Weiss' OT goal sends Red Wings past Hurricanes
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Stephen Weiss produced a memorable first goal as a member of the Detroit Red Wings.
Weiss scored with 1:47 left in overtime, allowing the Red Wings to defeat the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 on Friday night at PNC Arena.
"It feels like the first goal in the league," said Weiss, who had 145 previous NHL goals. "To get your first one (with a new team) in overtime is pretty special."
The outcome spoiled the season opener for the Hurricanes, who had newcomers Radek Dvorak and Nathan Gerbe score goals and set them up in good position until the waning seconds of regulation.
Weiss, who joined the Red Wings as a free agent in the offseason, collected a rebound of Johan Franzen's shot and pushed the puck past Carolina goaltender Cam Ward.
"I'll remember that one for a long time," Weiss said.
Henrik Zetterberg forced overtime by scoring with 16.4 seconds left in regulation on a wild scramble in front of the net after the Red Wings pulled goalie Jimmy Howard for an extra skater.
"It just went through," Zetterberg said. "It's two points (for the team) and it doesn't matter how we did it."
Howard stopped 23 shots. The Red Wings are 2-0.
The Hurricanes were stunned by the sudden turn of events.
"I thought, for the most part, we handled hanging onto the lead pretty well," defenseman Jay Harrison said. "You're down there and it's six-on-five and they have the personnel to do that."
The Red Wings own two one-goal victories. This one they nearly didn't pull off.
"Obviously, we didn't want to wait until 16 seconds left, but sometimes that's how it goes in this league," Weiss said.
The frantic seconds late in regulation tainted what had been a strong game for the Hurricanes, coach Kirk Muller said.
"That's where we have to learn to defend and stay true to the end," Muller said. "We weren't able to get a handle on it and get it out."
Ward stopped 35 shots, another indication that he has worked back to form after an injury-shortened campaign last season.
Carolina scored one goal in each of the first two periods for a two-goal edge.
Dvorak, taking only the third shot of the game for the Hurricanes, tipped in a pass from Jeff Skinner after Red Wings defenseman Kyle Quincey failed to recover in time.
Dvorak, a 36-year-old journeyman and the oldest player on the Carolina roster, signed with the Hurricanes earlier in the week after going through training camp on a tryout. Gerbe joined the team as a free agent, signing a one-year, two-way contract after playing the previous five seasons for the Buffalo Sabres.
Ward, who missed the final 27 games last season with a knee injury, denied all 17 shots through two periods, including Pavel Datsyuk's short-handed breakaway late in the second period.
About 30 seconds later, Gerbe produced a power-play goal as the Hurricanes built a 2-0 advantage.
Detroit's Justin Abdelkader broke the shutout bid 42 seconds into the third period with a wrist shot.
The Red Wings picked up the pace in the third period, keeping the pressure on Ward with 17 shots.
The Hurricanes' franchise record is 8-19-7 in season openers. Since relocating to North Carolina, the Hurricanes are 4-8-4 in their first games.
Franzen assisted on Detroit's final two goals.
Defenseman Justin Faulk assisted on both Carolina goals.
"There were a lot of good things," Faulk said. "In this league, you have to play 60 minutes."
NOTES: The Red Wings went with the same lineup they used in Wednesday night's opening victory against Buffalo. ... Dvorak, who played for seven other NHL teams previously, made his Hurricanes debut. C Elias Lindholm, C Nathan Gerbe, D Andrej Sekera and D Ron Hainsey also made Carolina debuts. ... Hurricanes D Tim Gleason was scratched after suffering a concussion during a preseason game. ...The Red Wings, who yielded only six first-period shots to Buffalo, gave up four shots in the first period to Carolina, which scored on one of those. ... Detroit and Carolina didn't meet during last season's shortened schedule. ... This marked the first time Carolina faced Detroit in a season opener. ... Detroit plays Saturday night at Boston. The Hurricanes stay home to take on Philadelphia on Sunday.
