Powered by 48 shots, the Carolina Hurricanes snapped a four-game losing skid with a 3-1 victory over the Florida Panthers at PNC Arena Tuesday night.
The Hurricanes (5-5-3) got goals from forwards Brock McGinn, Derek Ryan and Justin Williams on the way to their first victory at home since the season opener on Oct. 7. Rookie defender Roland McKeown was credited with assists on the first two goals, his first two career points.
The Panthers (4-8-2) dropped their fifth-straight game despite a 45-save performance from goaltender Roberto Luongo, who was playing in his 500th game for the franchise. Scott Darling was the winning goalie for the Hurricanes, making 30 saves on 31 Florida shots.
“Much closer to how we want to play. I thought all four lines played really well,” head coach Bill Peters said. “I thought we got contributions from everybody. Roland McKeown ended up on the scoresheet twice, his first two points in the NHL. Good night for the young guys.”
Carolina was able to win despite continued struggles on the power play, which has been a recurring problem at home this year. The Canes were 0 for 5 against Florida up a man, and are now just 2 for 21 at home this season.
Despite not scoring, the power play did look somewhat improved, and the Canes did get a big special teams shift late in the game. A big penalty kill for Carolina in the third period led to Ryan’s game-winning goal.
“That’s a huge kill and we get the game winner shortly after,” Peters said. “That’s what happens with your speciality teams. They don’t always have to score on the power play, but they have to build momentum and wear other people out. They’ve got to give you some energy on the bench.”
The first period was familiar for the Canes, with Carolina coming up empty on two power plays in the first five minutes of the game. The Hurricanes also continued a recent trend of firing off an exorbitant amount of shots with little results.
On its recent two-game road trip to Colorado and Arizona, Carolina tallied a whopping 97 shots but only four goals. In the first frame against the Panthers, the Hurricanes put 20 shots on frame that were all saved by Luongo.
“I think eventually we’re going to start scoring more consistently,” Peters said. “We had 20 (shots) in the first and they came with a push. We generated, I think there’s some quality in there. There’s quantity for sure.”
After another empty power play early in the second period, Carolina broke the stalemate with 7:43 left in the second period. McGinn collected the puck right in front of net and putting it past Luongo on the Hurricanes 31st shot of the night to make it 1-0. McKeown got his first career point with an assist on the goal.
“The points are icing on the cake, but I’m obviously here to win and get this team in the playoff race,” McKeown said. “You’ve got to believe you can play in this league. I’m doing my best to do that.”
However, as quickly as Carolina was able to grab the lead, it gave it away. Less than one minute after McGinn’s goal, Florida capitalized on its first power play of the night, with center Vincent Trocheck scoring past Darling to even things at 1-1.
The Hurricanes would have two more opportunities to grab a goal with a man advantage, as Panthers forward Micheal Haley was called for back-to-back penalties late in the second period. Carolina couldn’t capitalize again, moving to 2-21 on power plays at home this season.
Carolina found the game-winning goal shortly after killing off the Panthers second power play of the game in the third period. Ryan positioned himself well in front of goal, and batted a high puck out of the air past Luongo to put the Canes up 2-1. McKeown was credited with his second assist of the night and his young career.
“We were searching for that big goal,” Ryan said. “Winning teams are able to find that big goal, especially at home tied going into the third. You’ve got to make sure you get those points.”
Williams put the game to rest with just over a minute to go in the game, scoring an empty-netter for his second goal of the season.
The Hurricanes will head to Columbus for a matchup with the Blue Jackets Friday, before returning home to host the Chicago Blackhawks Saturday.
