Svechnikov, Niederreiter lead Hurricanes past Blackhawks 6-3
It’s hard holding back the Carolina Hurricanes.
Even when they’re not always at their best, they’ve often found ways to win this season and did it again Tuesday against the Chicago Blackhawks.
Andrei Svechnikov had two goals and an assist, Nino Niederreiter scored twice and Teuvo Teravainen had a goal and two assists as the Canes shook off an awful first period to come away with a decisive 6-3 victory at PNC Arena.
Niederreiter scored his 19th of the season to jump-start the Canes in the second period and closed out the scoring with an empty-netter late. Teravainen and Martin Necas had goals in the third period, Necas scoring into an empty net for a shorthanded score.
That easily offset two goals by Chicago’s speedy Alex DeBrincat, the first shorthanded in the first period, when the Blackhawks led 2-0.
The Canes (36-10-7), who lead the Central Division by four points, clinched home-ice advantage for at least the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. With points in 12 straight games, Carolina leads the NHL with 79 and has a 20-3-4 home record.
“It wasn’t a good game tonight. We got by with a lot of good efforts,” Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “The talent we have on this team kind of won us this game. But it wasn’t pretty.”
Goalie Petr Mrazek, making his first start since April 19, allowed a goal on the shorthanded breakaway by DeBrincat and a rebound goal by Mike Hardman in the first. He steadied, as did the Canes, after the first period and made a game-changing save in the second.
Trailing 2-1, the Canes had 1:26 of a 5-on-3 advantage but overpassed the puck and couldn’t score. The Blackhawks killed off both penalties and had another shorthanded breakaway, by Pius Suter. But Mrazek made the stop on Suter’s shot, the biggest of his 27 saves.
“You give him breakaways and two-on-ones and stuff to start, that’s not good,” Brind’Amour said “I thought he made some good saves after that, but we’ve got to give him a couple of more games here though to make sure we can get him up to speed. I’m sure there’s some rust but he was fine.”
Svechnikov’s first goal tied the score. After Teravainen won a draw in the Chicago zone, Svechnikov took a pass from Jaccob Slavin and buried a long shot that nicked the skate of Chicago’s Nikita Zadorov.
“We weren’t our best in the first ... but we got better,” Teravainen said, “We got into our game. It’s the small, simple things that make the game better for us.”
Svechnikov’s second goal, in the third, was all power. After a nice defensive play by Slavin, Svechnikov bulled past defenseman Ian Mitchell and beat goalie Collin Delia with a backhander as Mitchell was hooking him.
“When he’s on, he’s pretty much unstoppable,” Brind’Amour said of Svechnikov, who has 14 points in the last 12 games.
Teravainen made it 4-2, scoring from the slot off a pass from Sebastian Aho, who had two assists. But DeBrincat’s second goal, his 28th of the season, pulled the Blackhawks within 4-3 with 8:08 left in regulation.
The Blackhawks had a chance to tie after a late penalty on Staal. But Necas scored with an empty net, shorthanded, and Niederreiter added another empty-netter for his 20th of the season.
“We have a confident group,” Slavin said. “We know what we’re capable of when we play the right way and to our strengths. We want to make sure we have that playoff mode engaged before the playoffs even hit.
“We don’t want to take any steps back these last couple of games. We want to keep pushing forward and hit the ground running when the playoffs do start.”
(Earlier updates)
Second period: Nino, Svechnikov score
Nino Niederreiter’s 19th goal of the season and Andrei Svechnikov’s 14th have pulled the Canes even 2-2 after the second period.
Morgan Geekie first toyed with trying a lacrosse move as he controlled the puck behind the net. The puck rolled off his stick and he found Niederreiter open cutting into the low slot at 4:32 of the period.
Svechnikov tied the score 2-2 after Teravainen won a faceoff in the Chicago zone. Svechnikov took a pass from Jaccob Slavin and got off a shot from near the blue line that found its way past goalie Collin Delia with 4:04 left in the second.
Before Svechnikov tied it, the Canes had 1:26 of a 5-on-3 advantage but could not score as they overpassed the puck.
After killing off the first penalty, the Blackhawks had their second shorthanded breakaway of the game — Alex DeBrincat scored on the first — but Petr Mrazek stopped Pius Suter’s shot.
First period: Hawks take 2-0 lead
DeBrincat had a shorthanded goal and Mike Hardman scored his first NHL goal as the Blackhawks have grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first period
DeBrincat gave the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead, turning a poor Sebastian Aho pass along the boards into a breakaway goal.
DeBrincat has goals in four straight games, 27 for the season and five against the Canes this year. After picking off the pass, he was in the clear as defenseman Dougie Hamilton could not catch him and beat Petr Mrazek to score at 6:20 of the period.
Hardman scored off the rebound of a MacKenzie Entwistle shot as Entwistle skated past Jaccob Slavin for a shot. Hardman is playing his fifth NHL game.
The Canes had four shots on its power play but was too pass happy. Teuvo Teravainen passed up a shot and centered to Morgan Geekie for a chance at the top of the crease, but goalie Collin Delia made the stop.
The Blackhawks outshot the Canes 12-8 in the first.
Mrazek to start
Hurricanes goalie Petr Mrazek took more than two months to recover from a thumb injury. Once back, in early April, he played five games, then was injured and out again.
With the regular season winding down, Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour has said a few times that Mrazek needed to get back and play a few games before the playoffs. Mrazek will do that Tuesday against the Blackhawks.
Brind’Amour said Tuesday morning that Mrazek would make his first start since April 19 against Tampa Bay. Mrazek did back up Alex Nedeljkovic in Monday’s game, his first time on the bench since going out with a lower-body injury.
“I don’t think he had a really serious injury,” Brind’Amour said. “It’s a matter of getting enough practice time, which we don’t do, to feel good. He had a good couple days, and we’ve got to get him up to speed.
“We’re running out of runway here. He needs to get some game action.”
This story was originally published May 4, 2021 at 6:47 PM.
