Canes return home to top Avalanche 3-2

There was an October rarity Friday at PNC Arena — a Carolina Hurricanes game.

After seven consecutive games on the road, an annual rite of the hockey season during the N.C. State Fair, the Canes finally returned home to face the Colorado Avalanche and notch their first victory on home ice.

Goaltender Cam Ward again was smooth and active in net, defenseman Justin Faulk scored on the power play, Victor Rask and Jeff Skinner had even-strength goals and the penalty killing was timely as the Hurricanes emerged with a 3-2 win marred only by a first-period injury to forward Elias Lindholm.

Lindholm fell awkwardly to the ice after bumping into the Avs defenseman Nikita Zadorov, their legs becoming entangled. He returned to play one shift in the second period but then left again and did not return.

The Canes finished off a 4-3-0 road trip with victories over the Detroit Red Wings and New York Islanders, rallying in the third period Thursday against the Isles and then winning in overtime.

“We’ve got a winning atmosphere in here and the chemistry is really good,” said Ward, who finished with 30 saves. “We wanted to keep a good thing going and we knew we needed a strong effort here at home.”

After a scoreless first, the Cavs’ Alex Tanguay gave Colorado a 1-0 lead in the second. But the Canes (5-6-0) quickly answered as Rask crashed the net to bang the puck past Avs goalie Semyon Varlamov and Faulk scored on the power play.

Special teams had not been a strength for Carolina in the first 10 games this season. The Canes were last in the NHL in the power play — Faulk scoring all three goals — and 24th in penalty killing.

But Faulk scored his fourth and the Canes effectively killed off a pair of penalties in the first period when the Avs (3-6-1) had 30 seconds of a 5-on-3 advantage. Carolina also killed off a penalty in the second after Tanguay’s score.

“It was good,” Faulk said of the penalty killing. “It’s something that was a huge strength of ours last season and we’re working to get back there. It’s a work in progress and tonight a good sign that when we play the right way on the penalty kill we can shut team down.”

Faulk nearly scored in the first minute of the second when his shot from the point hit the crossbar and initially was ruled a goal. After a review, the goal was disallowed as the puck rolled along the goal line but did not cross it.

But Rask tied the score with his fourth goal of the season — his overtime score beat the Avs 1-0 in Denver on Oct. 21 — off a Kris Versteeg centering pass. Almost three minutes later, Faulk used a screen by Eric Staal to fire the puck past Varlamov.

Skinner picked up his second of the season five minutes into the third, rifling a shot from the right circle. Skinner had five shots against the Islanders and was active in the offensive zone again Friday.

“The last few games I had some chances I’d like to see go in, but that’s the way it goes,” Skinner said. “You’ve just got to stick with it.”

Defenseman Brett Pesce, playing his fourth NHL game, earned his first career point with an assist on Skinner’s goal. Versteeg and defenseman Ryan Murphy each had a pair of assists in the game.

“It was a hard-fought game and I thought we were under control when it was 1-0, then they scored those two goals,” Avs coach Patrick Roy said. “We were playing against a team that played really well defensively and didn’t give us much.”

The Avs, who won on the road Thursday against Tampa Bay, picked up a goal by Carl Soderberg in the final minute with an extra attacker. But Ward and the Canes finished it out.

“We’ve got some traction now,” Canes coach Bill Peters said. “We’re going in the right direction for sure.”

This story was originally published October 30, 2015 at 9:33 PM with the headline "Canes return home to top Avalanche 3-2."