Hurricanes earn point, lose 2-1 to Kings in shootout

Peter Koutroumpis, Triangle Sports Network
Peter Koutroumpis, Triangle Sports Network

RALEIGH, N.C. – The Carolina Hurricanes earned a point, but lost 2-1 in a shootout to the Los Angeles Kings in front of a crowd of 16,353 in attendance at PNC Arena on Friday.

Coming off a grueling 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals the night before, Carolina survived its first set of back-to-back games earning three point, but couldn’t beat Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick to earn the fourth one.

“That’s a big, physical team to match up with in back-to-back games,” Hurricanes coach Kirk Muller said.

“I thought it was a real gutsy effort for our guys coming off that hard-fought game in Washington last night, fly in here late, play against these guys here tonight and go extra minutes. They demand you to play a hard-fought game and low scoring. That’s a game that shows our team’s growing together.

Staying scoreless through two periods, another night of being out-hit resulted in a number of players making trips to and from the dressing room throughout the game.

Rookie forward Elias Lindholm didn’t return to the game after absorbing a hit during the second period from Kings forward Matt Frattin.

“We’ll wait and see how he is,” Muller said.

“I’ll get the report either later tonight or tomorrow morning. Hopefully it’s not that bad.”

The Kings came out early looking to challenge Hurricanes netminder Cam Ward, who finished the game making 36 saves on the night.

“I felt real good,” Ward said.

“I felt I gave us a chance and that’s what I need to do. I needed to rebound after Pittsburgh. I would’ve liked to have the win, but I’ll strive for that next time.”

The Hurricanes had their share of power play opportunities and were scoreless with the man-advantage until they got their fifth opportunity during the latter half of the third period.

However, it was Los Angeles who scored first during the Hurricanes’ power play as Dwight King took advantage of open ice in the Carolina zone to challenge Ward successfully by sliding the puck between his pads to put the Kings ahead 1-0 with 6:34 to play.

Just 40 seconds later and still on the power play, the Hurricanes’ Jeff Skinner tied the game after stuffing home a rebound from defenseman Andrej Sekera’s point shot.

With the game tied 1-1, both teams had chances to score but stops made by Quick, who finished the game with 27 saves, along with Ward kept the two teams battling until the end of regulation time.

As the sudden period began, it seemed that all of the 4-on-4 work that Carolina had been putting in during practices since training camp would pay off.

However, a hooking penalty called on defenseman Jay Harrison with 2:38 left gave the Kings an optimal opportunity to win the game.

While the Hurricanes managed to dump the puck down the ice repeatedly and successfully killed the penalty off, they also had an opportunity to score and win the game too.

Defenseman Ron Hainsey broke towards the L.A. net before he slid a pass to Jordan Staal in the high slot whose subsequent shot ricocheted off Kings defenseman Drew Doughty’s stick and forced Quick to make a last-second stop with his skate to keep the game going.

Still tied 1-1 at the end of overtime, both teams prepared for the ensuing shootout.

After Quick denied shots from Jeff Skinner and Alexander Semin, Ward made a stop on the Kings first shot from Anze Kopitar, but couldn’t deny Jeff Carter who scored on his attempt.

After scoring the winning goal against the Capitals the night before, Nathan Gerbe was Carolina’s last hope to prolong the shootout.

Not a stranger to Quick, Gerbe tried to do something different against his offseason training partner.

“I train with him in the summer, so he knows me pretty well,” Gerbe said.

“I’ve taken over a couple of hundred shots on him in the summer. I tried to change up from what I usually do. Usually I would have come down and kind of waited for the low blocker shot, but Quickie knows me well. I think, if I got it a little higher, I think I got it, but you know, he’s a good goalie.”

While he was outdueled in the net, Ward relayed the sentiment that earning the point was a step in the right direction for this team after playing two hard games in as many nights.

“For a back-to-back night for us, it’s a big point for us,” Ward said.

“It could have gone either way, but that’s what happens when it goes to a shootout. It was disappointing not to get the two points, but we’ll take one.”