Carolina Hurricanes fight past Dallas Stars in shootout 4-3 for two-game sweep
James Reimer wasn’t going to allow it. The Carolina Hurricanes goalie was up to the challenge, determined to win it
The Canes and Dallas Stars had gone through 60 minutes and then a five-minute overtime Sunday at PNC Arena. Jamie Benn, the Stars captain, had been a game-long problem for Carolina, scoring a goal, assisting on another while also flattening Canes captain Jordan Staal with a vicious hit from behind early in the second period.
It was a tense, tough game. Staal scored a power-play goal in the first period and winger Brock McGinn had a shorthanded strike in the second off a Staal pass. Then, 2:35 away from a regulation loss, the Canes tied it 3-3 on a blast from winger Nino Niederreiter.
Dougie Hamilton and Vincent Trocheck scored for the Canes against Anton Khudobin in the shootout. Alexander Radulov countered for the Stars, but only Radulov could beat Reimer as he turned away Joe Pavelski and Benn.
“Obviously, you’re going against the other team’s best shooters and it’s always nerve-racking,” Reimer said on the postgame media call.
And stopping Benn? That had to be rewarding given Benn’s role, given that Benn’s wraparound goal in the third gave the Stars a 3-2 lead.
“One of the best in the league,” Reimer said. “You want to go against the best and that’s what’s so much fun about this game.”
To get to the shootout, the Canes (5-1-0) had to kill off a Hamilton holding penalty in the overtime and a four-on-three power play by Dallas. But defensemen Brett Pesce and Brady Skjei did the heavy work, playing all two minutes, and Staal played a hand in the kill, too.
“A four-on-three, there’s a lot of ice out there,” Reimer said. “You just try to limit the most dangerous options and second attempts. It’s just an all-out battle and everyone just sacrifices and do what they can.”
The Canes also won the other PK battles, killing off four penalties in regulation against a team that came into the back-to-back ranked No. 1 on the power play in the league.
Since a nine-day pause for COVID-19 issues, the Canes have won three straight, beating the Tampa Bay Lightning and then the Stars twice -- the 2020 Stanley Cup champion and the runner-up. But there have been unsettling moments. Goalie Petr Mrazek left Saturday’s game early with an apparent injured right hand, and forward Max McCormick suffered an injured shoulder.
Then, Staal. Just 30 seconds into the second, Benn launched at Staal from behind. Staal was down for a few moments, then taken to the “quiet room” for the concussion protocol before being allowed to return.
“I didn’t love the hit,” Staal said. Neither did the rest of the Canes.
Reimer faced just 11 shots on Saturday after coming in for Mrazek. He said he was fresh and rested after the long layoff and ready for a back-to-back and whatever the Stars would throw at him.
As it turns out, not much in the first period — Dallas had three shots. But the Stars had 21 in the second and third, then five shots in overtime. Jamie Oleksiak scored off a Benn rebound in the second and Andrew Cogliano off the rush in the third.
But the Canes won again with five regulars still out of the lineup because of NHL COVID protocols. Brind’Amour said he hopes to have defenseman Jaccob Slavin and forwards Teuvo Teravainen, Jordan Martinook and Warren Foegele back for Tuesday’s at Chicago — forward Jesper Fast remained on the NHL COVID-19 list on Sunday.
Brind’Amour said Sunday he had no further update on Mrazek, saying he was still being medically evaluated.
“We’re very happy, not content, but very happy with the way we’re playing,” Staal said. “We didn’t change our game with the guys out and all the stuff that’s going on outside of being on the ice.”
This story was originally published January 31, 2021 at 4:39 PM.
