Ducks struggle to hold back goal-happy Carolina Hurricanes in loss
Seth Jarvis had a goal and two assists, and the Carolina Hurricanes stretched their points streak to seven games by beating the Ducks 6-3 on Thursday night despite losing their goalie in the second period.
Jordan Martinook and Stefan Noesen each had a goal and an assist, and Brady Skjei, Andrei Svechnikov and Jack Drury also scored. Teuvo Teravainen assisted on two goals.
“It was pretty nice,” Jarvis said. “We were flying out there.”
With the score 3-3, the Hurricanes made a goalie change with 6:04 left in the second period when Pyotr Kochetkov exited after he was bowled over by Isac Lundestrom during a pileup at the net. Just 34 seconds later, Noesen gave Carolina the lead and Drury’s power-play goal made it 5-3.
Kotchetkov, who departed because of what later was described as an upper-body injury, posted 10 saves on 13 shots. Antti Raanta made three saves, entering the game on short notice.
Ducks standout Trevor Zegras is expected to be sidelined six to eight weeks after breaking his left ankle Tuesday night at Nashville.
“The only thing you can worry about is the first shot or the next shot,” Raanta said.
Lundestrom, Ryan Strome and Frank Vatrano scored for the Ducks, who began a five-game trip two nights earlier by winning at Nashville. John Gibson made 21 saves on 26 shots through two periods before Lukas Dostal came in and stopped eight shots.
Carolina, fresh off a four-day layoff, finished with a 35-16 advantage in shots. It was a season-low shot total for the Ducks.
“We couldn’t get shots on net,” Ducks coach Greg Cronin said. “They were blocking shots. When you’re not generating chances to feed momentum, it’s just going to be a long night.”
The Hurricanes had the game’s first 12 shots on goal, but they didn’t score until their 13th attempt. Skjei scored his seventh of the season.
Carolina had goals on consecutive shots within 15 seconds. Svechnikov fired in his 10th goal, his eighth in the last seven games.
Lundestrom’s first goal came in his fifth game of the season just 25 seconds into the second period.
“It has been a long while,” Lundestrom said. “It has been four or five games, I’m starting to get into it.”
Carolina responded 1:28 later when Martinook, playing in his 600th NHL game, cut through the slot and knocked in a pass from Jarvis. It was Martinook’s third goal of the season and second in the last four games.
“I’m just so grateful and happy to play to 600; it’s a good accomplishment for me,” Martinook said.
Strome and Vatrano scored in a 45-second span in the second period to pull the Ducks even at 3-3. Vatrano has a team-high 20 goals.
“It was good answer to that push that they had,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said.
Before the game, the Ducks announced that center Trevor Zegras (broken left ankle) and defenseman Pavel Mintyukov (separated shoulder) could both miss close to two months after suffering injuries Tuesday night.
Up next for the Ducks: At Tampa Bay on Saturday
