The Mrazalorian
Petr Mrazek earned third-star honors for his role in the Canes' victory over San Jose. He made 28 saves on 30 shots in regulation and overtime and then was a perfect 3-for-3 in the shootout.
Mrazek improved to 16-6 in his career in shootouts, and he owns the fifth-highest career shootout save percentage (minimum of 50 shots faced) since the shootout was introduced in 2005-06.
"I like shootouts. It's fun. The fans enjoy it. For the goalies, I think it's fun, as well," Mrazek said on Thursday. "I like the battle."
"He's competitive," head coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "He does not want to let that thing in."
Mrazek is 9-3-0 with a 2.31 goals-against average, a .910 save percentage and one shutout in 12 starts at PNC Arena this season. In 38 career appearances in Raleigh, Mrazek is 29-8-1 with a 2.12 goals-against average, a .924 save percentage and five shutouts.
Revenge of the Svech
Andrei Svechnikov recorded two points (1g, 1a), plus the shootout-deciding goal, against San Jose, his team-leading 11th multi-point game of the season. In fact, the Canes' sophomore forward ranks tied for eighth among all NHL skaters in multi-point games this season.
PROJECTED LINEUP
Svechnikov owns a team-leading 31 points (12g, 19a) through 29 games, and he's scored two goals in three career games against the Wild.
The Last Meeting
The Canes and Wild first met three weeks ago in Minnesota, and the Canes left with a
4-3 overtime win
. Joel Edmundson and Brock McGinn gave the Canes a 2-0 lead in the first period, but Minnesota rallied with a three-goal second period. Svechnikov scored his ninth goal of the season 93 seconds into overtime to secure a third straight win for the Canes.
"The positive is we found a way to win a game we weren't very good in," Brind'Amour said after the game. "This game wasn't our best, but I loved the fact that we got together. The third was a good period, and obviously in overtime we did some good things. We'll take the win and move on."
