In a late-night matchup at the Grand Casino Arena, the Carolina Hurricanes fell 4-3 to the Minnesota Wild in their second match of a four-game road trip.
The Wild (10-7-4) came into the game having won four of their last five games, including two shutouts at home, while the Canes (13-5-2) have staggered since a four-game win streak of their own, going 2-2 in their last four matches.
For the third time in their last four games, the Canes found themselves playing extra hockey in overtime. The difference? Both goalies held strong, forcing a shootout. The netminders continued their dominance, but Carolina’s Frederik Andersen let a backhand shot from Matt Boldy sneak by, dooming the Canes to yet another loss.
The shootout loss doesn’t reflect the effort that Carolina put in to even get to that point, again climbing out the depths of a 2-0 deficit, much like their match against the Edmonton Oilers last weekend.
Just two minutes into the game, Minnesota defenseman Brock Faber put his team on the board with help from right wingers Mats Zuccarello and Danila Yurov. Shot down the middle into the back of the net, the goal came from a break down the ice after the Canes overcommitted on the attack.
Gaining a confidence boost after an early goal, Minnesota defenseman Zeev Buium got aggressive and was sent to the penalty box for tripping Carolina center Logan Stankoven.
Even with the man advantage, the Canes further buried themselves after allowing a shorthanded goal by Boldy, who intercepted a pass from center Sebastian Aho and gave himself a 1-on-1 opportunity with Andersen.
With mere seconds left in the first period, Zuccarello’s slashing of right wing Jackson Blake gave Carolina their second power play of the night. Moments later, the horn rang, marking the end of the first period, but also giving the Canes time in the locker room to plan for the man advantage.
The second period picked up with the remaining time left in the power play, but the NHL’s worst power play converters — scoring on just 12.5 percent of their opportunities — couldn’t capitalize.
After the expiration of the power play, Blake put the Canes on the board at last. Assisted by Stankoven and defenseman Sean Walker in the 24th minute, the trio got the puck into the back of the net through the jumble of green huddled around goaltender Jesper Wallstedt.
Minnesota made a habit of scoring early as Zuccarello flew down the ice after gaining possession of the puck thanks to left wing Kirill Kaprizov and Yurov, tucking the puck into the left side of the net only 15 seconds into the third period.
Carolina’s staple players — Aho, winger Andrei Svechnikov and center Seth Jarvis — skated circles around the Wild to bring them to a one-score game with 13 minutes remaining in the third period. Aho shot the puck from the right side of the net through three green jerseys to get past Wallstedt.
It looked like the game was all but won for the Wild until Blake tipped in the puck with just over a minute remaining. A gathering of white and green around the net made visibility a struggle for the officials when Carolina started celebrating a goal when the puck was out on open ice, and raised voices of disagreement and protest arose from the Wild. After review, it was confirmed that the puck had crossed the line, marking the final goal of regulation.
Though the final score was close, the staggering difference in play was obvious. Without factoring the shootout, the Wild scored three goals on only 18 shots. Carolina matched the goals, but via a significantly larger 45 shots.
Carolina will look to rebound, taking on the Winnipeg Jets at the Canada Life Centre on Friday. Puck drop is set for 8 p.m. Eastern Time.