Four-Goal First Period Paves Way To Win Over Edmonton

RALEIGH, NC. - A superb start to the evening allowed the Carolina Hurricanes to take a 6-3 win from the Edmonton Oilers at PNC Arena on Wednesday.

Came Ready To Play...

Edmonton's struggles through the first 17 games of their season have been well-documented, and their first 20 minutes tonight in Raleigh were no different.

Before the puck could even go down to start the night, it was a trying warmup for the Oilers.

Goaltender Stuart Skinner took an awkward spill at center ice and defenseman Darnell Nurse took a puck to the face, causing him to miss the opening moments of the contest.

And then when the puck went down for real, it somehow got more frustrating for them.

Despite one early push from Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, Carolina weathered the storm and then went off to the races.

Jesper Fast found the first goal of the night 9:17 in, and 35 seconds later Jack Drury got the monkey off his back with his first goal since March 26.

Igniting the PNC Arena crowd, the train kept rolling when Teuvo Teravainen became the first Canes player to reach double-digit goals this season.

Making that three goals in 2:06, Seth Jarvis then ended Skinner's night when he came in on the rush and picked his spot for his eighth tally of the year.

The run of four unanswered tallies in the first period was the first occasion for Carolina since October 8, 2019.

Raanta's Night Ends Early...

Edmonton would get one on the board late in the first period, just five seconds into their first power play of the night.

Sending the game into the first intermission 4-1, when the teams returned for the ice for the second, it was Pyotr Kochetkov surprisingly in net for the Canes. Antti Raanta started the night for Rod Brind'Amour's group and made seven saves on eight shots, but it was announced by the team's PR staff that he would not return for precautionary reasons.

Kochetkov would go on to stop 13 of 15 shots the rest of the way, but with four goals of support, Raanta gets the victory on his record.

The Rest of the Way...

When play got underway in the second, the Canes picked right back up where they left off, this time finding twine via Martin Necas.

His sixth goal of the season, Carolina reclaimed their four-goal lead just 2:13 into the second stanza.

It was the beginning of what would be just four goals over the remaining 40 minutes, as both Kochetkov and Calvin Pickard settled in their respective creases.

Edmonton cashed in shorthanded to end the second period and in the third, they crawled back within two. A Zach Hyman redirection from McDavid created some tense moments for Canes fans, but their young netminder was there to keep the contest from getting any closer.

After surviving the push, Brent Burns hit the empty net, closing out the 6-3 victory.

They Said It...

Rod Brind'Amour on tonight's first period...

"We haven't had a lot of games like that, where we score on all of our chances pretty much.  It's been that we have to get more and more chances, so it was kind of nice to get those to go in and then not have to chase the game.  It was definitely the way to do it if you can."

Jesper Fast sharing thoughts on his line not only having to go head-to-head with McDavid and Draisaitl, but also generating their own offense...

"We knew the opportunity we had today.  They're probably the two best players in the league, so we had to be sharp.  I think we did a good job of keeping the puck out of the right side."

Jalen Chatfield on drawing back into the lineup after being a healthy scratch in the previous three, and his chemistry with Dmitry Orlov...

"I just tried to stay ready.  Get on the ice early and stay late.  I wanted to be sure that when my name was called I would be ready to go... I thought [our chemistry] was pretty good.  You still want to play more games with each other to get a better read, but I think we played solid tonight."

What's Next?

The Canes are scheduled to be off on Thursday.  They'll return to game action on Friday, hosting the Tampa Bay Lightning.

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