RALEIGH, N.C. – The Carolina Hurricanes got the early start they needed and worked hard enough over 60 minutes to beat the Colorado Avalanche 2-1 at PNC Arena on Tuesday.
The line of Jordan Staal (1 g, 1a), Pat Dwyer (1g, 1a) and Nathan Gerbe (2a) did all the damage that was required at the offensive end of the ice while goaltender Justin Peters made 33 saves at the other end to secure the Hurricanes’ third win in four games.
“It was gonna’ have to take everyone tonight to play a complete game in order to beat that club,” Hurricanes coach Kirk Muller said.
“I thought everyone was up to the task, they played hard, and I think we earned the win tonight.”
Colorado’s Ryan O’Reilly put the first shot attempt of the game on net just 28 seconds in – a backhand attempt that caught a bouncing puck and beat Peters, but hit the left post before continuing out towards the side boards.
Having played each other back on Oct. 25th, both teams knew what to expect of one another and even with its undefeated road record, the Avalanche had to keep pace with the Hurricanes who outshot them 11-5 during the opening period.
As Carolina continued to put the puck on net and keep Colorado netminder Semyon Varlamov busy, Jordan Staal scored the game’s first goal at 12:47.
Staal skated into the slot and cleaned up a rebound that Varlamov left off a Nathan Gerbe shot that came about as the result of Pat Dwyer’s work to poke the puck off Colorado defenseman Nate Guenin’s stick.
“It was just a great play by Patty to get on the forecheck there,” Staal said.
“It swept out to Gerbs who had a great shot. Unfortunately it didn’t go in, but I was there to bury the rebound.”
Carrying the 1-0 lead into the second period, it only took 26 seconds for Dwyer to score his first goal of the season and the eventual game-winner.
This time, Dwyer finished a play initiated by a turnover in the neutral zone caused by Staal that also came at the hands of Guenin.
Staal pushed the puck along the boards, away from the Colorado defenseman, and up to Gerbe who then carried it into the Colorado zone and set Dwyer up with a perfectly placed saucer pass that he one-timed successfully past Varlamov.
“I think Patty and Gerbs were flyin’ out there,” Staal continued.
“I was just readin’ of them. They were skatin’ so well and just causing havoc on their D and creating turnovers. I thought our line did a great job of using our speed and doin’ all the little things right.”
At the other end of the rink, Peters was kept increasingly busy as the Avalanche pressed right until the final horn in an attempt to tie the game.
With eight minutes left in the middle period, Colorado picked up its pace in the Carolina zone, and put more pucks towards Peters than at any other time in the game up to that point.
The increased pressure resulted in Carolina forward Radek Dvorak getting penalized for hooking and gave the Avalanche its first power play of the game.
It was a man-advantage opportunity that Colorado did not squander as Paul Stastny tucked home a rebound that trickled behind Peters in his crease after he made the initial save on a Nathan MacKinnon shot during the man-up sequence.
Leading 2-1, the Hurricanes tightened their defensive play to support Peters’ efforts as he continued to make big saves on Colorado’s top scorers including Matt Duchene and PA Parenteau with less than three minutes remaining in the period.
“They’re fast,” Hurricanes defenseman Ron Hainsey said of Colorado’s forwards.
“They get around the net fast. They really come around the net with a lot of speed – those two lines. There’s really no one on those top two lines that isn’t really fast and attacking the net.”
Facing the potential of losing their first game on the road this season, the Avalanche continued to move the puck at a high pace, but with Peters continuing to make the first stop and coupled with the help of his teammates, the Hurricanes denied their opponent from scoring any more goals for the remainder of the game.
“We said that we’ve gotta’ have a foundation to build on and to bring into every game right now, which is to play well without the puck,” Muller said
“I thought we did a pretty good job overall protecting what we call the house, the area in front of the net. We knew that their D was very active and involved in their offense, so all five guys had to be on their toes here tonight. I thought we did a good job of containing a very offensive-minded team.”