There was a chance this first game back after a three day holiday break was going to be a difficult for the Red Wings.
Three days off without practice or games, then fly into Raleigh on Saturday, the morning of the game.
Sure enough, the Wings never found their game while losing to Carolina, 5-2.
With the victory, the Hurricanes (23-11-3, 49 points) moved ahead of the Wings (22-14-3, 47) for the Eastern Conference lead.
“We found our legs in the third period but they’re a tough team to come back against,” Red Wings coach Todd McLellan told reporters afterward. “We didn’t do much with the first 40 (minutes) and not enough at the end.”
The Hurricanes outshot the Wings 38-19 and controlled the game for the vast majority of the night.
But Andrew Copp’s power-play goal at 3 minutes, 11 seconds of the third period cut Carolina’s lead to 3-2. John Leonard took Axel Sandin-Pellikka’s pass at the dot and fed Copp net-front, Copp tipping the puck past goaltender Brandon Bussi.
Andrei Svechnikov restored the Hurricanes’ two-goal lead, scoring his 10th goal at 13:09. Svechnikov gathered the puck after Dylan Larkin lost an edge and lost the puck, Svechnikov skating down the slot and beating goaltender John Gibson, who saw his eight-game winning streak come to an end.
“They had the puck a lot more than us, that’s the key,” Red Wings forward Lucas Raymond told reporters. “They spent more time with the puck in the offensive zone and created chances. Our defensive zone (coverage) wasn’t good enough, our puck management through the neutral zone.”
Michael Rasmussen opened the Wings’ scoring. J.T. Compher gathered a Carolina turnover and found Rasmussen in the slot, and Rasmussen ripped his fifth goal past Bussi at 12:39 of the first period, giving the Wings a 1-0 lead.
BOX SCORE: Hurricanes 5, Red Wings 2
The Wings’ goal was the lone highlight in the first 20 minutes. Carolina outshot the Wings 15-5 in the first period, with 10 quality scoring chances. But Gibson was outstanding in the period, preserving the Wings’ lead.
“Fortunate would be a good word to use,” McLellan said of the first period. “Gibby was excellent. We didn’t generate a lot and we couldn’t keep anything alive in their end.”
Jackson Blake, Eric Robinson and Shane Gostisbehere scored Carolina second-period goals. Blake and Robinson scored 1:15 apart early in the second period as the Hurricanes took the lead, and Gostisbehere made it 3-1 late in the period.
Gostisbehere’s shot from the point deflected off two bodies, then Blake, whose 11th goal tied the score 1-1. Robinson gave Carolina the lead, jamming a puck at the side of the net off a three-on-two Hurricanes rush. Gostisbehere’s fourth goal, at 15:22, a riser from the hashmarks, gave Carolina a 3-1 lead.
“We were in a good spot on the road against a good team and they came out better than us in the second period,” Raymond said. “We were playing catch up, getting ourselves in a good spot, but we couldn’t get the job done.”
The Wings return to Little Caesars Arena Sunday, hosting Toronto.
“Not a good night for our group, we have to respond (Sunday),” McLellan said. “We found our legs and played a little more desperate in the third (period) than in the first two (periods).”
tkulfan@detroitnews.com
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