Ward, Hurricanes beat Canadiens 2-0 for 3rd straight win

By JOEDY McCREARY
AP Sports Writer

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- Cam Ward has beaten the Montreal Canadiens plenty of times during his long career - but until now, never in a shutout.

Ward stopped 27 shots in his second shutout of the season, and the Carolina Hurricanes beat Montreal 2-0 on Thursday night.

Brett Pesce and Brock McGinn scored to help the Hurricanes win their third straight, sweep the season series from Montreal and keep themselves in the thick of the Eastern Conference playoff race. Carolina entered two points out of a playoff spot and has opened an eight-game homestand with consecutive victories.

"It's crunch time. All you've got to do is look at the standings, and we've kind of preached that this is our playoffs," Ward said. "We've got a lot of games here at home, you want to kind of build some momentum, get some fans into the building and reward them with some wins."

Carey Price made 28 saves for the Canadiens, who have lost three in a row and fell to 2-5-2 in their last nine games.

"You don't like losing, and it is frustrating, but I think there was an effort there tonight," coach Claude Julien said. "But I'd like to see desperation add to that effort, because that's what we need to turn things around."

McGinn made it a two-goal game with 5:09 remaining, taking a smooth pass from Justin Williams and slipping the puck past Price.

That gave Ward some breathing room, and he finished with the 27th shutout of his 13-year career - but his first in 36 games against the Canadiens while improving his lifetime record against them to 20-12-4. He previously blanked defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh 4-0 on Jan. 4.

"The best player on the ice, by far," Pesce said.

Ward outdueled Price for the third time this season. The teams' final meeting of the season bore little resemblance to their last one a week earlier - a wild 6-5 win by Carolina in Montreal.

"It needed to be a reverse" of that one, Ward said. "Carey Price is a world-class goaltender. You knew he was going to bounce back and be tough to beat."

Both teams entered as two of the league's leaders in shots: The Hurricanes rank fourth in the NHL with an average of 34.3 shots, while the Canadiens are two spots behind at 33.8 shots per game.

"They came with a push," Pesce said, "and I thought we weathered it as best as we could."

Pesce came through with all the offense the Hurricanes needed at 2:43 of the second, when he blasted a slap shot from the point that got past Price. It came seconds after he whiffed on a shot attempt from just inside the blue line.

"You make a little mistake," Julien said, "and it's in the back of our net right now."

NOTES: Montreal LW Paul Byron was back in the lineup two nights after leaving the Canadiens' loss to St. Louis following a fall into the boards. ... Pesce's goal was his first since Jan. 14, 2017 - a span of 81 games. ... Montreal assistant Kirk Muller spent three seasons as Carolina's head coach.

UP NEXT

Canadiens: Return home to take on Anaheim on Saturday.

Hurricanes: Play host to Detroit on Friday night.

Aho, Hurricanes beat Senators 2-1

Associated Press

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- Sebastian Aho was itching to get back on the ice after missing two weeks with a concussion and a knee injury.

He celebrated with a big goal for the Carolina Hurricanes.

Aho and Victor Rask scored in the third period, helping the Hurricanes top the slumping Ottawa Senators 2-1 on Tuesday night.

"I was very excited. I've been waiting for this since I got hurt," Aho said. "It felt really good to get that goal."

Cam Ward made 29 saves for Carolina in the opener of a season-long eight-game homestand. The Hurricanes returned from the All-Star break with their second straight win after dropping six of eight.

Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored and Craig Anderson made 37 saves for the Senators, who have lost six in a row. Ottawa hit three posts, including two in the first period.

"I really think we deserved to get out of this with at least one point," coach Guy Boucher said. "I really thought after two periods we had a chance to win this one."

Pageau put Ottawa in front with his seventh goal in the second, but Carolina responded with a big rally in the final period.

Aho took a drop pass from Teuvo Teravainen at the blue line and fired a slap shot that deflected off the stick of Senators defenseman Thomas Chabot and past Anderson. Aho, who leads Carolina with 17 goals, had missed four straight games after a collision with Calgary's Marc Giordano on Jan. 14.

"It was awesome to see him out there," Ward said. "I was really impressed with the way that he played and the way he handled himself when he was injured too. I assumed he was going to be out longer, and here we are. He wanted to play. He wants to be an impact player and we need him out there. Obviously as a team we were excited that he's back."

New Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon opened the lower seating bowl at PNC Arena to all ticket holders in an effort to create a better home atmosphere, and the Hurricanes reaped the benefits down the stretch.

After Aho's goal energized the crowd, the Hurricanes maintained their momentum and Rask fired a power-play wrist shot from the left faceoff circle past Anderson on the goaltender's stick side at 11:32.

Ward finished it off, making two stops in the final seconds to secure the victory.

NOTES: Aho had no apparent issues in his return, playing 19:03. ... Ottawa D Erik Karlsson reached 300 career penalty minutes when he was called for hooking in the first period. ... The Senators scratched D Erik Burgdoerfer and C Filip Chlapik. ... The Hurricanes scratched D Klas Dahlbeck, F Josh Jooris and F Phillip Di Giuseppe.

UP NEXT

Senators: Return home to host the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday.

Hurricanes: Continue their homestand against the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.

Teravainen has 2 goals, assist as Hurricanes edge Canadiens

Associated Press

MONTREAL (AP)  – Carolina kept taking the lead, only to see the Montreal Canadiens tie it up.

The Hurricanes remained resilient and found a way to come up with a victory.

Justin Williams scored the winner at 9:41 of the third period when he deflected Teuvo Teravainen's shot past Carey Price, giving Carolina a 6-5 win Thursday night. It came exactly 10 seconds after Montreal's Max Pacioretty made it 5-5 with a deflection of his own.

"Look at the character of our team," said Hurricanes goalie Cam Ward, who made 26 saves. "Being able to bounce back every time we got scored on, we responded within minutes to regain the lead. That's a compliment to the players."

Teravainen scored twice and added an assist, and Jordan Staal, Jeff Skinner and Derek Ryan and Justin Williams also had goals for the Hurricanes, who had lost their last two. Defenseman Noah Hanifin had three assists.

"We gave up four goals in the second period and still walked away with the lead," Ward said. "That doesn't happen very often."

Charles Hudon scored twice and added an assist for the Canadiens. Brendan Gallagher and Jeff Petry also scored, while Price stopped 23 of 29 shots in defeat.

"We battled hard and tied it up, but we gave them too much momentum," said Canadiens forward Paul Byron, who extended his point streak to six games.

It was a poor defensive showing by both teams in the final game before the NHL's break before the All-Star game.

Montreal fell behind early and tied it three times, but Carolina held on for its third straight victory against the Canadiens.

After Teravainen and Staal made it 2-0 in the first period for Carolina, the teams combined for seven goals in the middle frame, including five goals in a frantic 2:51 span.

Hudon got the goal frenzy started at 6:08 with an easy tap-in after Petry's shot from the point went off both posts and landed in Ward's crease.

Gallagher tied it 39 seconds later when he jumped on a bad giveaway by Brock McGinn in Carolina's zone.

But the game was tied for just 23 seconds.

Left all alone at the side of the net, Skinner made it 3-2 at 7:06 before Teravainen increased the Hurricanes' lead with his second of the game on the breakaway at 7:35.

Hudon settled a bouncing puck and beat Ward through traffic at 8:59 to bring Montreal within one.

On a complete defensive breakdown for Carolina, Petry skated from the blue line to the net unchallenged and fired the puck between Ward's pads to tie it at 4.

With 6 seconds remaining on the clock in the second, Ryan notched his 11th goal of the season to put the Hurricanes back on top.

"After the second period, tying the game up like that, we should have kept rolling, should have kept going," Byron said. "But a couple of mental mistakes put us back in the hole again. It's tough to come back from those."

After Pacioretty and Williams traded goals in the third, the Canadiens came close to tying it in the finals seconds, but Byron's shot rang off the post.

"I haven't seen that many mistakes in a while," Canadiens coach Claude Julien said. "We didn't make good decisions individually. It's not about pointing the finger because you win as a team and you lose as a team. But I would expect our players to be ready to play a game and be focused. Some of them were, but a lot of them weren't.

"Pros have to be pros. We don't babysit. We prepare guys."

NOTES: Montreal's Tomas Plekanec is one point away from 600 in his career. ... Sebastian Aho, Carolina's leading scorer, was out with a concussion.

UP NEXT

Hurricanes: vs. Ottawa on Tuesday night.

Canadiens: at St. Louis on Tuesday night.

Flames ride six-game streak into Carolina

STATS, LLC

RALEIGH, N.C. – The Carolina Hurricanes can't feel sorry for themselves going into Sunday afternoon's game against the Calgary Flames at PNC Arena.

While the Hurricanes took a gut punch with the conclusion of Friday night's game, the Flames are riding a six-game winning streak.

So the moods could be different as the teams approach their second meeting of the season.

"You just have to stay steady (during good times)," Flames coach Glen Gulutzan said. "You can't get wound up and think about them. We're going to push this group."

Calgary's win streak is the NHL's longest active streak of success.

On the flip side, the Hurricanes gave up two goals in the final 3:08 of Friday night's 4-3 loss to the Washington Capitals.

"A couple of frustrating things out there, but that happens sometimes," Carolina captain Jordan Staal said. "It's a hard one to swallow so we have to get that one (out of the system) and come out with a big effort against Calgary."

That loss came in the team's first home game since Dallas billionaire Tom Dundon took majority of ownership of the team. So while that ruined some of the buzz surrounding the team, it's time to bounce back.

"There's no choice, really," Hurricanes center Jeff Skinner said. "It's one game we have to move on. Next game we've got another opportunity to get two points."

Calgary will be going for a sweep of a four-game road trip after winning Thursday night at Tampa Bay and Friday night at Florida. The Flames won those games by a combined 9-3 score.

There's a growing bond with the Flames.

"How much talking was on our bench and from different guys," Gulutzan said. "The amount of reinforcement that is coming in. You're really going to get something if your guys are driving the bus. ... The biggest thing for me is how they're taking ownership and they're playing for each other. All those little things are coming into this group and that's positive."

Yet the Flames are still trying to smooth out rough edges.

"I think maybe at the beginning of the year, we were finding ways to lose," Calgary left winger Matthew Tkachuk said. "Now we're grinding out wins."

The health of the Hurricanes is a concern considering the lineup shuffle from Friday night, leaving the team without key penalty killers.

Defenseman Brett Pesce went on injured reserve after suffering an upper-body injury in Thursday's morning skate and center Derek Ryan was out of the lineup after suffering an injury in that night's game. Carolina was without forwards Joakim Nordstrom and Elias Lindholm because of illness.

"It shows the value of those guys," Hurricanes coach Bill Peters said.

Forward Lucas Wallmark filled in, with the possibility of more help coming from the American Hockey League affiliate depending on the statuses of the ailing players.

The Hurricanes have upgraded their power-play production, going 6-for-17 across their last six games. They have two power-play goals in two of their last three games.

The Hurricanes have been going primarily with Cam Ward, who has been the clutch goaltender for the past month. But Ward was Friday night's loser while Scott Darling was the 3-1 winner one night earlier at Washington.

Calgary has options in net after backup David Rittich's 41-save outing Friday night in Florida. Mike Smith won a night earlier at Tampa Bay.

Carolina won 2-1 at Calgary on Oct. 19.

After Sunday, the Flames have five days off prior to beginning a three-game homestand.

"We're not overthinking this game," Tkachuk said of the finale of the road trip.

Hurricanes beat Capitals on day sale to Dundon is finalized

By STEPHEN WHYNO
AP Hockey Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- On a historically significant day for the franchise, the Carolina Hurricanes picked up an important regulation victory that helped them move up the standings.

Victor Rask scored the go-ahead goal in the third period and Scott Darling made 26 saves as the Hurricanes beat the Metropolitan Division-leading Washington Capitals 3-1 on Thursday night, hours after the team's sale to Dallas billionaire Tom Dundon was finalized. The two points helped Carolina leapfrog the idle Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins to move into a playoff position after 43 games.

"Two points in regulation is the only way you can really make up any ground," coach Bill Peters said. "You better make hay when the sun shines, and it was a nice day here in Washington today."

It'll be an even nicer day Friday in Raleigh when Dundon, Commissioner Gary Bettman and previous majority owner Peter Karmanos discuss the sale that should at least temporarily quiet relocation speculation. The NHL on Thursday announced Dundon had completed his purchase of the Hurricanes, who are expected to stay put for the foreseeable future.

"It's exciting," said Darling, who won for the first time since Dec. 16 in a rare start. "We all had a chance to meet him. He seems like a great guy. He has a lot of big plans, and we're excited to see it all unfold."

Co-captain Jordan Staal scored a short-handed goal and Sebastian Aho added an empty-netter for Carolina, which improved to 9-7-8 in one-goal games. Winger Justin Williams, who left Washington after two seasons, said the difference between the first-place Capitals and the Hurricanes was the disparity in their performances in tight games.

The Capitals fell to 12-3-3 in one-goal games and had their five-game winning streak and league-best 10-game home winning streak snapped. Players were unhappy that Rask's goal came after they thought defenseman Brooks Orpik touched the puck to stop play on a delayed penalty call.

"That one we all thought was a clear play on the puck," Orpik said. "We all were confused by it and frustrated by it, especially when that winds up being the winning goal."

Lars Eller scored for the third consecutive game and Braden Holtby made 30 saves for Washington, which lost at home for the first time since Nov. 30.

"They had been on a pretty good run here at home, and they're a tough team to play against," Aho said. "But so are we."

Outshooting and beating the Capitals was an important statement for the Hurricanes, who are seeking to make the playoffs for the first time since 2009 and end what is the longest active in the NHL. Finding some consistency against a division opponent is a good way to continue on that path.

"It's good for our confidence, good for our confidence in our system," said Darling, who felt comfortable all night and stopped Alex Ovechkin late to preserve the victory. "When we play the right way, we're not going to win 6-1. It's going to be close games, and that's the kind of team we are. If we do the right things, we're going to get the advantage on the one-goal games."

NOTES: Peters said Hurricanes C Derek Ryan was fine after taking a high hit from Tom Wilson that led to the delayed penalty in the third period. Peters figured Ryan was going through concussion protocol and didn't have enough time to return. ... Hurricanes D Brett Pesce was a surprise scratch with an upper-body injury. Pesce took a spill while trying to take a slap shot during the morning skate, and Peters said he'll be re-evaluated back home Friday. ... Staal's 34 short-handed points are one shy of Matt Cullen for the most among active players. .... Only four teams have allowed more short-handed goals this season than Washington's six. ... Capitals F Andre Burakovsky was a late scratch with an illness. Coach Barry Trotz said Burakovsky wasn't traveling with the team to Carolina.

UP NEXT

The Hurricanes host the Capitals on Friday night in the second half of the home-and-home series. It's their third meeting in 10 days.

Tyler Johnson has 3 goals, Lightning beat Hurricanes 5-4

By MARK DIDTLER
Associated Press

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- Tyler Johnson's slow start seems like a long time ago now.

Johnson had three goals, Jake Dotchin scored a tiebreaking goal midway through the third period, and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-4 on Tuesday night.

"Just being in the right spot at the right time," Johnson said.

NHL-leading Tampa Bay also got a goal from Victor Hedman, and Brayden Point had three assists. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 28 saves.

"It was a good game all around," Johnson said.

Justin Faulk, Elias Lindholm, Brock McGinn and Sebastian Aho scored for the Hurricanes. Cam Ward stopped 29 shots.

"It's tough," Faulk said. "They're at the top of the standings for a reason. When they get those leads, they do a pretty job of either building on them or keeping them."

Dotchin made it 4-3 with his first goal in 14 games at 9:27 of the third. Johnson then completed his third regular-season hat trick when he stole the puck from Noah Hanifin and scored from just outside the crease at 14:54.

"What a remarkable goal," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said.

Johnson has scored 12 of 16 goals since Dec. 1.

Lindholm scored with 1:18 left to cut it to 5-4, but Tampa Bay held on.

After Johnson's rebound backhand went into the net off Faulk's skate at 1:58 of the second, Faulk tied it at 3 with 9:24 left in the period on Carolina's second power-play goal.

The Hurricanes twice took one-goal leads, on scores by McGinn and Aho, in the first, but the period ended with the game tied at 2 due to goals by Hedman and Johnson.

Aho was in the lineup three days after leaving Saturday's 7-1 loss at Boston following a scary looking leg injury.

Chris Kunitz appeared to put Tampa Bay up 4-3 early in the third, but the goal was disallowed following a video replay that determined the play was offside.

The Lightning have gone two consecutive games without a power play. The Hurricanes converted two of four chances.

NOTES: Hedman could not put any weight on his left skate when he left the ice with three minutes left in the second, but he returned two minutes later. ... Tampa Bay D Dan Girardi, who took a slap shot off the back of his neck in Sunday's game at Detroit, took part in the pregame skate but didn't play. ... Carolina RW Lee Stempniak (upper-body injury) could make his NHL season debut this week. ... McGinn stopped an 18-game drought with his first-period goal on the power play. ... Lightning RW Nikita Kucherov assisted on Hedman's goal for his 60th point, coming in his 43rd game. Only Vincent Lecavalier, taking 41 games in 2007-08, reached 60 points quicker in Tampa Bay history.

UP NEXT

Hurricanes: Play Thursday night at Washington.

Lightning: Host Calgary Thursday night.

Ovechkin's 2nd goal leads Capitals past Hurricanes 5-4 in OT

By JOEDY McCREARY
AP Sports Writer

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- The Washington Capitals felt they gave away two goals. Alex Ovechkin got them right back when it mattered most.

Ovechkin scored his NHL-leading 26th goal 1:57 into overtime and the Capitals beat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-4 on Tuesday night for their third straight win.

"It's almost like whenever he decides to end it, he can just go do it," linemate Devante Smith-Pelly said.

Ovechkin also tied it with 7:15 left in regulation, with Nicklas Backstrom assisting on both goals. Alex Chiasson, Smith-Pelly and Dmitry Orlov each scored for the Capitals, who went to overtime for the sixth time in eight games and have won four of those.

Teuvo Teravainen and Elias Lindholm scored in the third period, and Victor Rask had two goals for the Hurricanes, who trailed by two midway through the second. They rallied to take a short-lived lead midway through the third before Ovechkin struck twice to snap their six-game home winning streak.

After Sebastian Aho hit the post in OT for Carolina, Ovechkin headed the other way and fired a shot from the right circle that beat Cam Ward to end it.

"If we're sitting here and (Aho's shot) goes in, it's a whole different situation," Carolina coach Bill Peters said. "But it didn't, and then Ovie made a good play, and that's what he does, right?"

Ovechkin tied it at 4 by beating Ward with a slick backhand.

Ward made 21 saves for the Hurricanes, who turned a one-goal deficit into a lead in bang-bang fashion.

Lindholm tied it with 14:20 left on a snap shot from between the circles. Aho's forecheck started the sequence that ended with a shot by Teravainen that caromed off the back boards, off the stick of Washington defenseman Brooks Orpik and into the net with 12:53 remaining.

The game's first goal came after Washington defenseman John Carlson gave the puck away in front of goalie Braden Holtby, and Rask cashed in.

"I think the response was there," Ovechkin said. "I think everybody kind of took it to the next level in their game. (The thinking was) we don't deserve to lose the points. At least if we lose in overtime or the shootout, it's one thing, but we were leading the whole game and it was kind of a lucky bounce off Brooks' stick. It was a good response, and we finished it up in overtime."

Holtby stopped 34 shots for the Capitals, who turned their early self-inflicted deficit into a two-goal lead midway through the second.

Chiasson tied it 78 seconds after Rask's goal, off a slick backdoor feed from Chandler Stephenson. Smith-Pelly put Washington up 2-1 with 7:07 left in the first on a snap shot from the circle that beat Ward stick side.

Orlov made it 3-1 with 11:12 left in the second when he chased down his rebound and poked it past Ward.

NOTES: Carolina C Lucas Wallmark went to the dressing room with an injury midway through the third. Peters said he didn't have an update. ... Washington D Matt Niskanen (upper body injury) didn't make the trip. ... This was the first of three meetings between the teams during an 11-day span. The division rivals play only once more after that, on March 30 in Washington.

UP NEXT

Capitals: Host the St. Louis Blues on Sunday.

Hurricanes: Begin a four-game road trip Thursday night at Pittsburgh.

Scottie Upshall breaks tie, Blues beat Hurricanes 3-2

By JEFF MELNICK
Associated Press

ST. LOUIS (AP) – Scottie Upshall fit in quite nicely when he was moved to the top line with Vladimir Tarasenko and Brayden Schenn at the start of the third period.

Upshall broke a tie midway through the third and the St. Louis Blues held off the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 on Saturday night. Upshall took a pass from Brayden Schenn and beat goalie Scott Darling between the legs for his sixth goal of the season and first in 11 games.

"I yelled to (Schenn) and he made an incredible no-look pass that put me in a great shooting spot," Upshall said. "And I was able to put one in."

Kyle Brodziak and Partrik Berglund also scored for St. Louis, and Carter Hutton made 23 saves. The Blues won for the third time in 10 games and snapped Carolina's four-game winning streak.

Derek Ryan and Lucas Wallmark scored for Carolina. Darling stopped 26 shots in his first start since allowing eight goals in an 8-1 loss to Toronto on Dec. 19.

"He definitely stepped up and made some big saves for us throughout the game," Ryan said. It's good to see him play well. He made some big saves for us and hopefully some confidence for him."

St. Louis opened the scoring at 43 seconds of the first. From behind the net, Alexander Steen found a wide-open Brodziak for a one-timer past Darling. Brodziak has seven goals this season.

"Anytime those guys get rewarded, they've been playing real well," Blues defenseman Jay Bouwmeester said about Upshall and Brodziak. "Both those guys do things that are kind of underappreciated."

The Blues made it 2-0 42 seconds into the second period. Alex Pietrangelo and Berglund executed a 2-on-1 to perfection, with Berglund burying Pietrangelo's pass past Darling for his sixth of the season.

Carolina cut it to 2-1 midway through the second on Ryan's ninth goal of the season. Ryan came out of the penalty box after a slashing penalty, catching the Blues off-guard.

"I'm always thinking that when I come out of the box," Ryan said. "So if we get possession, and you don't see it very often but if that guys gets a break I'm definitely looking for that."

Wallmark scored his first NHL goal with 6:02 left in the period. Recalled from Charlotte of the American Hockey League, Wallmark was playing his first NHL game of the season and ninth overall.

"It's a big goal for me, and for the team there," Wallmark said. "So it's fun to see the puck get into the net."

NOTES: Bouwmeester returned to the Blues' lineup after missing nine games with a lower-body injury. The Blues made a corresponding move sending D Jordan Schmaltz to San Antonio of the AHL. ... The Hurricanes, who committed two penalties, came into the game as the least penalized team in the NHL with 104 penalties.

UP NEXT

Hurricanes: Host Washington on Tuesday night.

Blues: Host New Jersey on Tuesday night.

Hanifin and Hurricanes start fast in 4-1 win over Predators

By JIM DIAMOND
Associated Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- A fast start by Carolina spelled an early exit for Pekka Rinne.

Noah Hanifin had a goal and two assists to lead an early outburst that carried the Hurricanes past the Nashville Predators 4-1 on Thursday night.

Derek Ryan had a goal and an assist, and Elias Lindholm and Victor Rask also scored for the Hurricanes, who have won four of five. Cam Ward made 28 saves.

Kevin Fiala got the goal for Nashville, which has lost two straight.

"We're not playing hard enough and we're undisciplined," Predators coach Peter Laviolette said. "It's a bad combination."

Carolina scored four times in the first 6 1/2 minutes to chase Rinne.

"It was important that we got off to a good start and I think it couldn't have gotten off to a better start with the way it went in the first period," Ward said. "That's a team that's not going to quit even though it was 4-0."

Ryan scored the opening goal 37 seconds into the game on a power play. Just seven seconds after Nashville's Nick Bonino was sent to the penalty box for hooking, Ryan was able to tip Hanifin's shot from the left circle low to the far side of Rinne.

"Definitely one of those periods where everything we touched seemed to be going in," Ryan said. "We talk about that in lots of game plans, especially tonight against a good goaltender like Nashville has, so we want to get pucks and bodies to the net and make sure we make it hard on him. I thought we did that."

Lindholm doubled the lead at 3:11 with a deflection of Jeff Skinner's wrist shot from above the right circle. Skinner had two assists.

Hanifin made it 3-0 at 4:47 when his slap shot from above the left circle deflected off the skate of Nashville defenseman Roman Josi and by Rinne on a Carolina power play.

The Hurricanes finished 2 for 6 with the man advantage.

Rinne's night ended at 6:29 when Rask's seemingly harmless backhand from the right boards took a bad hop in front and then squeezed between Rinne's right leg pad and blocker. Rinne, who stopped just two of six shots, was replaced by Juuse Saros.

"We got some power-play opportunities and capitalized on those and then got a bounce, too. We got a lucky one," Carolina coach Bill Peters said. "We've been on the other side of that, so we took advantage of that."

Saros turned away all 26 shots he faced.

Fiala got Nashville on the scoreboard at 15:33 of the first when P.K. Subban's slap shot from above the right circle deflected off him in front and by Ward.

Fiala extended his career-high point streak to nine games.

"It's not panic for us," Fiala said. "We're still on top, but we've got to change something because it's going to be fast. The standings are quite close. We've got to be much better."

Nashville had a two-man advantage for 56 seconds late in the second period, but failed to generate a shot on Ward.

NOTES: The Predators have lost consecutive home games in regulation for the first time this season. ... Nashville RW Craig Smith missed his first game of the season with a lower-body injury. ... Hurricanes D Justin Faulk got his 200th career point. ... Carolina is 13-3-2 when scoring first.

UP NEXT

Hurricanes: Host the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday.

Predators: At the Dallas Stars on Saturday.

Leafs celebrate 100th anniversary with rout of Canes

TORONTO -- The Toronto Maple Leafs sure know how to celebrate an anniversary.

They matched their season best in goals scored Tuesday afternoon in an 8-1 rout of the Carolina Hurricanes to mark the 100th anniversary of their first game.

Mitch Marner and Tyler Bozak each scored a goal and added three assists for the Maple Leafs (21-13-1), who ended a three-game losing streak. The four points were a career best for Marner.

"It's definitely exciting," Marner said. "It was a good game for our team, I thought. I think in the second we got a little bit away from what we wanted to be. ... I just felt like I was skating. It felt like our whole line was skating in general. We were creating chances for each other and I think we were getting above the puck a lot."

James van Riemsdyk contributed a goal and two assists. His first-period goal was No. 20,000 in team history.

"It worked out perfectly, I guess, with today and all the stuff for it," van Riemsdyk said. "What better time for it. I think the little dip we were on, we weren't finding ways to get points in the standings. Today we came out and started the game the way we wanted to and kept going from there."

Leo Komarov, Patrick Marleau, Kasperi Kapanen, William Nylander and Connor Carrick also scored for the Maple Leafs, who were known as the Toronto Arenas when they lost 10-9 to the Montreal Wanderers on Dec. 19, 1917 in Montreal.

Zach Hyman had two assists and goaltender Frederik Andersen stopped 32 shots for Toronto.

Jeff Skinner scored for the Hurricanes (14-12-7), who had their three-game winning streak stopped. Scott Darling permitted eight goals on 36 shots.

"They were better than we were," Hurricanes coach Bill Peters said. "Their (special) teams obviously set the tone early. They went two-for-two in the first period on the power play and scored a short-handed goal. That's on the specialty teams there. Some of the plays and decisions we made with the puck were less than perfect. There's not a lot to take out of the game that we really like."

The Maple Leafs led 4-1 after the first period.

Komarov scored with his team short-handed for his fourth goal of the season at 2:52 of the first period, nine seconds after Toronto's Matt Martin was penalized for holding. Darling was beaten on a high shot from above the right circle.

Marner scored from the top of the right circle on a power play at 5:33, his third goal of the season and his first since Nov. 11.

It came after Carolina's Josh Jooris was assessed four minutes for roughing and Toronto's Roman Polak two minutes for roughing after their skirmish.

"(Marner) is a good, good player," Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. "And you keep telling him that if he works hard and he gets on the inside and wins battles that -- when you're playing good, you want the puck all the time. When you're not playing good, you don't go get it, you're watching, you're thinking too much and your feet don't move. Your brain does, but your feet don't.

"Obviously, as soon as he got going there he had adrenaline. I thought Willy (Nylander) was the same. Willy, I don't know how many shots he missed the net, he hit once I know because he scored, but he had lots of opportunity."

Skinner notched his 12th goal of the season at 9:07 to trim the Toronto lead to 2-1.

Toronto scored again on a power play at 10:34 when van Riemsdyk knocked in a loose puck for his 16th goal of the season. Brett Pesce was off for slashing.

Bozak scored his seventh of the season at 13:28 on an easy shot after Marner worked the puck in front of the goal.

Peters said he had considered removing Darling after the first period.

"We talked about it after 20, and decided it was more so on the group of 18 in front of him," Peters said.

The Maple Leafs scored six seconds apart in the third period. Marleau banked his 12th goal of the season off a defenseman at 9:25 and Kapanen scored his second.

Nylander scored his sixth of the season at 14:05 and Carrick netted his second of the season on a power play at 18:33.

"We didn't do (Darling) any favors," Hurricanes defenseman Justin Faulk said. "That's the bad part of what happened, is we're down and still giving up opportunities, two-on-ones, getting out-competed. That's real bad on us. ...This one is just embarrassing."

NOTES: Toronto C Auston Matthews (upper body) missed his fifth straight game Tuesday and D Nikita Zaitsev (lower body) was put on injured reserve after blocking a shot in the loss to Detroit on Friday. D Martin Marincin was recalled from the Marlies of the AHL but was not in uniform Tuesday. ... Toronto wore jerseys based on the design of those worn by the Arenas. ... The Maple Leafs visit Columbus on Wednesday. ... The Hurricanes will visit Nashville on Thursday.

Leafs to begin 2nd century vs. Hurricanes

Stats, LLC

TORONTO - While celebrating their 100th anniversary on Tuesday afternoon, the Toronto Maple Leafs would like to put some recent history behind them.

The Maple Leafs have lost three in a row entering their game against the Carolina Hurricanes at the Air Canada Centre.

They likely will be without star center Auston Matthews for a fifth straight game with what is listed as an upper-body injury. He has been skating, but a possible return date has yet to be determined.

"He's doing good, I don't know when they're letting him play, but he's doing good," Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said.

The Hurricanes, meanwhile, have won three in a row.

"Time to get refreshed, both physically and mentally," Babcock said. "We've been in every game we've played the last three, but haven't found a way to win. We've been ahead, behind, in all scenarios. We have to find a way to get points."

The Maple Leafs have added injury problems. Defenseman Nikita Zaitsev is out with a lower-body injury after he blocked a shot during the loss to the Red Wings in Detroit on Friday. He will be out for at least two weeks.

"You can ask me how he's doing in two weeks and we'll go from there," Babcock said. "The way I look at it, it creates an opportunity for (Connor) Carrick, who has been waiting all year. The ball's in his court and we get to watch him."

"Zee is a big part of this club, it's my job to step in," Carrick said. "After a couple of practices at home, we should be gunned up and energetic."

Dubbed, the "Next Century Game", the encounter on Tuesday commemorates the club's first game, played Dec. 19, 1917, when they were the Toronto Arenas and faced the Montreal Wanderers.

"I think it's fun," Hurricanes coach Bill Peters said Monday. "I think it's awesome to be a part of it, 100 years of the NHL. They're wearing the told Toronto Arena jerseys. I think it's going to be a fun afternoon."

This will be third and final meeting of the season between the teams.

The Hurricanes won 6-3 at the ACC Oct. 26 and the Maple Leafs won 5-4 at Raleigh, N.C. on Nov. 24.

Peters said his team will need to play with energy against the Maple Leafs, who have had three days off in the schedule.

"(The Maple Leafs have) been off for a while and they'll be chomping at the bit," Peters said.

The Maple Leafs (20-13-1) are 5-5-0 in their past 10 games, while the Hurricanes (14-11-7) are 4-3-3.

In defeating the Columbus Blue Jackets 2-1 on Saturday, the Hurricanes won a game in regulation for the first time since defeating the New York Islanders 4-2 on Nov. 19.

"It's important to know how to win," defenseman Noah Hanifin said. "If you're going to be in the playoffs and be a tough team to play against, you have to know how to win, especially when you have leads. (Saturday), we had a lead in the whole third period and we found a way to hold it, so we're learning from that."

During their three-game string of wins, the Hurricanes have had solid goaltending from Cam Ward and Scott Darling.

Ward, 33, has the experience with 301 wins in 635 career games (622 starts), while Darling, 28, has 47 wins in 98 career games (86 starts).

"I'm learning every day," Darling said. "I've been learning a lot from Cam, too. He's been showing me the ropes. It's not going to happen overnight, and I'm excited to keep working on it. He talks to me and keeps my confidence up. He's been through it all in his career. He's seen the highs and the lows. If he sees me down, he's quick to give me a pat on the back."

Before the win Saturday, Darling was in a 0-3-2 drought.

With Zaitsev on injured reserve, the Maple Leafs recalled defenseman Martin Marincin from the Marlies of the AHL. Marincin, 25, has two goals and five assists with the Marlies this season.

Ward earns 300th win as Hurricanes top Knights in shootout

LAS VEGAS -- Through 13 NHL seasons, all with the Carolina Hurricanes, goaltender Cam Ward always harkens back to what his father mentioned to him when started playing: "The more fun you have, the better you do."

He has the reminder written on his stick.

Ward had fun Tuesday when he notched his 300th career win, a 3-2 shootout victory over the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena.

"You need your priorities in line to make that happen, and fortunately I've been able to do that," said Ward, who finished with 22 saves Tuesday and is the 32nd goalie to reach 300 wins. "To reach that number of wins, there's not too many guys who've done that, and I'm extremely proud of it. I couldn't have done it without my supporting my cast -- my family and my teammates."

Carolina left winger Phil Di Giuseppe scored the decisive goal in the fifth round of the shootout to give the Hurricanes the win one night after they lost 3-2 at Anaheim. The result also snapped the Golden Knights' four-game winning streak.

The Hurricanes (12-11-7) won the shootout 2-1 behind the goals of Di Giuseppe and Brock McGinn. Reilly Smith scored in the shootout for Vegas (19-9-2).

"Full marks for being a quality goaltender here tonight. He's had a quality career with no end in sight," Carolina coach Bill Peters said of Ward. "Our guys did a good job of battling. We like playing. We have a young team, so I don't think playing back-to-backs is a big issue. Our guys thrive off that challenge."

Marcus Kruger and Trevor van Riemsdyk scored in regulation for the Hurricanes. Both were traded by Vegas to Carolina during the summer for draft picks. The goals were the first of the season for each player.

Deryk Engelland and Smith lit the lamp for the Golden Knights.

The game marked the return of Vegas goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, who missed 25 games since Oct. 13 with a concussion. Fleury, a 14-year veteran, started and made 35 saves, including four stops during two Carolina power plays in the third period.

Peters admitted that Carolina knew of Fleury's prolonged absence and tried "to get to him as much as we could with bodies."

Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said, "(Fleury) battled hard, played hard and gave us a chance.

"It's too bad he couldn't make that save at the end (against Di Giuseppe) because as bad as we played, it would have been a huge two points."

Fleury and Ward defended their net well in the third period. Fleury had 15 saves in the period and Ward seven.

The Hurricanes struck first at 16:25 in the first period when an attempted clearance by Vegas defenseman Brayden McNabb struck Kruger's stick. The puck ricocheted past an unsuspecting Fleury.

After Vegas tied the game with an Engelland wrist shot close to the blue line at 1:07 of the second period, van Riemsdyk picked up a loose pick and wristed it past Fleury. The goal at the 4:38 mark of the middle period gave Carolina a short-lived 2-1 lead.

Vegas defenseman Colin Miller's stretch pass caught Smith in stride, and Smith beat Ward to tie the game at 2 at the 12:48 mark of the second period. The right winger has nine goals this season.

NOTES: Vegas D Luca Sbisa hit the end boards hard in the third period and had to exit the game to be examined. Sbisa later returned after the trainer tended to him. Last month, he was placed on injured reserve with a back injury. ... Vegas activated G Marc-Andre Fleury from injured reserve and assigned G Maxime Lagace to Chicago of the AHL. Lagace started for Chicago on Tuesday night, three days after he earned the victory with a career-high 36 saves for the Golden Knights in a 5-3 win over Dallas. ... Carolina C Victor Rask scored a goal in three consecutive games before Tuesday, matching his career-high streak set last season from March 24-27. He came close to scoring another Tuesday, but his shot hit off the right post with 3:54 left in the first period. ... Vegas F William Carrier (upper-body injury), G Oscar Dansk (lower-body injury), F Mikhail Grabovski (concussion) and D Clayton Stoner (undisclosed) are on injured reserve.

Getzlaf returns but Perry gets hurt as Ducks top 'Canes

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- With the Ducks losing so many men to injury, Anaheim players roll their eyes when asked about the team's health troubles.

It happened again Monday as the team got two players back from injured reserve but saw leading scorer Corey Perry go down with an apparent knee injury.

Logan Shaw scored the decisive goal and John Gibson recorded 28 saves as the Ducks ended their three-game homestand with a 3-2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday night at Honda Center.

The Ducks got help from their depth as well as a spectacular breakaway goal by Jakob Silfverberg to take the win. Silfverberg missed the prior five games due to injury.

The Ducks (13-11-7) celebrated captain Ryan Getzlaf's return to the lineup but saw Perry leave in the first period after an unintentional collision with Hurricanes left winger Jeff Skinner.

Anaheim has notched points in five consecutive games and has won two of the past three. Shaw, who also recorded an assist, had his second multi-point game of the season, the third of his career.

"Hopefully we can keep guys healthy, but obviously, that's out of our control," Gibson said. "You saw what happened tonight, but I mean, we know now that who we have is who we have. To get those two guys (Getzlaf and Silfverberg) back is nice, but we've just got to keep going."

Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle added, "Injection of skill and top-level players. I feel good about our hockey club."

Carlyle noted that Perry was at a local hospital for evaluation.

The Hurricanes (11-11-7) went winless on their three-game California road trip, although they took both the San Jose Sharks and the Los Angeles Kings to overtime. Carolina has one win in the past seven games.

Anaheim scored the winning goal, Shaw's second of the season, at 1:52 of the third period for a 3-1 lead. Shaw fired to the blocker side of goalie Scott Darling, playing without his stick. Andy Welinski, appearing in his first NHL game, got the primary assist. Antoine Vermette contributed the secondary assist.

Carolina's Justin Williams opened the scoring at 1:37 of the first period with his sixth goal. Getzlaf, playing his first shift after missing 19 games due to a broken cheekbone, lost a faceoff to Derek Ryan. Trevor van Riemsdyk fired the puck from the blue line, and Williams redirected the slap shot in the high slot, fooling Gibson.

The Ducks tied the game at 5:55 of the first, with Derek Grant scoring his sixth goal. Grant carried the puck across the blue line and dished to Shaw, who fired a wrister that trickled to the ice after hitting Darling's left leg pad. Grant stretched to poke the puck over the goal line.

Anaheim went ahead 2-1 when Silfverberg got his seventh goal unassisted at 19:25 of the second period. Ducks center Andrew Cogliano chipped the puck out of his zone, and Carolina defenseman Haydn Fleury muffed it and fell down on the play at center ice. Silfverberg grabbed the loose puck, zoomed in, and fired up and over Darling's shoulder into the top corner.

"Tough break on their second one," Hurricanes coach Bill Peters said. "Not much going on and we got three guys back looking like we're going to have the puck, and the ice wasn't obviously very good and we talked about it after one (period), either the ice was soft or the puck was soft, because the puck was bouncing."

Silfverberg said, "I was kind of surprised. I was a bit lucky. I just wanted to get a shot off. I didn't want to get too cute."

The Hurricanes got a late goal from Victor Rask, his seventh, at 17:20 of the third period. Gibson saved a van Riemsdyk slap shot from the point. As the puck sat in front, Skinner had a whack at it, but Rask put it in from the left side of the crease.

Peters said, "We got it to 3-2, and in the third, when we pushed, I thought we got some real good looks."

Darling finished with 20 saves.

NOTES: The Ducks scratched LW Nick Ritchie, D Korbinian Holzer and C Joseph Blandisi. Ritchie was hurt Friday against Minnesota. ... The Hurricanes scratched D Klas Dahlbeck and LW Phillip Di Giuseppe. ... The Ducks recalled D Andy Welinski from San Diego (AHL) on Monday, and he was a plus-1 in his NHL debut vs. Carolina. ... Anaheim assigned RW Jared Boll, LW Kevin Roy and D Jaycob Megna to San Diego on Monday.

Sharks storm back to beat Hurricanes in OT

SAN JOSE -- Brent Burns called it as he saw it. The game wasn't pretty, but it was entertaining.

The Norris Trophy-winning defenseman scored only his second goal of the season 22 seconds into overtime as the San Jose Sharks beat Carolina Hurricanes 5-4 Thursday night at SAP Center.

The Sharks trailed 3-0 after the first period and 4-2 after the second period.

"Pretty good game for the fans probably, huh?" Burns said. "It's hockey. That game had everything in it. Tough start, great finish. You got to try to learn what we were struggling with, and it worked at the end. It felt good."

Joe Pavelski's pass set up Burns, and Joe Thornton picked up the second assist to move into No. 19 on the NHL's career scoring list with 1,410 points. Thornton scored a goal earlier in the game in addition to assisting on another.

"It started with Jumbo (Thornton), made a great play, coming to help in the defensive zone," Burns said. "And then Pavs obviously made just a great pass there, nice saucer over two sticks, and nice to see it go in."

After falling behind by three goals early, San Jose tied the game in the final period with its third and fourth goals on special teams.

"Our five-on-five play early was good. Our specialty teams hurt us tonight," Carolina coach Bill Peters. "We were minus-4 on special teams. It's tough to win when you do that."

Logan Couture scored his 14th of the season with a power-play strike at 8:31 of the third to bring the Sharks within 4-3 after defenseman Dylan DeMelo drew an interference penalty on Justin Faulk.

Then, Barclay Goodrow scored his second of the season with a short-handed tally -- San Jose's second of the game. He converted a breakaway at 11:56.

"I figured we would push back. We usually do," Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said. "There's a lot of character in that room, a lot of proud guys. When we've been in that spot before, we usually push back, and we did tonight. Fortunate obviously to get a win. That's not the way you draw it up to start the game. We dug ourselves out of a hole. You got to win all kinds of ways in this league over 82 games."

Melker Karlsson got the Sharks on the board at 10:21 of the second period by completing a two-on-one, short-handed break to make the score 3-1.

The Hurricanes went back up by three when San Jose defensemen Paul Martin and Burns found themselves on the weak side, allowing Justin Williams to walk in from the left circle and assist Jeff Skinner on his 11th goal in front at 14:44.

San Jose converted on the power play as Thornton scored his fifth at 17:51 of the second with a wrist shot from the left circle. Tomas Hertl screened Carolina goalie Cam Ward, helping the Sharks pull within 4-2.

The Hurricanes struck for three goals in the span of four shots in the opening period.

Sebastian Aho scored at the side of the net at 9:01 as Sharks goalie Martin Jones skated out from his crease to challenge a possible point shot that turned into a pass.

Victor Rask scored his fifth of the season at 11:37 to cap a faceoff win by the Hurricanes in the Sharks' zone.

Aho scored his second of the period and seventh of the season by picking the top corner over Jones' left glove at 14:14.

"We did pretty good five-on-five. We just needed to create more opportunities," Aho said. "We have to play better. We need to go back to work and play our game for 60 minutes."

NOTES: D Paul Martin returned from a 24-game absence (lower-body injury) and paired with D Brent Burns on San Jose's back end. ... San Jose LW Melker Karlsson returned after missing two games with a laceration. ... Sharks LW Joonas Donskoi (ribs) went on injured reserve to open a roster spot for Martin. ... San Jose also was without F Mikkel Boedker (lower body) and D Tim Heed (upper body). ... Carolina D Klas Dahlbeck and D Phillip Di Giuseppe replaced D Josh Jooris and D Haydn Fleury, who were both healthy scratches. ... The Hurricanes make their third stop of a six-game road trip on Saturday in Los Angeles. ... San Jose continues its stretch of playing three times in four nights with a home game Saturday against Ottawa.

Canucks' Markstrom records first career shutout

VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Winning was the most important thing.

Not having to answer questions about why a potential shutout disappeared late in a game made it even sweeter.

Jacob Markstrom made 30 saves for his first career shutout and defenseman Derrick Pouliot scored a goal and added two assists as the Vancouver Canucks defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 3-0 on Tuesday night.

The shutout came in Markstrom's 129th game and 115th start. He had come close before, including in Vancouver's 2-1 victory over Toronto on Saturday when the Maple Leafs scored with 2:52 left.

"If we won 3-2 today it would have been great," said the 27-year-old from Gavie, Sweden. "I'm just more happy about not getting the questions from you guys to be honest.

"It's nice to be able to contribute. If you don't let in any goals that's a good way to do it. It's also a team game. If you look at the chances, they didn't have much."

Markstrom was muted in his celebration at the final whistle. He calmly skated out of his crease only to be mobbed by his teammates.

Pouliot seemed more excited for the shutout than his own three-point performance.

"You feel awesome for him," said Pouliot. "It was awesome to see him get that first one. He played unbelievable."

Thomas Vanek, who scored a power-play goal in the second period, said Markstrom is one of the reasons the Canucks remain in the playoff hunt.

"There's a few times this year he's bailed us out," said Vanek. "Tonight is the perfect night for him because in the first period we were god-awful. He kept it 0-0 and gave us a chance. It feels great for him."

Markstrom shrugged off the team's reaction after the game.

"I guess they were really happy about that win," he deadpanned. "We have a good group here. We battle together. We win and lose together. It's a good group of guys and it's nice when stuff like this happens."

Some of Markstrom's best saves came in the second period. Early on he used his left pad to stop Derek Ryan on a deke in close. With about five minutes left, Justin Williams scooped up a turnover in the slot and took a shot that Markstrom gloved.

Nikolay Goldobin also scored for the Canucks (14-10-4), who won their third consecutive game.

Vancouver has won 10 straight contests against the Hurricanes at Rogers Arena.

Markstrom's performance overshadowed one of Pouliot's best games as a Canuck. Vancouver acquired the former first-round draft pick in a trade with Pittsburgh in October.

"He did a lot of good things," coach Travis Green said. "He moved the puck well when he needed. He's a young defenseman that is slowly feeling good about himself and finding his game.

We haven't found out what his ceiling is."

Pouliot, who has three goals and 18 assists in 91 games, said he's feeling more comfortable with his game.

"For me it's a confidence thing," he said. "I feel better each night. I'm starting to add things to my game. I'm playing well defensively, that's where it starts. I can add the offensive stuff after that."

The loss was the fifth in seven games for the Hurricanes (11-10-5). It was the first time this year Carolina was shut out.

The Hurricanes controlled most of the scoreless first period, outshooting Vancouver 12-3. The Canucks found their game in the second. They scored twice, outshot Carolina 10-5, and kept the Hurricanes hemmed in their own zone.

Defenseman Justin Faulk said the Hurricanes couldn't maintain the momentum they built in the first period.

"We had a little bit of a letdown," he said. "I don't know if it's a thing of not having confidence right now.

"We are trying to find a way to continue that play we had in the first period and carry it into the second and not get disappointed that we didn't score."

Coach Bill Peters said his team couldn't finish what it started.

"The start was fine, we did some good things," he said. "I don't think we had a very effective forecheck in the second period."

Vancouver center Bo Horvat left in the game in the third period. Green would only say Horvat had "a small injury."

Horvat went to the dressing room earlier in the period but returned. A few minutes later, he went to the room for good.

NOTES: The three-point game was a career high for Canucks D Derrick Pouliot. ... C Alex Burmistrov and D Alex Biega were Vancouver scratches. ... D Michael Del Zotto leads the Canucks by averaging almost 22 minutes of ice time a game. ... It was the second consecutive game Vancouver was held to three shots in a period. ... Carolina last won in Vancouver on Oct. 15, 1999. ... It was the first game of a season-long, six-game road trip for the Hurricanes. ... LW Phillip Di Giuseppe and D Klas Dahlbeck were Carolina scratches. ... C Marcus Kruger was given a 10-minute misconduct after arguing with the officials following Vancouver's second goal.

Blue Jackets score twice in shootout to top Hurricanes 3-2

By ROBERT DENHARD
Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Joonas Korpisalo doesn’t get many starts as the backup to the league’s top goalie, Sergei Bobrovsky. On the ice for the Blue Jackets for the first time in three weeks, he made it count.

Korpisalo made 29 saves in regulation and overtime, and Cam Atkinson and Artemi Panarin scored in the shootout to give Columbus a 3-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night.

Korpisalo maintained solid positioning as Carolina misfired on its two shootout attempts.

“I thought it was going to be fun. I like shootouts,” said Korpisalo, who made his fifth start. “The boys scored both goals and the easy part was left for me.”

Bobrovsky, a two-time Vezina trophy winner, leads the league this season in save percentage and goals-against average. Korpisalo has twice been sent to Columbus’ AHL affiliate to see game action.

“I liked our game. I thought everybody contributed, and I’m thrilled for Korpy,” Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella said. “For him to get a win — I guess as your second goalie — and where he’s going back and forth to Cleveland to stay sharp, I’m thrilled for him. I think the organization handled it so well.”

Zach Werenski had a goal and an assist, and Josh Anderson also scored for the Blue Jackets, who won their first game after their season-best six-game winning streak ended. Columbus has won five in a row at home.

Noah Hanifan scored in the first period for Carolina, and Brock McGinn tied it midway through the third. Scott Darling had 36 saves for the Hurricanes, who had gone 6-3-1 in their past 10 games.

Columbus outshot Carolina 5-2 in overtime.

“The third period was our best period,” Hurricanes coach Bill Peters said. “It was a battle all night. We didn’t execute very well, but then the best part of our execution and the best part of our game was the third.”

Down a goal and starting to find more open ice in the third period, McGinn sent a shot from the slot past Korpisalo for his sixth goal this season.

Anderson put Columbus on the board early in the opening period with his team-leading ninth goal, converting a 2-on-1 one-handed feed from Pierre-Luc Dubois.

The Hurricanes took advantage of an odd-man break of their own when Columbus defenseman Scott Harrington got caught up the ice. Hanifan finished it off with his fourth at 7:41.

Columbus struck quickly again in the second period to pull ahead 2-1 when Werenski placed a wrist shot from the right circle over Darling’s glove. Alexander Wennberg, out the last six games with an injury, pulled up inside the blue line and sent a cross-ice pass to set up Werenski.

“Great goaltending, that’s the key right there,” Wennberg said. “When it comes down to getting the extra point, they’re huge. Every game makes a difference.”

NOTES: Tortorella became the third coach to win 100 games for Columbus. ... Carolina kicked off a stretch of playing 10 of 12 games on the road. ...The Blue Jackets are 8-0-1 in games beyond regulation.

UP NEXT

Columbus: The Blue Jackets host Anaheim on Friday.

Carolina: The Hurricanes visit the Rangers on Friday.

Hurricanes slip past Predators 4-3 in shootout

By KYLE GLASER
Associated Press
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — When it came time for Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen to face Juuse Saros in a shootout, they knew what to do against their fellow countrymen.

“A little bit of Finn on Finn there,” Carolina coach Bill Peters said. “They know Saros ... and I said to (Aho) ‘You own this guy?’ and he said ‘Yeah, I do.’ Teuvo said the same thing.”

Aho and Teravainen scored in the shootout and the Hurricanes earned a 4-3 victory over the Predators on Sunday.

Aho beat Saros with a wrist shot over his blocker on Carolina’s second attempt.

After Hurricanes goalie Scott Darling stopped Filip Forsberg’s second attempt for Nashville, Teravainen lifted a backhand over Saros’ left shoulder for the winner.

Josh Jooris, Victor Rask and Justin Williams scored in regulation for the Hurricanes, who snapped a two-game skid. Darling finished with 32 saves.

Viktor Arvidsson, Mattias Ekholm and Craig Smith scored for the Predators. Saros made 33 saves and Nashville had its four-game winning streak end.

“I thought they were a little quicker than us,” Predators coach Peter Laviolette said. “We had our looks and our chances.”

The shootout capped a back-and-forth matchup. Jooris opened the scoring in the first period when he got behind the Predators defense and finished with a nifty backhand through Saros’ legs that trickled across the goal line.

Arvidsson evened it for Nashville when he beat Noah Hanifin one-on-one near the right faceoff circle with a highlight-reel move where maneuvered the puck between his legs, and then fired a wrister over Darling’s left shoulder into the upper corner of the net.

Ekholm gave the Predators their first lead with a power-play goal midway through the second period. But Rask stuffed home a loose rebound in the crease just over a minute later to tie the score at 2-2.

Williams put the Hurricanes back on top in the third period with a power-play goal, stuffing home a deflected shot he had originally knocked down from Derek Ryan. Williams appeared to enter the crease before the puck on the play, but his goal was allowed to stand.

“It’s tough to tell,” Williams said. “I think I was where I needed to be and I was able to bang one in.”

Smith tied it for Nashville with 8:45 remaining when he found an open spot along the back post and buried a pass from Kevin Fiala.

The Predators had a chance to win on a power play in overtime, but the Hurricanes blocked four consecutive shots, including two by Joakim Nordstrom, to keep it tied.

“The penalty kill was unbelievable with those guys blocking shots,” Peters said. “That goes a long ways. That’s how you win games.”

NOTES: Rask had a goal and an assist for his first multi-point game since opening night. ... Saros recorded an assist on Arvidsson’s first-period goal. It was the Predators goalie’s second career assist. ... Hurricanes F Lee Stempniak (upper body injury) missed his 20th game. ... F Miikka Salomaki and F Cody McLeod were scratched for the Predators. ... D Klas Dahlback and F Phillip Di Giuseppe were the Hurricanes’ healthy scratches.

UP NEXT:

Predators: Return home and face the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday to start a four-game homestand.

Hurricanes: Visit the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday to begin a quick two-game road swing.

Teravainen, Andersen and MacKinnon named NHL Three Stars of the Week

NEW YORK – Carolina Hurricanes left wing Teuvo Teravainen, Toronto Maple Leafsgoaltender Frederik Andersen and ColoradoAvalanche center Nathan MacKinnon have been named the NHL’s “Three Stars” for the week ending Nov. 19.

FIRST STAR – TEUVO TERAVAINEN, LW, CAROLINA HURRICANES

Teravainen led the NHL with five goals and 10 points in four games (5-5—10) to propel the Hurricanes (9-6-4, 22 points) to a trio of victories. He posted 3-1—4, his first career hat trick and second career four-point performance, in a 5-1 triumph over the Dallas Stars Nov. 13. Teravainen then registered two assists in a 6-4 loss to the New York Islanders Nov. 16 and one helper in a 3-1 win against the Buffalo Sabres Nov. 18. He capped the week with 2-1—3, his third three-point outing of the campaign, in a 4-2 victory over the Islanders Nov. 19. The 23-year-old Helsinki, Finland, native paces the Hurricanes with 8-11—19 in 19 contests this season, nearly half his career-high point total from 2016-17 (15-27—42 in 81 GP).

SECOND STAR – FREDERIK ANDERSEN, G, TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS

Andersen was perfect in two starts, stopping all 75 shots he faced to help the Maple Leafs (14-7-0, 28 points) extend their winning streak to six games. He made a season-high 42 saves in a 1-0 overtime victory against the New Jersey Devils Nov. 16, followed by 33 stops in a 6-0 triumph over the Montreal Canadiens Nov. 18 – the second time he has earned consecutive shutouts in his career (also Jan. 23-25, 2017). The 28-year-old Herning, Denmark, native shares first place in the NHL with three shutouts and ranks second with 12 wins in 18 appearances this season, compiling a 2.88 goals-against average and .914 save percentage.

THIRD STAR – NATHAN MacKINNON, C, COLORADO AVALANCHE

MacKinnon collected 2-5—7 in three games to power the Avalanche (10-8-1, 21 points) to a pair of wins. He established career highs with four assists and five points in a 6-2 victory against the Washington Capitals Nov. 16. After being held off the scoresheet in a 5-2 loss to the Nashville Predators Nov. 18, MacKinnon bounced back with the primary assist on the tying goal in the final minute of regulation and then the overtime winner in a 4-3 victory over the Detroit Red Wings Nov. 19. The 22-year-old Halifax, N.S., native leads the Avalanche with 7-15—22 in 19 outings this season, including 6‑11—17 in his past nine games.

Teravainen scores twice, Hurrocanes beat Islanders 4-2

By MIKE POTTER
Associated Press

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Sebastian Aho’s scoring surge seems to be rubbing off on his teammates.

Aho had a goal and two assists, Teuvo Teravainen scored twice and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the New York Islanders 4-2 on Sunday night.

Aho has scored in four straight games after failing to get a goal in his first 15 games this season. Carolina has won three of those four games, including Saturday night over Buffalo.

“It was a good weekend,” Hurricanes coach Bill Peters said. “Today we started well and that’s what we want to be part of our foundation.”

Elias Lindholm also scored for the Hurricanes, and Cam Ward stopped 27 shots. John Tavares and Nick Leddy scored for New York, and Jaroslav Halak made 28 saves.

The Islanders beat Carolina 6-4 on Thursday night in Brooklyn.

“It’s cliché, but in a game like this, you just want to take care of your own business,” Ward said. “They have lines that can really score. Tonight was gutsy. My job is to be the last line of defense. At times it was a bit scrambly, but it was a matter of competing and getting to the puck.”

Aho has four goals and 13 assists this season, while Teravainen has eight goals and 11 assists. Their center, captain Jordan Staal, has six goals and nine assists.

“I don’t think the team is leaning on us in any way,” Teravainen said. “We’ve got four good lines that can score. I think any line can come in and win some games for us. But it’s all about confidence. And it’s always more fun to play with a little smile out there.”

Carolina led 3-1 after the first, outshooting the visitors 16-6.

Aho opened the scoring at 1:50, converting on a power play from the right circle with Teravainen on the primary assist. Teravainen made it 2-0 at 3:46, beating Halak from the left circle.

Leddy cut the lead to 2-1 with some fancy stickwork on a rush for an unassisted goal at 10:44.

Lindholm came back to put the Hurricanes up 3-1 in transition at 17:13.

Teravainen got his second of the night at 17:40 of the second, scoring on a power play.

Tavares cut it to 4-2 for New York when he got his 15th of the season on a follow shot at 13:13 of the third.

“We had really good second and third periods and opportunities to make it a really good hockey game,” said Islanders coach Doug Weight, who was a member of Carolina’s 2006 Stanley Cup championship team. “On the first (goal) we just fell asleep on a faceoff and Jaro had no chance, and on the second it was just a bad break — it hits Pelle’s skate and all of a sudden it’s a harmless 2-on-3 rush and it’s two-zip.”

NOTES: Teravainen was playing in his 100th game for Carolina. ... Islanders captain Andrew Ladd is a former Hurricane. ... Islanders RW Cal Clutterbuck was out with an illness. ... New York D and former Hurricane Dennis Seidenberg was a healthy extra along with teammate D Scott Mayfield. ... Carolina C Victor Rask and D Haydn Fleury were healthy scratches. ... The teams’ other meetings this season are in Raleigh on Feb. 16 and New York on March 18.

UP NEXT

Islanders: Host Philadelphia on Wednesday night for the opener of a back-to-back with the Flyers.

Hurricanes: Host the New York Rangers on Wednesday night in the second of a four-game homestand.

Boychuk’s go-ahead goal helps Islanders beat Hurricanes 6-4

By VIN A. CHERWOO
Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Islanders scored six goals again. They had a dominant third period to pull out another win and remained one of two NHL teams without a regulation loss at home.

Still, coach Doug Weight found plenty of things he didn’t like.

Johnny Boychuk scored the tiebreaking goal on a slap shot with 4:25 remaining and the Islanders rallied to beat the Carolina Hurricanes 6-4 Thursday night.

New York took a 3-1 lead in the first period but gave up three goals in the second to fall behind before responding with three in the third.

“The second period you just get away from everything you did well,” Weight said. “We just go into 1-on-1 mode, hold the puck, decisions at the blue line start going south and then we get back to it in the third and we play a way better game.

“(We) can be so much better,” he added. “We’re getting there. It’s not a hopeless case.”

Mathew Barzal had a goal and two assists, and Nick Leddy, Josh Bailey and Cal Clutterbuck each had a goal and an assist to help the Islanders improve to 6-0-2 at home. Jordan Eberle added an empty-netter and Thomas Greiss finished with 28 saves.

Sebastian Aho had a goal and an assist, and Elias Lindholm, Noah Hanafin and Derek Ryan also scored for Carolina, which was 3-0-2 in its previous five. Scott Darling stopped 30 shots.

The Islanders trailed 4-3 after two periods and tied it at 7:22 of the third. Barzal sent a pass in front to Anders Lee at the right side, and he backhanded it to Bailey, who put it in from the left side for his fourth.

On the winner, Boychuk got a pass from Casey Cizikas at the right point and fired the puck past Darling.

“It was a good play and a key goal, but we were doing the right things and we got the result we wanted,” Boychuk said.

Eberle capped the scoring with 1:18 left for his seventh goal of the season, all in the last eight games.

“We did a great job getting back in the second and just got outworked in the third,” Carolina’s Jordan Staal said. “We have to find ways to stay stronger in the third and stick with it, keep the puck out of our net.”

Trailing 3-1 after one period, the Hurricanes turned it around and took the lead with a three-goal second.

Staal’s centering pass from the goal line on the right side deflected off Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech’s skate to the left side. Hanafin skated from behind the net and quickly put it into the open side to pull the Hurricanes within one at 2:54.

Ryan tied it for Carolina as he backhanded the rebound of a shot by Brett Pesce for his fourth with 8:41 remaining in the second.

Aho then gave the Hurricanes their first lead with 52 seconds left, scoring from the right side for his second of the season.

“It was a good win for us, but the second period was really sloppy,” Boychuk said. “We weren’t careful with the puck and (made) bad decisions and we let them back in the game.”

The Islanders outshot the Hurricanes 14-9 in the first period and led 3-1, with all the scoring coming in the final 3:39.

Barzal broke through first as he brought the puck up the left side on a 2-on-1 break with Eberle. Barzal thought about passing before firing the puck past Darling’s glove side for his fourth with 3:39 to go.

“We need Barzy on a nightly basis to bring it and he’s been pretty consistent to this point,” Weight said. “It’s been a good first 18 games for him. ... He’s feeling out the NHL hockey game right now.”

With Lee off for tripping, Clutterbuck doubled the lead 36 seconds later on a short-handed breakaway into the top right corner. It was the first short-handed goal given up by the Hurricanes this season.

Carolina was still on the power play when Lindholm deflected a shot by Aho from the left circle with 2:30 remaining.

Leddy made it 3-1 about two minutes later when his shot from the left circle beat Darling for his fourth.

NOTES: Teuvo Teravainen’s assist on Lindholm’s first-period goal was his 100th career point. ... Aho played in his 99th career game. ... The teams play three more times this season: on Sunday and Feb. 16 at Raleigh, North Carolina; and March 18 back in Brooklyn. ... Leddy has 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in his last 11 games. ... New York captain John Tavares played in his 605th game, one behind former teammate Frans Nielsen for 13th place on the franchise list. ... Jason Chimera played in his 206th consecutive game, including the last 100 with the Islanders.

UP NEXT

Hurricanes: At Buffalo on Saturday night to wrap up a two-game trip.

Islanders: At Tampa Bay on Saturday night to open a back-to-back on the road.