Tyler Seguin, Stars tip Hurricanes in shootout as Canes lose fifth in six games
The Carolina Hurricanes had another one of those games Thursday.
The Canes badly outshot their opponent.
They kept the puck in the offensive zone much of the game, all the better for compiling some nice looking analytics. They controlled the pace much of the game, twice took the lead. And lost.
The Dallas Stars emerged from a shootout with a 4-3 victory at PNC Arena, rewarding goalie Scott Wedgewood in his first game since his trade from Arizona on Monday with a victory.
The Canes had 47 shots while allowing a season-low 15. They had 81 total shooting attempts to the Stars’ 30.
Two of Wedgewood’s biggest stops came in overtime, when he first denied Sebastian Aho on a two-on-one rush and then stopped a Martin Necas one-timer. In the shootout, he turned back less-than-dangerous attempts by Vincent Trocheck, Andrei Svechnikov and Tony DeAngelo while the Stars’ Tyler Seguin and Jason Robertson beat goalie Frederik Andersen -- Seguin with the game-deciding goal.
“It’s tough. We did a lot of good things out there,” Canes forward Nino Niederreiter said.
Neiderreiter did. He scored twice, both on nice assists from defenseman Brady Skjei, while the Canes’ third goal was a power-play score from Trocheck early in the third.
“It felt like we dominated that game,” Niederreiter said. “We had a lot of chances and a lot of shots on net. We have to find a way to stay positive and get some greasy goals.”
It was the second time in three games the Canes (42-15-7) were stymied and left frustrated by a goalie who picked PNC Arena to play his best game of the season. The New York Rangers’ Alexandar Georgiev had 44 saves Sunday in a 2-0 win over Carolina and Wedgewood came into Thursday’s game with a 3.16 goals-against average, albeit with the Coyotes, and had 44 stops.
“At the beginning of the year all the pucks found a way to go in and right now we feel like the luck is not quite on our side,” Niederreiter said. “But we’ve got to keep doing what we’re doing. We’ve got to keep shooting the puck on net, maybe get more traffic in front of them. But overall we’ve got to keep playing the way we’ve been doing and eventually the luck will start turning on our side again.”
The Canes could use more guys finishing, not shooting. They had eight players with four or more shots in the game. Only Niederreiter and Trocheck scored, Trocheck banging in a rebound of an Aho shot.
Maybe Max Domi will help. The forward, obtained Monday from Columbus in a three-team trade, put in his first game in a Canes uniform and was in the starting lineup.
“He just needs some time to figure out how we play,” Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “I thought he was effective.”
Domi was used on Jesperi Kotkaniemi’s line with Derek Stepan, getting 10:41 of ice time and finishing with one shot and four hits.
“I think with Max he brings a component that’s grit and compete, but what I like is his compete,” Stepan said Thursday. “I think that’s something that will mesh well with our group.”
The Stars (36-24-3), fighting for playoff position in the Western Conference, made their meager amount of shots count. Roope Hintz scored twice, both a minutes after the Canes had scored. Jamie Benn had a pass hit the stick of Canes defenseman Ian Cole and get past Andersen.
Andersen’s biggest stop came against Michael Raffl with 5:51 left in regulation and the score 3-3. Raffl was awarded a penalty shot after being hooked by DeAngelo on a breakaway but had his backhand attempt stopped by Andersen at the post.
There were a few testy moments in the game. At 3:46 of the second period, Canes defenseman Brett Pesce took an elbow in the head from Vladislav Namestnikov, another trade deadline pickup by the Stars. Pesce dropped the gloves and pretty much pummeled Namestnikov.
Brind’Amour said it was the maddest he has seen Pesce during a game.
“Guys were into the game, that’s for sure,” Brind’Amour said.
This story was originally published March 24, 2022 at 9:55 PM.
