“They pushed hard’: Third-period blitz sends Hurricanes past Red Wings, 5-2

Detroit News

Ted Kulfan
 
| The Detroit News

Andrei Svechnikov and Jordan Staal will have temporary bragging rights over their brothers Evgeny and Marc.

With brothers playing against each other nearly everywhere on the ice, ultimately Thursday it was the Carolina Hurricanes defeating the Red Wings 5-2.

Jordan Staal and Jasper Fast scored 2 minutes, 5 seconds apart to begin the third period, snapping a tie and sending Carolina to the victory, and the Wings’ third straight loss.

“I wouldn’t group tonight’s game with the other two games, we were way better tonight and played real good overall,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “They pushed there in the third (period), got momentum from that goal (late) in the second period, and that’s unfortunate. 

“We played good enough to win, without a doubt. I’m not saying we deserved to win, they played good, they had their chances, but we certainly played good enough to win. This is nothing like the last two games at all. It was way better effort from us. We won more puck battles. We weren’t perfect, we can’t give up those two goals (in the third period). but we can build on this.”

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Jordan Staal had a goal and two assists, Andrei Svechnikov had a power-play goal and assist, and Evgeny Svechnikov had an assist, so nearly all the brothers acquitted themselves well.

But for the Wings, Filip Zadina had the most noteworthy night, scoring both Detroit goals, one on the power play, as the Wings suddenly are dangerous on the unit with power-play goals in four straight games.

Zadina had one of his best games of the season, with six shots on net, and seemingly dangerous with the puck on his stick all evening.

“I felt good,” Zadina said. “I was skating well, felt fresh, and scored a couple of goals, which I’m real glad for (Zadina had one goal this season). I hadn’t scored in a long time. I’m happy for what I did on the ice but unfortunately, we lost. We have to be better in the third period.”

Said Blashill: “Filip was playing real well. He was skating well and had confidence, scores the two (goals). He was did a good job.”

Martin Necas tied the game 2-2 late in the second period for Carolina, and Nino Niederreiter scored an empty-net goal (his 10th goal) at 14:55. of the third period.

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Zadina opened scoring at 10:54 of the first period.

The Wings enjoyed a fine shift, and Vladislav Namestnikov found Zadina near the right dot. Zadina snapped a shot far side of goalie Alex Nedeljkovic, just inside the post, giving the Wings a 1-0 lead.

But Carolina tied it 21 seconds later.

With Adam Erne in the box for tripping, Carolina won the draw and Dougie Hamilton found Andrei Svechnikov near the hash marks.

Svechnikov blasted a shot past Jonathan Bernier for his eighth goal, but first in 15 games, tying the game 1-1.

Zadina struck again in the second period on the power play.

With Carolina’s Brett Pesce in the box for tripping Robby Fabbri — it was actually a dangerous-looking slew foot that will likely get league attention — Erne tipped a pass to Zadina near the dot, and Zadina snuck a shot between Nedeljkovic and the post for his third goal of the season.

But Carolina got even again at 18:45 of the second period.

Necas received the puck high in the slot and snapped a shot that froze goaltender Bernier, who appeared to be screened, Necas’ fourth goal, tying the game 2-2.

“That late goal in the second, up until that point we were the better team,” Blashill said. “We were out-chancing them in the first and second (period) as well.”

Carolina quickly scored the two goals in the third period, taking over control.

“We have to come out with a little more push in the third,” Blashill said. “They pushed hard. We responded not bad after that, but just couldn’t find a way to score.”

Zadina felt the Hurricanes pressured well early in the third period.

“They were going hard at us and we didn’t have time to make plays,” Zadina said. “They probably wanted to score goals more than us. That’s how it was. We were sloppy the first couple minutes and it cost us the game.”

The Wings (7-16-3) lost three of four games on the road trip and now return home for six games at Little Caesars Arena.

Carolina (16-6-1) has won four consecutive games.

ted.kulfan@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @tkulfan

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