the box against a really dangerous team,” forward Kris Versteeg, who had two goals in the win said. “Our penalty kill was great, we played well. We knew there was going to be a push back, and they’re a great team too. I thought all in all we battled hard and found a way to win.”
Eddie Lack played very well for the Canes, showing good rebound control and making some big saves as he stopped 33-of-35 shots for the win.
“I felt very comfortable out there and it’s a good win for our team,” Lack said.
The offensive outpouring was something the team had been looking for for a while.
“A lot of guys found a way to get some good chances through 40, I thought we played real well through the first 40 minutes,” head coach Bill Peters said.
Carolina jumped out an early lead, as forward Victor Rask took a loose puck from the side boards and weaved his way into the slot, firing a quick wrister past Flames goalie Karri Ramo about two and a half minutes in.
The Canes took a 2-0 lead with two and a half minutes left in the first on an Elias Lindholm penalty shot goal. The Swedish forward was hauled down from behind on a breakaway to be awarded the attempt, and he came in slowly and buried a shot blocker side on Ramo. The Canes controlled play the rest of the period, including killing two penalties in the period to keep a 2-0 intermission lead.
Calgary was able to kill off an abbreviated penalty to start the second as Ramo made a good pad save in tight on Versteeg towards the tail end of it. Versteeg got his revenge a couple minutes later, as defenseman Ron Hainsey zipped a stretch pass up the ice to forward and team captain Eric Staal, giving him and Versteeg a two-on-one rush. Staal fed Versteeg a perfect cross-crease pass, and he made no mistake, burying a one timer past Ramo for a 3-0 Hurricanes lead. That was the end of Ramo’s night, as the Flames opted to pull him for Swiss netminder Jonas Hiller.
The Flames got on the board eight minutes and change into the period, as on a delayed penalty sequence Flames defenseman sent a backhander into the crease that Hudler tapped past Lack on his backhand to cut the Canes lead to 3-1. The Canes killed two more penalties in the period and could not score on a power play of their own, taking their 3-1 lead to the second intermission.
Calgary cut the Canes lead to one just a few minutes into the third as forward Joe Colborne beat Lack glove side off the rush to make it 3-2 a little more than five minutes into the third. That gave Calgary all the momentum as Calgary had a lot of chances early in the third and Lack was called upon to make pick saves several times.
The Canes recaptured a two goal lead with about nine minutes left as Versteeg stuffed a rebound past Hiller on the power play, a big goal to put momentum back on Carolina’s side. Calgary head coach Bob Hartley issued a coach’s challenge for goalie interference, but the call was upheld.
The Canes put their regained momentum to good use, as right after Skinner’s goal, forward Joakim Nordstrom grabbed a loose puck in the slot, turned, and sniped a perfect wrister top corner over Hiller to put the Hurricanes up 5-2. The Canes got a couple more power plays late but were unable to convert, and the team wrapped up its 5-2 win.
The team has one game left before the All-Star break, as they will host the defending Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks at PNC Arena Tuesday.
“I think it’s huge,” Peters said of the team’s upcoming game. “It’s an opportunity to feel good about yourself for a week and go into the break with two in a row.”
