RALEIGH, N.C. – Andrei Svechnikov and Shayne Gostisbehere starred with three points apiece as the Carolina Hurricanes knocked off the Detroit Red Wings 5-2 at Lenovo Center on Saturday.
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After giving up the game-opening goal for the first time in six games during the opening frame, Carolina was rewarded for its early territorial dominance soon after the puck dropped for the second period.
Jackson Blake’s 11th of the year, a deflection of Shayne Gostisbehere’s wrister from the blue line, evened the score at 3:22. Just over a minute later, the Canes took the lead as Eric Robinson hammered home an Andrei Svechnikov cross-crease setup.
Later in the period, Gostisbehere switched from playmaker to sniper, letting loose a laser from the left circle after a set faceoff play, sending the Hurricanes into the second intermission ahead by a pair.
Just 3:11 into the third period, though, Detroit found life with a power-play marker to halve the Canes’ lead, and threatened to once again knot things up with a handful of scoring chances in the ensuing action. But after weathering the storm, Carolina pushed the gap back to two at 13:09 when Svechnikov forced a turnover in the Red Wings’ zone and made no mistake with a quick shot past the blocker of John Gibson.
Now nursing a more comfortable advantage, the Hurricanes held off the Red Wings the rest of the way, including killing off another penalty. With Gibson at the bench for an extra attacker, Gostisbehere and Svechnikov combined to set up Jordan Martinook for an empty-net goal to seal the win.
Returning to the crease for the first time since having his nine-game winning streak curtailed in Florida on Dec. 19, Brandon Bussi turned aside 18 of 20 shots to move to 12-1-1 on the year.