In Raleigh, there was a hockey game that intruded on a small basketball game at the same time.
Marc-Andre Fleury made 37 saves, and the Minnesota Wild downed the Hurricanes, 3-1.
Mats Zuccarello had a goal in the Wild win.
“[Fleury] won the game for us today,” Zuccarello said. “They had some really good chances in the second period. We were a little loose. We were lucky in that category.”
The wild improved to 42-20-5.
Kirill Kaprizov potted his 39th goal of the year for Minnesota.
“It’s a huge accomplishment for me,” Kaprizov said. “I’d like to thank all of my teammates, all the coaching staff, everyone in the organization who made it possible.”
Teuvo Teravainen was the lone striker for the Canes.
“They have different guys coming and a lot of guys at the net for tips and rebounds and screens,” Fleury said. “Those are hard sometimes because they’re always moving. But I thought our guys kept it on the outside and had good sticks to defend those plays much of the time.”
Carolina dropped to 45-16-8.
“I have no qualms about the way we came out and played tonight,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “That’s a good team. I know we didn’t give up that much and that’s really the key.”
Dimitri Kulikov also scored for the Wild, his goal gave them a 2-0 lead.
“‘Zuc’ decided to take all the responsibility all to himself for that one,” Kaprizov said. “I gave him a pretty innocent pass and he did the rest. Thanks to him, and of course, it was special.”
Frederik Andersen made 16 saves in the Carolina loss.
“Tonight, the thing that gets overlooked, there were about three that were tipped, and he made the adjustment off the tip, which doesn’t happen very often with goalies,” Brind’Amourh said. “He is quick enough still to make the adjustment. That was impressive to see.”
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