Hurricanes skate past Panthers 4-2 for fifth straight victory
.JPG "Carolina Hurricanes’ Vincent Trocheck (16), center, is congratulated on his goal by teammates Jordan Staal (11) and Andrei Svechnikov (37) with Florida Panthers’ Aaron Ekblad (5) nearby during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Raleigh, N.C., Sunday, March 7, 2021. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker)")
Just when it seemed every game between the Carolina Hurricanes and Florida Panthers this season would need more than 60 minutes to decide, the Canes changed things up.
The Canes out-skated and out-battled Florida on Sunday, earning a 4-2 win at PNC Arena. Sebastian Aho scored shorthanded early in the third and a snipe on a partial breakaway from Warren Foegele put things away as Carolina picked up its fifth consecutive win and moved past the Panthers into second place in the Central Division.
In the final seconds of the game, a melee broke out in the Panthers’ zone as emotions spilled over and the pushing and shoving began. The newly formed division has spawned a pretty nice rivalry — or it is a revival of the old Southeast Division rivalry?
“It’s two good teams, you know, playing intense hockey,” Aho said. “Maybe there’s something brewing. It was definitely intense and fun to play.”
And what happened at the end?
“Good question,” Aho said. “I was on the ice with a guy on my back the whole time, so I can’t tell you.”
A team effort
The scuffle came soon after the Panthers pulled Chris Driedger for a 6-on-4 advantage after officials whistled the Canes’ Jordan Staal for hooking. But the Canes (17-6-1) battled as if they were protecting a one-goal lead, fighting for pucks, putting sticks on sticks, blocking shots and getting stops from goalie James Reimer.
“That was great to see,” Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “The desperation was there and a lot of sellout. Everybody was sacrificing. That’s team stuff. You’ve got to have that if you want to be successful.”
To Brind’Amour, the win Sunday was one of his team’s best 60-minute efforts of the season.
“There wasn’t a lot going on for on stretches, but because there was no room,” he said. “Both teams were just playing on top of each other. I liked the fact we hung in there and didn’t get frustrated and just kept playing and made some big plays when we had to.”
In the previous three games against the Panthers, the Canes lost in overtime, won in a shootout, and won in overtime. It was that tight. But the Canes won in regulation Sunday to claim the two points.
“I definitely think we played a full 60 minutes tonight,” Canes center Vincent Trocheck said.
Early and often
Trocheck has now scored in all four games this season against his former team after he banged in a power-play goal in the first for his 13th of the season. When Nino Niederreiter scored off the rush in the second, his 11th goal, Carolina had a 2-0 lead.
The Panthers (15-5-4) pushed back in the second. MacKenzie Weegar scored on a blast after a faceoff win in the Canes zone, and had Reimer not made his biggest save of the game it would have been tied entering the third period.
After a bad turnover by the Canes, the Panthers’ Jonathan Huberdeau had the puck alone in front of the net. But Reimer, who had 21 saves, made the point-blank stop with four seconds remaining in the period.
Aho scored 38 seconds into the third for the 10th shorthanded goal of his career. That tied him with Brind’Amour for third place in franchise history — Eric Staal is the team’s career leader with 16.
Foegele then struck for a 4-1 lead, busting down the ice after a lead pass from Brock McGinn to beat Driedger with a forehand.
.JPG "PanthersHurricanesHockey (2).JPG")
Mason Marchment’s goal for Florida in the third made it a 4-2 game, and Reimer robbed the Panthers’ Gustav Forsling of a goal later in the period with a glove save while seated in the crease. Reimer had four saves in the late 6-on-4 by Florida.
The Panthers, who had defenseman Keith Yandle play in his 1,000th career game, were in the second game of a back-to-back, having won 6-2 on Saturday against the Nashville Predators.
The Canes enjoyed a rarity: two days between games after their 5-2 win over Detroit on Thursday at PNC Arena.
“It’s that mental break,” Brind’Amour said. “It’s recharging the batteries.”
This story was originally published March 7, 2021 at 4:33 PM.
