If Saturday night’s game had ended after two periods, the Carolina Hurricanes would have picked up a strong win to open a six-game homestand. Hockey games are 60 minutes; however, and the Canes blew a 3-1, third-period lead and lost 4-3 to the Detroit Red Wings in a shootout.
The Hurricanes (7-7-3) got goals from forwards Brock McGinn and Micheal Ferland and defenseman Dougie Hamilton against the Red Wings (7-8-2), and two assists from forward Sebastian Aho.
Carolina lost despite outshooting the Red Wings 52-32, and picking up a plethora of quality chances. Finishing has been an issue for the Canes, who came into the game leading the league in shots on goal per game but 26th in goals for per game.
“That’s what it always comes down to,” head coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “We can say what we want to; people are going to say ‘Oh well you get a lot of shots’ but we get a lot of chances too. We don’t finish like we need to and it’s tough because guys are working hard to get those chances. When we are working as hard as we did during the second you need to put the team away and we are just not getting enough out of it. I think that’s what’s coming back to haunt us.”
Goalie Scott Darling was a mixed bag for the Canes tonight, with 29 saves on 32 Red Wings shots. Some of the stops were spectacular, including two of the desperation variety, but he arguably should have had all three goals in regulation.
“I’ve got to make a save there in the third period,” Darling said. “Keep it at least 3-2 or better off 3-1. It’s a tough one to lose.”
The Canes finished the game 1 for 7 on the power play, and another goal with the man advantage, particularly the ones that came with 3:22 left in regulation and 15.6 seconds left in overtime, would have been the difference.
“We had so many chances to end that game,” Aho said. “We don’t score and then they score… When we’ve got a chance we’ve got to end those games. We had a power play when we were up two goals. We’ve got to, in those situations, play even better and make them pay.”
The Canes did hold the Red Wings’ penalty kill off the scoreboard, but winning the special teams battle in a losing effort did little to encourage Carolina.
“To me, if we lose, it doesn’t matter,” Aho said. “It’s not special teams against special teams. It’s Carolina vs. Detroit, and we lost.”
In the shootout, Red Wings goalie Jonathan Bernier, who played a spectacular game, stopped all three Hurricanes shooters, and forward Frans Nielsen won it for Detroit.
The Red Wings dominated overtime, outshooting Carolina 4-0, but Darling kept the game going. The Canes got their chance with the late power play after Aho drew a trip, but could not get a shot off.
Carolina looked to be in a good spot with a 3-1 lead going into the third period, but two goals in the span of 2:58 for Red Wings forward Anthony Mantha tied the game.
“The mental challenge of rising up every shift is what we’re going to have to learn,” Brind’Amour said. “Because we still take the breath. We’re not good enough to take breaths. We’re just not. That’s been the message all year. You look at the goals we give up, just take a little breath. … That’s the stuff we’ve got to learn to do. That’s the mental toughness part. These lessons, they hurt. But at some point, I think we’ll get it, and then it’ll be interesting to see how we do.”
Carolina took a 3-1 lead with a dominant second period, outshooting Detroit 19-7. The team cashed in with a power-play tip-in by Ferland off a slick feed from Aho, and a rebound goal on the doorstep from Hamilton.
The Red Wings jumped out in front with a one-timer goal from forward Andreas Athanasiou. McGinn tied the game at one with 3:20 left in the opening frame, snapping home the rebound of a point shot by defenseman Haydn Fleury to cap off a strong shift for the Canes’ fourth line.
Carolina will continue this six-game homestand with a visit from the Chicago Blackhawks Monday night.
Carolina Hurricanes goalie Scott Darling blocks the second of three shootout attempts made by Detroit Red Wings center Dylan Larkin in PNC Arena on Saturday, Nov. 10. Darling failed to block the last shootout attempt made by Detroit center Frans Nielsen, giving the Red Wings the lead necessary to win 4-3.
