Teravainen stars as Hurricanes open homestand with 3-1 win over Red Wings
On paper, it has been hard to figure. On the ice, not so much.
The Carolina Hurricanes have set up shop near the top of the Central Division much of the season while the Detroit Red Wings have had injuries and struggled. But the Wings had given the Canes as much trouble, and losses, as any team in the division.
The Canes turned back the Wings 3-1 Thursday at PNC Arena, beginning a five-game homestand with a win, but had to take care of all the details to get the job done.
Teuvo Teravainen scored his first goal since Feb. 15 and added an assist, and goalie James Reimer had 16 saves to earn his first win since April 1 as the Canes (33-10-7) moved to 73 points after their last game this season against the Wings (17-26-9).
Defenseman Brady Skjei and forward Warren Foegele had second-period goals, and Teravainen scored in the third after first forcing a Wings turnover. Having assisted on Skjei’s score, Teravainen’s goal was his 300th career NHL point.
“I’m sure it helps him a lot to get the confidence up with the points and goal,” said Canes center Sebastian Aho, who had two assists. “But we all know it’s a lot more than that, too. He makes the right plays all over the ice, and I knew he was going to be fine.”
After a scoreless first period, Skjei scored from the slot and Foegele banged in a shot in front for his 10th goal of the season and 2-0 lead.
“We had some chances in the first and so did they, and ‘Reims’ kept us in the game,” Aho said. “We didn’t get frustrated in the first and we kept going, and we took over in the second.”
But the Red Wings, missing injured Dylan Larkin and with Adam Erne on the NHL COVID protocol list, again made things interesting against the Canes.
Forward Jakub Vrana, traded to Detroit this season by the Washington Capitals, hurt his former Metro Division rival with his 17th goal late in the second period to make it a 2-1 game.
After managing six shots in the first period, the Canes had 16 in the second and kept the puck in the Wings’ zone much of the period. The Canes didn’t back off physically in the third. Jordan Staal flattened one player, and Aho put a big hit on Michael Rasmussen in front of the benches.
Aho then set up Teravainen with a backhander and Teravainen beat goalie Jonathan Bernier short side with a quick release. It was the third goal of the season for the Finnish winger, who missed 32 of 33 games following a concussion before returning to the lineup Tuesday against Dallas.
“Turbo looks like he didn’t miss a beat so that’s a real positive sign,” the Canes’ Rod Brind’Amour said after his 200th game as head coach. “It was important for him to get in the lineup and get games under his belt.”
The Canes finished 4-3-1 against the Wings, and a 3-1 loss to Detroit on April 12 at PNC Arena was called “gross” by Brind’Amour. Teravainen missed that one. He was back Thursday and was named the game’s first star.
(Earlier updates)
Second period: Canes lead 2-1
Brady Skjei doesn’t score a lot of goals and hadn’t played in a while, but the defenseman had the game’s first goal and the Canes led 2-1 after the second period.
Warren Foegele made it 2-0, punching the puck past goalie Jonathan Bernier after a pass from Brett Pesce. Foegele’s 10th of the season came at 13:39 of the second.
The Wings then made it a 2-1 game late in the period on a terrific move by Jakub Vrana. After a Canes turnover by Sebastian Aho, the former Caps forward went forehand to backhand and lifted the puck past James Reimer for his 17th of the season.
Skjei, returning to the lineup after a concussion, started to shoot at the top of the slot. Noticing Vladislav Namestnikov going down on one knee to try and block the shot, Skjei took a stride to his right and let the shot go.
Aho and Teuvo Teravainen assisted on Skjei’s third of the season, which came at 4:40 of the second.
First period: Scoreless game
The Canes and Wings put in the first 20 minutes and the best players on the ice might have been the two goalies, James Reimer of the Canes and Jonathan Bernier of Detroit.
The Canes weren’t lacking for good offensive chances but had a hard time putting shots on net and got nothing in the net. The Canes had six shots on goal, 10 shots blocked and six that missed the net.
The Canes appeared dangerous on the only power play of the first after Wings defenseman Marc Staal was called for high-sticking. The Canes moved the puck crisply and found shooting lanes. They finished the two minutes feeling it was a good-looking power play. The problem: they did not have a shot on net.
Reimer made eight saves in the period. He denied Joe Veleno, a rookie playing his second game, late in the period after Veleno sped past defenseman Brady Skjei into the zone.
The Canes had 10 scoring chances in the first but only one high-danger chance (naturalstattrick.com).
Game setup: milestones reached
Some personal milestones will be reached Thursday as the Hurricanes host the Red Wings at PNC Arena:
Rod Brind’Amour will mark his 200th game as head coach and Andrei Svechnikovwill play his 200th NHL game. Defenseman Brett Pesce will be playing No. 400.
“I think when I played I thought coaching was like, ‘How hard can it be?’ ” Brind’Amour said Thursday morning. “That’s what I thought. And in doing this for a while you realize there’s a lot.”
Brind’Amour has done it well. He goes into No. 200 with a 116-64-19 overall record and is the first Hurricanes coach since the franchise relocated in 1997 to lead his team to three consecutive playoff berths. He should be a strong candidate to win the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s Coach of the Year.
One reason for his success and the Canes’ success came in having the No. 2 pick in the 2018 NHL draft. On April 29, 2018, the Canes were the biggest winner in the NHL draft lottery, jumping from 11th to second. They used the good fortune and the pick to take Svechnikov, who was in the Canes’ lineup at 18 and has provided some dynamic play on the wing.
Svechnikov has 57 goals and 134 total points in his first 199 games, with 13 goals and 36 points this season. He also has 158 penalty minutes, many on stick infractions that Brind’Amour has tried to wean out of his game.
“The NHL game is a hard game, especially coming from his background,” Brind’Amour said. “I really think he wasn’t taught a lot about the away-from-the-puck game, because he’s had the puck his whole life. So it’s really just that patience. Stay patient and it’s an every-day process toward trying to get better.”
This story was originally published April 29, 2021 at 6:37 PM with the headline "Teravainen stars as Hurricanes open homestand with 3-1 win over Red Wings."
