In Raleigh, the Carolina Hurricanes’ Vincent Trocheck and Jordan Staal popped in two goals apiece in a 5-2 win over the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night.
“It was physical, but it was also really fast,” Carolina head coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “They’re high-octane. They transition really well. We weren’t at our best, but our big guys got going there at the end and had some key moments.”
Petr Mrazek made 34 saves in the win.
“I don’t think there is any secret, it’s just luck of the draw I guess,” Trocheck said. “I’ve gotten some greasy ones against them this year.”
The Canes improved to 26-9-3.
“We had to be better,” Staal said. “Our line wasn’t great in the first two (periods). I thought we were getting outplayed. We started doing the things we wanted to do, moving the puck north-south. We were fortunate enough to find a way to get two points.”
Aleksander Barkov scored both Panthers goals.
“It was a hard-fought game,” Florida head coach Joel Quenneville said. “We had a chance to get up by a couple early in the game and didn’t get it. It was still anybody’s game. They had their turn, we had our turns.”
Jesper Fast struck for the Canes’ second empty-net goal to ice the win.
Sergei Bobrovsky made 31 saves in the win.
“He just adds a whole new dimension to our team when he plays,” Florida’a Anton Stralman said. “He’s winning big draws in the defensive zone, making big plays offensively. He’s just a blast to watch when he plays like this.”
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