Canes use fast start to bounce back with 2-1 win over Devils

Carolina Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour was mad about his team’s play Saturday after a loss to Columbus.

Truth be known, he wasn’t all that happy Sunday but there was a difference. The Canes did beat the New Jersey Devils.

Justin Williams and Micheal Ferland scored goals in the first 30 seconds of the game and goaltender Curtis McElhinney made them stand up for a 2-1 victory at PNC Arena. The Canes (9-8-3) were tough enough in their zone when need be, killed off penalties and did their share of grinding.

“That’s the positive of it, that you can win a game like that,” Brind’Amour said. “It certainly wasn’t our best game.”

It was the Canes’ best start -- strong and fast -- and one they were looking for after the 4-1 loss to the Blue Jackets that Williams called a “dud” and unacceptable.

Williams got things started, taking a pass from Jordan Staal from the blue line and beating goalie Cory Schneider with a five-hole shot. The goal, Williams’ second of the season and his first in 15 games, came at 22 seconds of the first.

Eight seconds later, it was 2-0.

After the faceoff , the Devils turned the puck over in the neutral zone and the Canes quickly attacked. Ferland scored off a sharp cross-ice pass from Teuvo Teravainen, beating Schneider high to the short side for his 10th.

“That’s the game we talk about all the time, how you can have a good game and that one shift, or take a breath, and it costs you,” Brind’Amour said. “It was the other way tonight. They had their two worst shifts of the game to started the game and it benefitted us obviously.”

For Carolina, it was the quickest two goals to start a period in franchise history, and the sixth time in NHL history a team has scored twice in the first 30 seconds.

Not that the game had been decided in the first 30 seconds. The Devils’ Pavel Zacha scored later in the first, beating McElhinney with a backhander.

“I thought after the first 30 seconds we gathered ourselves and played well,” Devils coach John Hynes said. “Unfortunately we couldn’t find a way to put the puck in the net.”

McElhinney made every save that mattered after the Zacha goal, stopping 33 shots in his first start since the Nov. 6 road loss against the St. Louis Blues. McElhinney now is 5-1-0 in his career against the Devils.

“The biggest thing is when you get an opportunity you’ve got to prove you’re more than capable of helping this team earn wins,” McElhinney said.

The Devils had their chances on the power play, but the Canes snuffed out all three and have killed off 18 of 20 penalties in the past seven games.

Schneider, after the rocky start, settled in. The veteran goalie underwent offseason hip surgery is 0-4-0 this season, but kept the Devils in it.

The Canes limited the Devils’ offensive chances in the second and third periods. They blocked shots, cut off passing lanes, battled for pucks. But the Canes didn’t generate much in the offensive zone, either.

“I didn’t like this game for a lot of it,” Brind’Amour said. “I did like that our guys were competing (and) we didn’t give up a ton. But we didn’t create very much.”

The Canes’ locker room was a somber place Saturday night. It was lively Sunday after the players, in their postgame celebration, rode their sticks pony-style as they skated down the ice.

“Winning is a lot more fun, isn’t it?” Williams said. “Better attitude, lot more fun around the dressing room.

“We need to start something rolling here. We need to get it going soon.”

This story was originally published November 18, 2018 at 7:41 PM.