The Carolina Hurricanes hosted the Detroit Red Wings in the first game back from the Winter Break for both teams. They were both sitting atop of the Eastern Conference with 47 points. However, the Hurricanes had two games in hand on the Red Wings. The visitors came into the game with a three-game winning streak, while the Hurricanes were looking to snap a three-game losing streak. After the final horn, the Hurricanes defeated the Red Wings 5-2.
Game Recap
The first period was all Hurricanes. They outshot the Red Wings 16-5 and out-hit them 10-7. However, it was the Red Wings who carried a 1-0 lead into the first intermission. After a bobbled puck ate up Alexander Nikishin from a Sean Walker pass, JT Compher was able to get the play going for the visitors. He found Michael Rasmussen, who slid the puck between Brandon Bussi’s legs, making it 1-0 Red Wings.
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They made the Hurricanes pay, following some bad clearing attempts. Outside that one play, the Hurricanes controlled the tempo through the first period. Despite that, John Gibson stopped all 16 shots he faced in the opening frame.
The second period saw the Hurricanes explode for three goals in the middle frame. Jackson Blake got the Hurricanes on the board first after deflecting a Shayne Gostisbehere into the net past Gibson to tie the game. Then, just 1:15 later, Eric Robinson gave the Hurricanes their first lead of the game as he stretched his stick out to direct the puck into the net, following a great passing sequence from Andrei Svechnikov and Sebastian Aho. In a span of 1:15, it went from 1-0 Red Wings to 2-1 Hurricanes. The third goal of the period came at the 15:22 mark as Gostisbehere ripped a wristshot that went upper-90 on Gibson to double the Hurricanes’ lead. After 17 shots in the period, scoring three goals, the Hurricanes were up 3-1 after 40 minutes.
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The third period saw three goals, two from the Hurricanes and one from the Red Wings. Andrew Copp brought the visitors to within one after scoring on the power play with a tip-in goal. Over 10 minutes later, Svechnikov scored to make it a 4-2 game for the home side after forcing the turnover in the Red Wings’ zone and getting the puck past Gibson. Jordan Martinook iced the game with 1:21 left in the game with the empty netter, securing his 100th career NHL goal. Bussi shut the door to secure his 12th win of the season, seeing the Hurricanes snap their three-game losing streak.
Following the win, the Hurricanes sit alone on top of the Eastern Conference with 49 points and a 21-11-3 record. After three days off, they looked to right the ship, and that they did in a complete 60-minute performance against a good Red Wings team. Regarding the Red Wings, they fall to 22-12-3 after the loss, seeing their three-game winning streak snapped. They are in second place in the conference with 47 points.
