Hurricanes surge to beat Red Wings 3-1

Micheal Ferland #79 of the Carolina Hurricanes celebrates his second period goal with teammates Sebastian Aho #20, Justin Williams #14 and Valentin Zykov #73 during an NHL game against the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena on October 22, 2018 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Dave Reginek/NHLI via Getty Images)

The Carolina Hurricanes refused to drop another game Monday night. What began as a massive surge in scoring chances and shots on goal ended with them overwhelming the Detroit Red Wings in a 3-1 win at Little Caesars Arena. They took 39 shots and silenced their opponents to 21 snapping a three-game losing streak while putting the Red Wings back on one.

A first victory for the Red Wings changed the way the team looked at going forward coming back home. With three games on home ice, it gave Detroit a shot to create a winning streak facing a familiar face with the Hurricanes who are on a three-game slide of their own. Mrazek comes back carrying a 1-2-1 record to start against his former team and try to turn his new one around.  A home loss to the Colorado Avalanche sent them north for a brief trip before returning back where they would either put Detroit back on the losing side or keep theirs going.

They spent time getting pucks on Detroit netminder Jimmy Howard but he and his defense did work to clear the puck away from the crease and create opportunities. Those didn’t come right away as Carolina gained a hold of the puck in the neutral zone. After six minutes, the Red Wings had yet to get a shot on Mrazek while Carolina recorded five shots. They raised it to nine after eight and a half minutes where they received a chance to score on the power play.

The Hurricanes notched two on Howard but he and the Detroit PK unit covered their shooting lines to kill their eighth straight. Detroit still hadn’t recorded a shot giving Carolina way too much puck possession. Dennis Cholowski finally got Detroit on the board with 6:30 to go as he took a centering shot that Mrazek made the stop on the right leg pad. Two more followed to get them into action before a shot from Justin Abdelkader who was well ahead of the play went up to Mrazek only to miss on the scoring chance.

The Red Wings were getting into the groove with four minutes to play but the leverage laid heavily with the Hurricanes. They gained another power play that went their way on an attempt to clear the puck. As Trevor Daley cleared it from behind the net to the far end, Justin Faulk got on it, made a pass before getting it back where he rifled one in for his first ending the Red Wings long killing streak. When 20 minutes completed, Carolina had successfully outshot the Red Wings 21-6 and had the goal to prove their recent achievement.

They picked up right where they left off putting together some terrific scoring chances. One of them came from Sebastian Aho who pulled off a fake pass before firing it at Howard who barely made the save. Howard was keeping his team in it as they again struggled to get pucks to the net. By the time seven minutes had elapsed, the Hurricanes were up 8-2 on shots to the net showing their need to win.

They tested the Red Wings PK for a third time scoring another goal on the man advantage where a shot from Michael Ferland in the slot notched his sixth. Aho got the assist giving him 14 points on a nine-game streak. With the confidence higher than ever for Carolina, they had Detroit right where they wanted them halfway through the second. Detroit never found a way to jumpstart their offense as they were outdueled through the remainder of the period blowing two power plays, but didn’t give up any further goals.

With the third still to play, it left the Red Wings with one last chance to overcome the deficit and bring together a victory. Detroit struggled to get started in the period as Carolina defended their lead. They also struggled to get pucks back at Howard but they weren’t being produced. Time was falling off the clock leaving Detroit will little option to get on the scoreboard and prevent a shutout. After 52 minutes of being blanked, the Red Wings made it happen with Andreas Athanasiou scoring his third of the year on one-timer from Tomas Vanek where he shot the puck at point blank range.

They got a third chance on the man advantage to try and level the score but Carolina’s defense on special teams came up big to keep their lead alive. Right before Howard was about to be pulled to give Detroit six men, the Hurricanes suffered a penalty for delay of game putting them down a man for the rest of regulation. The Red Wings took a timeout to try and force overtime with a 6 on 4 situation. It didn’t work out for them as Carolina had the push to speed ahead of Detroit and get to the empty net.

Scoring their third was Jordan Martinook for his third that brought an end to the game with the Hurricanes being the complete dominant. They showed great skills on special teams while being very competitive on the faceoff dot that stood out as one of their main traits on the night. With the loss being one big step backwards, the Red Wings would accept it and move into the week prepare for a Friday night match against the Winnipeg Jets.