The Carolina Hurricanes were defeated 4-3 by the Detroit Red Wings in the home-opener Saturday night at PNC Arena.
The Hurricanes produced plenty of shots but failed to score enough goals to make up for a few defensive lapses.
Carolina got off to a much better start than it did in its season opener, putting 18 shots on Detroit goalie Petr Mrazek while allowing only two shots against in the opening frame.
“I liked our start,” Hurricanes head coach Bill Peters said. “Obviously it would have been nice to get on the board a little earlier.”
The Canes generated their best scoring chances of the first period while on a 5-on-3 power play but were denied by Mrazek on several quality looks.
“I thought we had some good looks there,” Peters said. “It would’ve been nice to score on the 5-on-3. It could have gave us a little bit more momentum.”
On a power play in the second, Hurricanes defenseman John-Michael Liles had Mrazek beat with a slapshot from the point, but the puck hit the goalpost, skidded along the goal line and then ultimately out of danger.
Minutes later, Red Wings forward Henrik Zetterberg took a puck from the corner and walked out in front of the Canes goal without much defending from Carolina, scoring an easy goal.
The Hurricanes answered with a goal when defenseman Noah Hanifin’s shot caromed off the top of the net and onto the stick of forward Victor Rask.
It was 18-year-old Hanifin’s — the 5th overall pick in the 2016 draft — first NHL point in only his second career game.
“He’s very steady,” Peters said about Hanifin. “He’s a very smart player. He’s going to make some mistakes at this age with a lack of pro experience. But he’ll learn from it, and he’ll grow, and he’ll just continue to improve.”
The Hurricanes took a 2-1 lead with less than a minute remaining in the second period on a simple but effective redirection goal from forward Nathan Gerbe.
Gerbe positioned himself in front of the goalie crease where he angled his stick to deflect a pass from defenseman Ryan Murphy into the net.
Detroit tied the contest less than five minutes into the third period on a goal from forward Teemu Pulkkinen.
Pulkkinen was left alone in front of the net when the puck made its way onto his stick from a board battle in the corner.
Pulkkinen scored his second of the night less than two minutes later, deflecting a shot from forward Tomas Tatar past the glove of Hurricanes goalie Cam Ward, giving the Red Wings a 3-2 lead.
“On the game winner, that’s just a blatant d-zone coverage breakdown by us,” Peters said. “It cost us.”
With a few minutes remaining, the Canes once again failed to cover a Detroit offensive player, leaving forward Justin Abdelkader wide open in the slot for an easy goal.
Hurricanes defenseman Justin Faulk added a goal with a couple seconds left in the game, as Carolina fell 4-3.
