Recap: Teravainen's Hat Trick Leads Canes Past Stars

Teuvo Teravainen's natural hat trick in the third period propelled the Carolina Hurricanes to a 5-1 win over the Dallas Stars.
Both Teravainen (3g, 1a) and Jordan Staal (4a) recorded four-point nights, as the Hurricanes extended their point streak to five games (3-0-2).
Here are five takeaways from the season series finale between the Stars and Canes.

One
When the Hurricanes needed someone to step up offensively and help the team break a 1-1 deadlock in the third period, Teravainen came through with not one, not two, but three goals, his first-career NHL hat trick - and it took just seven minutes and five seconds to happen.
Teravainen's first goal came on the power-play, as the man advantage finally broke through for the Hurricanes. Along the near wall, Teravainen's shot beat Ben Bishop through an Elias Lindholm-sized screen in front.

"I liked the fact that we scored on the power play. It gave us momentum," head coach Bill Peters said. "It gave us life and energized our bench."
Just over four minutes later, Jaccob Slavin flipped a puck through the neutral zone to Teravainen, who skated into the zone, pulled up along the far wall and fired a wrist shot on net. John Klingberg got a stick on it and redirected it past his own goaltender to make it a 3-1 game.

Three minutes after that, the Canes forced a Stars' turnover in their own zone and Staal swung the puck over to Teravainen for the one-timer in between the faceoff circles. Hats rained down and then surrounded Teravainen in his stall in the locker room.
"It's a good collection," he said with a smile.
Teravainen, who said his last hat trick probably happened in "some junior games or junior national team, something like that," became the first Canes player to record a natural hat trick since Eric Staal did so on Dec. 18, 2010 in a 4-2 win over Anaheim.

"We found a way to stick with it," Staal said. "More or less, Turbo did a great job putting a few in the net for us."
Teravainen said he thinks himself as more of a passer than a shooter, but maybe after tonight he'll do more of the latter.
"He should attack the net more because he has the ability, skillset and skating ability to do that," Peters said. "He is a pass-first guy … but he needs to be a little more selfish going to the net and getting his own shot."
Two
In his rookie season, it was Nov. 12, the Canes' 14th game of the season, in which Sebastian Aho scored his first (and second) career goal(s). This season, Aho finally netted his first on Nov. 13 in the team's 16th game of the season.
In the defensive zone, Teravainen poked the puck off the stick of Klingberg, ahead to Jordan Staal. Esa Lindell attempted to defend the 2-on-1 rush but blew a tire at the blue line. Staal held onto the puck and slid it over to Aho, who was all alone in front of Bishop. Aho went forehand-backhand to open up Bishop's five hole and scored. His celebration - fist pumps surrounding his right leg in the air and a scream of what had to be pure exuberance and relief - said it all.

"It was a relief. It felt pretty good, but this win feels even better," he said. "It was a great play by Turbo to get the puck in the neutral zone. I knew Jordo was looking for me. It was a great pass by Jordo. There was a one-on-one with me and the goalie, and I knew what I was doing. I'm happy it went in."
So, too, were his teammates.
"That was nice to see. He's been getting a ton of chances," Staal said. "You could tell the monkey flew off his back after that one. Hopefully he continues to stay hot."
"It was good for him to get one. The guys were happy for him. That thing went in, and I don't know who was happier - more collectively on the bench or he himself. He's been playing well, and he knew it was going to come," Peters said. "You know he's going to score."
Three
So, how about that Aho-Staal-Teravainen trio? The Canes' top line was dynamic and dominant on the scoresheet tonight. Teravainen (3g, 1a) and Staal (4a) each had four points, and Aho tallied a three-point night (1g, 2a).
"It was lots of fun playing with Jordo and Turbo tonight," Aho said. "We all can make some plays. We try to play fast."
"We think the game the same way. We play fast," Teravainen said. "Jordo is really good with the puck and he's strong. He can hold onto pucks, and me and Seabass just skate around, see each other and try to make some plays. At the same time, we try to play good defense, and many nights we have the match-up against the No. 1 line from the other team. We try to take care of our own zone first."
"Both very talented players. Both of them have great hands and great vision. I'm just trying to make some room for them and go to the net hard," Staal said. "They do a lot with the puck, and I've kind of got the easy part. It's been fun playing with those two guys. Hopefully we continue to contribute for this team."
Four
Let's go back to Teravainen's first goal - the Canes' first on the power play in six games.
The key to the goal was simple: parking a body in front of the net. In this case, it was Lindholm right in front of Bishop's eyes. On the other power play unit, you could find Brock McGinn net front on a regular basis. If the Canes continue to get to the front of the blue paint and make it tough on the opposition's goaltender, they are going to start to see regular success on the man advantage.

"It's been frustrating all throughout the room," Staal said of the power play. "It's nice to see us get rewarded with a simple shot with a great screen."
"We've been talking about shooting more. Lindy was making a good screen, and the goalie couldn't see the puck. I just tried to get it to the net, and luckily it went in," Teravainen said. "Shoot some pucks, get some rebounds, get some action."
"That was a real good screen. … Lindy was in his eyes," Peters said. "I thought there were a lot of good things, things we can build on moving forward."
Five
The Hurricanes have now tallied points in five straight games, earning eight of a possible 10 points (3-0-2). At 7-5-4, the Canes have 18 points in 16 games as they continue their climb in the standings.
"These were a big two points for us," Aho said. "Now we'll try to keep it going."
"It's coming, for sure. No question," Peters said. "Now everyone is getting comfortable and we're getting some results and some wins."
Up Next
The Hurricanes will head to the state of New York for a two-game road trip when they face off with the Islanders on Thursday and Sabres on Saturday.