Necas' First NHL Hat Trick Guides Canes Past Avalanche

RALEIGH, NC. - Carolina Hurricanes forward Martin Necas scored three times in the opening 16:52 on Thursday, paving the path to a 5-2 victory over the Colorado Avalanche.

Welcome To The Necas Show!

Looking to get back on track after returning from break with a 3-2 loss at the hands of the Vancouver Canucks, the Canes looked ready to reset from the opening puck drop.

Or, at least Necas was.

Just 1:52 in, the speedster picked up a pass from Brady Skjei in his own end and went off the races from there. Maneuvering through or by three Colorado defenders, #88 then got a shot to leak through Alexander Georgiev for the game-opening goal.

Fewer than five minutes later, he did it again.

This time on the rush, Teuvo Teravainen set up Brent Burns, who put one on a platter for Necas. One-timing it home, the Canes quickly had a 2-0 advantage in the first 6:25.

But he wasn't done there.

Inside the final five minutes of the frame, he buried a third, completing his first career hat trick in just 16:51.

His third shot, and goal, of the night came following yet another sweet distribution from Teravainen, establishing a 3-0 advantage.

The second-fastest hat trick to begin a game in Canes history, Necas' trio remains only bested by Cory Stillman, who scored three goals in just 11:28 back on November 5, 2007.

Not So Fast Though...

Surely a first period hat trick would have the Canes in a good spot going back to the locker room though, right?

Not quite.

Two goals separated by just seven seconds for Colorado completely altered things.

First, coming during four-on-four play, Zach Parise was able to sneak free and put one by Pyotr Kochetkov, who was making his second start in as many games.

Giving up one would've been manageable, but absolute disaster struck off the ensuing faceoff.

The Avalanche won the draw back to defenseman Samuel Girard, and he scored from neutral ice.

A complete gaffe by the young netminder, it ultimately resulted in him being pulled from the game.

Much Tamer Second...

When the teams returned to the ice for the middle 20 minutes, Antti Raanta was between the pipes for Carolina.

Seemingly a wake-up call to Kochetkov, the veteran netminder was solid, stopping all nine shots that came his way during the stanza.

Upholding his end of things, Raanta's play allowed the Canes to reestablish their two-goal lead.

On a power play, Teravainen added another helper, this time setting up Michael Bunting to make it a 4-2 game.

To The Finish...

Bunting's 11th of the season gave Carolina some insurance as the game went to the third, but before that period could begin, the Canes had yet another surprise between the pipes.

Although nothing looked noticeable, Raanta was ruled out for the rest of the night due to a lower-body injury.  That meant that Kochetkov, who started the game and was pulled, had to re-enter.

When he did, he was good.

Like Raanta, he put together a perfect frame, stopping a game-high 10 shots from Colorado.

Keeping them off the scoresheet, the lone goal left in the contest was an awarded one.  As the Avalanche had their net empty, Seth Jarvis had his stick slashed while working in on the vacant cage, forcing the officials to give Carolina a fifth and final tally.

The marker was the 16th of the season for Jarvis, who was playing in his 200th career NHL game.

They Said It...

Rod Brind'Amour on #88's performance...

"The puck's certainly going in for him, which is great.  He's a talent, we know that.  Sometimes it maybe goes away for a little while, but it's always there.  When you're that good of a player, you have games like that where you can just explode.  That's what we saw."

Martin Necas, with a laugh, after his big night...

"I waited long enough.  I was hoping to get one soon.  Obviously, it was nice to get it at the start of the game before they got two back.  But yeah, it feels nice... I guess I wasn't shooting enough."

Michael Bunting on the team's combining for 46 penalty minutes tonight, including several third period dust-ups...

"It's fun.  It's fun when there are emotions in the game and both teams are being really competitive and chippy.  It's kind of like a playoff atmosphere when games are like that."

What's Next?

The Canes are scheduled to hold a limited practice on Friday and then conclude their home stretch on Saturday as the New Jersey Devils come for Whalers Night.

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