Fast’s late goal gives Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 victory over Chicago Blackhawks
It was a big day for the “birthday boy,” as Jordan Staal called him, and for the player known as “Quickie” on the Carolina Hurricanes.
Warren Foegele scored twice on his 25th birthday Thursday as the Canes squeezed past the Chicago Blackhawks 4-3 at the United Center. The winger had plenty to celebrate on the plane ride home.
So did Jesper Fast. With the score tied 3-3 and the game seemingly headed to overtime with a half-minute left in regulation, Fast knocked the rebound of a Vincent Trocheck shot past goalie Kevin Lankinen with 28.9 seconds remaining in the third period.
Call it sudden victory for the Canes (24-8-3), who headed back to Raleigh for an eight-game homestand. As Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour rather coolly put it, “It’s two points. We’ll move on.”
Fast’s goal was a collective gut-punch for the Blackhawks (17-16-5), who are fighting for playoff position in the Central Division. The ‘Hawks trailed 2-0 in the second period and 3-2 in the third after Foegele’s second goal but were seconds away from at least one point and possibly two before Fast delivered the crusher.
Foegele’s two goals gave the fast, slightly rambunctious winger eight for the season. It was productive night for his line as Staal and Nino Niederreiter each picked up a pair of assists on the goals.
“When he’s on he’s hard to handle, he’s hard to play against,” Brind’Amour said. “That’s really it in a nutshell. He’s got a lot of speed and can create chaos for us on the other team. He puts a lot of stress on the other team.”
Foegele said his biggest hockey thrill on his birthday before Thursday was signing his first NHL contract. But he probably topped that by winging a shot toward the net in the second period that hit defenseman Duncan Keith and got through Lankinen, then a third-period goal scored 68 seconds after Brandon Hagel had tied it 2-2 for Chicago when Foegele went between his legs with the shot.
“Big birthday boy tonight had a great game,” Staal said. “When he’s on, he’s got all the tools. He can skate well, he’s got good mitts. He got it done tonight. He’s a fun player to play with. He brings energy”
Trocheck, in his second game since returning from an injury, scored the Canes’ first goal in the opening period and then had the assist on the Fast goal. His shot glanced off defenseman Calvin de Haan, off Lankinen’s pad and into the slot to Fast.
“He seems like he hasn’t missed a beat after being out,” Fast said of Trocheck.
On a day when goalie Alex Nedeljkovic was named the NHL rookie of the month for March, James Reimer got the start for the Canes and battled his way to his 14th win with 22 saves. His biggest stop came with 41 seconds left in regulation on a shot by Dominik Kubalik, who had scored once and was after a go-ahead goal.
The Canes were beaten 2-1 by the Blackhawks on Tuesday in a game Brind’Amour described as “kind of gross.”
And Thursday’s second game with Chicago?
“Pretty much identical,” he said. “It was just weird. Not a lot happening. ... It’s not what I expected out of these two games, the styles played.”
Mrazek gets a game with Wolves
The Hurricanes played two goalies Thursday in Chicago but not both against the Blackhawks.
While Reimer was the starting goalie at the United Center, Petr Mrazek got in an afternoon game for the Chicago Wolves, the Canes’ AHL affiliate.
The Canes assigned Mrazek, who has been sidelined since Jan. 30, to the Wolves on a conditioning stint, allowing him to play against the Grand Rapids Griffins. Mrazek faced 45 shots, 23 in the second period, in a 5-2 victory.
“I don’t think there’s anything better than facing 45 shots,” Mrazek said on a media call. “That’s a good conditioning game. It has been eight weeks since I played a game, so I was very happy I could see action and see the puck and fight through traffic and battle hard. It was positive.
“It’s been a long road to this point. I’m happy I could go and try and it and see if it feels ready or not.”
Mrazek dislocated his right thumb in a collision with Canes forward Max McCormick in the Jan. 30 game against Dallas. He had surgery and has missed the past 29 games, although he has practiced a few times with the Canes.
“We just want to take it day by day here,” Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said Thursday morning. “Obviously, with him being out as long as he had, it’d be tough to just say, ‘Hey, let’s throw you into an NHL game not knowing how you feel.’ Because there’s still obviously a little question mark in his mind.
“This hopefully alleviates that. No pressure on the result type of thing. It’s get in there, feel comfortable and we’ll see what he says after the game, where he feels he’s at. We’ll make decisions after that.
This story was originally published April 1, 2021 at 7:36 PM.
