Observations from the Hurricanes’ 4-3 shootout win over the Dallas Stars
For a few minutes, it seemed to be slipping away for the Canes. The Stars scored twice late in regulation Saturday, tying the score 3-3, forcing overtime. Would the Canes let a second point slip away?
Not this night. The Canes dominated the overtime, Dougie Hamilton nearly winning it in the final seconds. And goalie Alex Nedeljkovic did the rest in the shootout, denying Jason Robertson, poke-checking the puck from Joe Pavelski and then stopping Denis Gurianov for the 4-3 win at American Airlines Center.
It was Nedeljkovic’s first NHL shootout win. It also gave the Canes their first win in the second game of a two-game road set this season as Vincent Trocheck scored the only shootout goal.
“Some guys like to do some pre-scouting on guys and their moves,” Nedeljkovic said of shootouts. “To me, at the end of the day, I just have to react.” He reacted well -- in the shootout, to the moment..
-- Filthy, nasty, crafty. That might be the best way to describe Trocheck’s winning shootout shot, the center roofing a backhander past goalie Jake Oettinger.
“I’ve seen that a time or two. He’s pretty good at it,” Nedeljkovic said. “I can honestly say I’m not too sure what he’s going to do when he comes and practices on me. It was nice to watch. It was special.”
Trocheck now has scored on 16 of 41 career shots in shootouts (39 percent) and has 10 game-deciding goals.
-- The wait is over Teuvo Teravainen. The forward was on the COVID protocol list. Sebastian Aho said he was sick. However serious the symptoms, No. 86 did not have a point since returning from quarantine until Saturday.
But just after a Canes power play expired, Martin Necas found Teravainen open with a nice cross-ice pass and Teravainen buried a shot with 6.5 seconds left in the second period. The sense of relief, for Teravainen and his teammates, was evident.
“We want to get ‘Turbo’ going and it was just a matter of time,” forward Jordan Martinook said. “He had the COVID break and you’re just trying to get your timing back and feeling good.”
-- Cedric Paquette is quite the trade pickup, making the Canes even stronger and tougher at center. Some called him the “Dump Truck” in Tampa Bay. Nothing fancy but he gets the job done. And can hit like, yep, a truck.
“He was the guy who was the energy guy in Tampa every time you played them,” Martinook said. “He was in on the forecheck and he hits and he plays that hard-nosed game. If you have that heavy fourth line that’s something that is crucial. Espeically in a shortened season it’s nice to have the guys who can take a load off the high-end guys when you’re playing every other night.”
--- It took Brett Pesce a while to finally commit to shoulder surgery but he did a year ago and the defenseman has been the Canes’ best this season. Smart, tough, mobile, frisky. Great stick.
It’s easy thinking back to a few years ago. Pesce had taken a shot off his ankle in a game and was badly limping the next day as he slowly walked to his car at Raleigh Center Ice. Asked if he was playing the next night, he said, “Oh, yeah.” And he did.
