Carolina double up Vegas, 6-3 Hurricanes score three off power play in win

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In Raleigh, a three-goal middle frame was the difference for the Hurricanes on Tuesday, in a 6-3 win over the visiting Vegas Golden Knights.“It ended up 6-3, [but] it was a tighter game than that,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “It was nice to see us get rewarded. All year, the pucks haven’t been going in, and tonight they did. I think it’s good for the guys. I think we’ve been playing really well lately. It’s just tough finding the net.”

Pyotr Kochetkov made 30 saves in the win.

The Canes improved to 17-12-3

“It comes down to your goalie has to be as good or better than the other (goalie),” Brind’Amour said. “His last four games, he’s been lights-out. It allows us to keep playing our game, whether we get goals or not. You can’t say enough about it.”

The Canes took a 1-0 lead on a power play goal from Andrei Svechnikov  in his return to the bench, midway through the opening stanza.

“It gave me a little confidence,” Svechnikov said. “The first goal is always important for the team. You kind of feel the game right away. It was important for sure.”

Vegas tied it, 1-1, on a marker from William Carrier at 13:15.

The Hurricanes went to work on offense after that with Jordan Staal connecting at 4:36 of the frame for a 2-1 lad to Carolina.

Midway through the second period, Jesperi Kotkaniemi added a marker for a 3-1 advantage for the Canes.

Michael Bunting  ballooned the lead to 4-1 at 12:39 off another power play for Carolina.

The Canes were 3-for-3 on the power play.

“Obviously we did well, 3-for-3,” Bunting said. “Obviously we know what we need to do to succeed. I thought we did well there. We just have to build off of it.”

The Knights dropped to 21-7-5.

“It’s a good team,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “They were just better than us tonight in pretty much every area. Quicker to pucks, puck battles. Mentally, we were off a little with our processing as well.”

Carolina’s Seth Jarvis hit for the third power play goal  with 10 seconds gone in the third period for a 5-1 lead.

Brady Skjei then added a bit of salt with a a strike at 4:44 for a 6-1 lead to the Canes.

Vegas added two so what goals late in the third.

“Our effort was miserable tonight, to be honest,” Vegas’ Jonathan Marchessault said. “We needed a big kill on the fourth goal, and they managed to get a greasy rebound there. Good for them. They were harder in front of our net. Their power play came out big and we had no response tonight.”

Nicolas Hague scored at 18:36, and Carrier hit for his second of the match at 19:29 for the 6-3 final count.

Logan Thompson got the start for the Golden Knights, he yielded six goals and made 22 saves before getting the hook early in the third period.

Jiri Patera made 10 saves in a mop up role.