The Carolina Hurricanes are on some kind of a roll on home ice right now. Following tonight’s 3-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks the Canes have now earned at least a point in 11 straight games (10-0-1) at PNC Arena.
Goalie Cam Ward had another strong outing for the Canes (16-12-7), making 27 saves on 29 shots against Chicago (23-11-5) for his 14th win of the season.
“It was great atmosphere tonight,” Ward said. “It was almost a playoff type feel. Both teams were well represented by their fans. It was a lot of fun. To be able to hang on and get the win, that’s the most important thing. It’s huge against a very good team.”
Chicago struck first, as Blackhawks forward Jonathan Toews set up defenseman Michael Kempny alone at the right circle, and he blasted a shot through Ward for his first NHL goal and a 1-0 lead.
The deficit was short lived for Carolina, as just a few minutes later forward Jordan Staal cruised through the offensive zone and put a shot on Blackhawk goalie Scott Darling, and forward Elias Lindholm punched in the rebound to tie it at one with his second goal in as many games. However, Lindholm’s night was cut short as he left the game before the third period with an upper-body injury and did not return.
Just over a minute after Lindholm’s goal, former Blackhawk Teuvo Teravainen put a shot on Darling from the left boards that was tipped by forward Sebastian Aho and forward Lee Stempniak pounced on the rebound, giving Carolina a 2-1 lead. Stempniak also scored his second goal in two games.
“Real good play by everyone involved on that,” head coach Bill Peters said. “[They were] leaving our zone and up the ice and then you see the little deflection by Aho that probably threw the goalie off; he’s making a save but he can’t control the rebound. Good job going hard to the net [by Stempniak].”
Following a sloppy second period, the Canes extended their lead to two goals less than three minutes into the third. An errant pass along the boards from Hawks forward Patrick Kane went right to Canes forward Jay McClement in the slot and he ripped a shot top-shelf to make it 3-1 Hurricanes.
“I was just starting to backcheck and then all of the sudden the puck was sitting there,” McClement said. “You don’t get those opportunities too often, so it’s nice to be able to bury it.”
That goal would prove to be a big one, as just a few minutes later a Toews shot deflected in off forward Vinnie Hinostroza to cut the Canes lead to 3-2.
As the game wore on, Chicago turned up the heat to try and even it up. With Darling off for an extra skater, the Hawks kept the puck in the offensive zone for a long stretch, but the Canes held on for the win.
“That was probably two minutes worth; that’s what it felt like,” Peters said. We stayed inside, blocked some shots. They’re organized; they’re a quick team, well-coached, good players.”
In their first game out of the Christmas break, a road tilt against the Pittsburgh Penguins Wednesday night, the Canes felt like they deserved better. The team fired a whopping 46 shots on goal and dominated for long stretches of the game, but still feel 3-2. That made tonight’s victory against a top opponent all the more satisfying for Carolina.
“They’re a good team; they’re one of the best teams in the league,” Teravainen said. “It gives us confidence for sure that we can beat teams like that. That can tell us that we’re a very good team too. I think we’re going in the right direction, and we’ve still got some things to get better at.”
It will be a quick turnaround for the Canes after this game, as the team will head to Florida for a New Year’s Eve matchup with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
