In Raleigh, Brett Pesce snapped a 2-2 tie in the third period to send the Hurricanes to a 3-2 win over the visiting Calgary Flames.
The victory ended a five-game skid for the Canes.
“Great pass by ‘KK,’ (Jesperi Kotkaniemi) just found a little seam, so I had a little space to sneak in there,” Pesce said. “It’s just huge for us and our confidence, just finding a way to win again.”
Antti Raanta made 18 saves in the Carolina win.
“I feel like every team goes through some adversity during the season, but it’s just a relief to get two points,” Raanta said. “There’s been a couple games for myself where there’s been early goals and we’ve been chasing the game all the time. It was nice to get the lead today and go from there.”
The Hurricanes improved to 11-6-5.
“I told the guys, ‘We’re playing well,'” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “I was actually worried because at some point you think you’re going to have a game that’s not so good. We’ve played well all through this stretch and just haven’t got any bounces.”
Adam Ruzicka and Tyler Toffoli were the Flames strikers.
Calgary dropped to 9-9-3.
“I think we were ready for a really fast, aggressive team, and they came out like that,” Calgary coach Darryl Sutter said. “The goalie did a good job holding down the fort early, but in the end, their power play gets a break and scores a goal. We had an opportunity before that on our power play [but] didn’t come through.”
The two teams traded goals through the first two periods.
Seth Jarvis scored to give the Canes a first period lead, 1-0, before Ruzicka tied for the Flames.
Carolina regained the Advantage in the middle frame off a strike from Martin Necas .
“We wanted to get more points than games played,” Sutter said. “When you go on trips that are three or more games, that’s what you always want. We got five in six games, so we fell short.”
Calgary tied it again, off a goal from Toffoli in the same period.
“We battled back,” Toffoli said. “They’re a really good team, they work hard. We gave ourselves a chance, but I think we kind of let one slip there. I think we’re getting some really good looks. It’s just a matter of finishing our opportunities.”
Dan Vladar made 30 saves in the Calgary loss.
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