CHICAGO (AP) — The Carolina Hurricanes made one more play at the very end, and that was enough for coach Rod Brind’Amour on Tuesday night.
Andrei Svechnikov scored in regulation and again in the shootout, leading Carolina to a 4-3 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks.
The Hurricanes improved to 4-0 since returning Jan. 28 after their season was paused because of COVID-19 issues, leading to the postponement of four games. Warren Foegele, Jordan Martinook, Jaccob Slavin and Teuvo Teravainen were back in the lineup after they each missed three games while spending time on the COVID-19 protocol list.
“They were really sluggish, I think, in general, and that’s how it bled into our group,” Brind’Amour said. “That’s what I kind of expected.
“It was noticeable that we weren’t on our game, but again, we found a way. That’s really all you want.”
Jesper Fast also was available after he was removed from the NHL’s COVID-19 list before the matchup with the Blackhawks, but he was scratched.
Foegele had a goal and an assist, helping Carolina win for the sixth time in its first seven games. Vincent Trocheck also scored, and captain Jordan Staal had two assists.
Svechnikov beat Kevin Lankinen on the stick side on the only successful attempt in the shootout, closing out the victory after James Reimer turned away Alex DeBrincat, Patrick Kane and Dylan Strome for Chicago.
Svechnikov said he tried the same move a couple of times during the game and came up empty.
“I decided on my shootout to do the same thing because the goalie knew, like, I tried to elevate it a couple times,” he said. “So he knew I’m probably (not) going to do that and it was a great shot from me.”
Kane, Strome and Phillipp Kurashev scored for the Blackhawks, who dropped to 0-4 in overtime and shootouts this season. Lankinen made 38 saves, and DeBrincat and Dominik Kubalik each had two assists.
“Frustrating. Four overtime losses now,” Strome said. “Those are valuable points even at this point in the season, with the short schedule.”
Reimer made 30 stops for Carolina in his second straight start in place of Petr Mrazek, who left Saturday’s 4-1 win over Dallas with an upper-body injury. Mrazek is weighing his options for treatment and could be sidelined for an extended period.
Chicago welcomed back DeBrincat and Nicolas Beaudin after they were removed from the COVID-19 list, but the team is still missing Adam Boqvist, Ryan Carpenter and Lucas Wallmark because of virus-related issues.
DeBrincat came up with a big play in the third, finding Strome in front for the tying goal with 6:39 left in regulation. The Hurricanes had taken a 3-2 lead on Trocheck’s fifth goal 6:50 into the period.
“We dug ourselves a bit of a hole, but really happy with how we bounced back and responded,” Chicago coach Jeremy Colliton said.
Carolina put together a strong start, using its speed to create several high-quality chances. Staal set up two goals in the first, making a one-handed pass to the middle that a streaking Svechnikov finished at 3:51 and finding Foegele for his first goal of the season with 5:14 left in the period.
With Carolina looking to build on its lead, Chicago got back in the game after Hurricanes defenseman Haydn Fleury was sent off for holding Matthew Highmore. Kurashev tapped in a perfect pass from Pius Suter for a power-play goal with 2:02 left.
Slavin then turned the puck over in the final seconds of the first and Kane beat Reimer from the slot, tying it at 2 with his fifth goal. It was career point No. 1,033 for Kane, tying Doug Weight for sixth in scoring among U.S.-born players in NHL history.
UP NEXT
The teams play again Thursday night. Carolina then continues its road trip at Columbus on Sunday. Chicago travels to Dallas to face the Stars on Sunday.
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