In the Carolina Hurricanes’ last home game of the 2016-17 season, the team was able to provide its fans with some entertainment with a wild, back-and-forth game but ultimately came up short in a 5-4 shootout loss to the St. Louis Blues at PNC Arena.
Forward Jeff Skinner scored his team-leading 36th and 37th goals of the season for the Canes (35-31-15), and goalie Cam Ward stopped 35 of 39 Blues (45-29-7) shots.
“The last month’s been a lot of hockey,” Skinner said. “But it’s been a lot of hockey for everyone in the league. We did a good job of coming back a couple times. Wardo [Ward] played great I think. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get him the win; he played better in the net for us.”
Forward Lee Stempniak scored first in the shootout for the Canes, roofing a backhander over Blues goalie Carter Hutton. Blues forward Patrik Berglund tied the shootout in the bottom of the second round with a blocker-side shot that beat Canes goalie Cam Ward. Blues forward Vladimir Tarasenko came in with speed and ripped a shot through Ward to end it in the fourth round of the skills competition.
The Canes could not capitalize on a four-on-three power play midway through overtime after forward Sebastian Aho drew a tripping call. The Blues got their own man advantage with 58 seconds left in OT as Canes forward Jordan Staal committed a tripping penalty in the offensive zone, but the Canes killed the penalty, sending the game to the shootout.
“I thought it was a good hockey game,” head coach Bill Peters said. “I thought there was a good pace to the game both ways. There was lots going on in the game. I thought it was a very competitive game at a high level. [There were] some real nice plays being made in both ends.”
The Canes found themselves behind the eight ball just 26 seconds into the game; Blues forward Ivan Barbashev was left unchecked in front of the net and pounced on the rebound of a point shot from defenseman Alex Pietrangelo to make it 1-0.
The Canes tied the game at one about nine minutes into the period, as defenseman Klas Dahlbeck snapped a wrister from the point through a screen for the Canes’ first goal on home ice in over two games.
“It was good to return to our identity,” Peters said. “I thought it was a hard-working, honest game.
Carolina took the lead with 28.1 seconds left in the first, as Skinner cashed in on the rebound of a Brett Pesce shot to make it 2-1.
The Blues tied the game at two a little over five minutes into the second; forward Alex Steen blasted a shot from the point past Ward on the power play.
A beautiful play from the line of forwards Victor Rask, Sergey Tolchinsky and Joakim Nordstrom put the Canes up 3-2 with about five minutes left in the second. Rask won a battle on the boards and fed a pass across to Tolchinsky; he slid a feed to Nordstrom in front who knocked a backhander past Hutton for a one-goal Carolina lead.
Blues forward Ryan Reaves beat Ward over the glove with a pouncing puck from the end boards with less than a minute left in the middle frame to tie it at three.
On an early third-period Canes power play, it was the Blues who cashed in, as forward Scottie Upshall stripped Canes defenseman Noah Hanifin of the puck in the neutral zone, raced in on a breakaway and beat Ward over the blocker to put St. Louis up 4-3.
Skinner struck for his second of the game about nine minutes into the third, beating Hutton with a backhander along the goal line to make it 4-4.
“We’ve been through a lot this year,” Skinner said. “Guys are playing for each other; it’s a good feeling. Obviously we’re disappointed with the way this season’s gone and the result, but I think guys have showed they have character and we want to keep that intact and finish it off strong.
Both teams got a few chances the rest of the way in the third, but did not cash in, setting up overtime.
The third period of this game provided an emotional moment for everyone in the building. Forward Bryan Bickell, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in early November, returned to the Canes’ lineup this week. His entire team surprised him by joining him at a walk to benefit MS at PNC Saturday morning. Bickell announced he will officially retire at the end of the season. In the third, the Canes made an announcement congratulating Bickell on his career, and he took a lap on the ice to a standing ovation from the fans and stick taps from both teams.
“It was great,” Bickell said. “Hearing the ‘Bickell’ chant, the guys were telling me to take a little lap, and the crowd really accepted that. It was something special. It would have been nice to get that win, but we made it close and it was a fun game. I played against those guys [the Blues] a lot in playoff series and such, so the respect they gave me was special too. I’m leaving off on a good note and I’m happy with it.
The Canes will wrap up the regular season Sunday night with a game in Philadelphia against the Flyers.
