Recap: Nedeljkovic, Canes Shut Out Panthers

With 24 saves, Alex Nedeljkovic posted the third shutout of his career and season and led the Carolina Hurricanes to a 3-0 win over the Florida Panthers.

HIGHLIGHTS | PHOTO GALLERY | STATISTICS

The Difference

The Hurricanes have three healthy goaltenders and three goaltenders who are all playing well. It's a delicate balancing act, but so far, the team is managing it, and it doesn't seem to matter who takes to the crease.
"You can't control that, right? We've got three guys right now who are playing at a high level," Alex Nedeljkovic said. "There's a reason why you don't see it very often or hardly at all because it's hard to rotate through. But Rod has been good with us and Paul [Schonfelder] has been good with us in communicating and keeping us in the loop with what's going to happen. The only thing we can do is work hard in practice and play our best come game time. All three of us are rooting for each other."
Tonight, it was Nedeljkovic making his 15th start of the season, and he pitched his third shutout with six saves in the first period, eight saves in the second and 10 in the third for a final tally of 24 saves.

"Ned came up with saves when he had to," head coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "You need those saves at the right time, and he [made those] tonight."
In his last 12 starts, Nedeljkovic is 8-3-1 with a 1.66 goals-against average, a .939 save percentage and three shutouts.
Helping to ease Nedeljkovic's workload was the fact that the Canes' penalty kill suffocated what was the league's third-best road power play. The Canes limited the Panthers to just two shots on four power plays; Florida had just as many shots in four shorthanded tries.
"Our penalty kill was really sharp. Ned is a big part of that," Brind'Amour said. "We worked hard. Our D really got in the way and made it tough for them to get a lot going on. … I like the fact that we found a different way to win tonight."

Fist Bumps

Sebastian Aho
The other side of special teams is, of course, the power play, and the Canes converted on the man advantage in the first period to open the scoring in the game.
The scoring sequence began with a faceoff win from Jordan Staal, and from there, the Canes ran a set play. Dougie Hamilton looked off a pass at the point to slide the puck down the wall to Andrei Svechnikov, who then worked it lower to Trocheck on the goal line. From there, Trocheck threaded a pass through MacKenzie Weegar to find Aho open for the one-timer.

The goal was Aho's 300th career point in the NHL, a feat he accomplished in his 349th career game.
Vincent Trocheck
After scoring for the fifth time in as many games against the Panthers this season on Tuesday, Trocheck was asked what the secret was to his success against his former team.
"I don't think there's any secret. It's just luck of the draw, I guess," he said. "I've gotten some greasy ones against them this year."
Trocheck made it six goals in six games with a goal in the second period, and this one was maybe his luckiest yet - and it was beautifully lucky.
Trocheck picked up an errant pass along the near boards and skated down towards the goal line, where he fired a sharp-angle shot on net. The puck skied high off the post and bounced in off the back of Chris Driedger.

"It looked pretty lucky," Trocheck laughed. "The hockey gods were on my side on that one."
Trocheck now has points in each of his last 12 games played (7g, 10a).
"It's funny how those players who are working hard and creating stuff get some of those ugly goals, too, right? It's no accident. He's doing it right," Brind'Amour said. "He's been great, and that's been a huge addition for us."

Stats Pack

1: With the victory, the Canes move into first place in the Central Division, a point ahead of both the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers with at least a game in hand on both teams.
4: Aho, selected in the second round (35th overall) of the 2015 NHL Draft, is just the fourth player from his class to reach 300 points, joining Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel and Mitch Marner.
6: Trocheck is the first Canes player since Rod Brind'Amour (2005-06 vs. WSH) to record a six-game goal streak against one opponent.

He Thought About It

Andrei Svechnikov looked like he wanted to attempt another lacrosse-style goal - affectionately known around here as "The Svech" - but Radko Gudas had the near side covered.
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Quote of the Night

"The expectation, I know what that is. That's to be the last team standing. Can we get to that level? We've always got to get better. … Hopefully we keep getting better because I think we're a pretty good group. I don't know what the potential is, but I know what the expectation is." - Rod Brind'Amour

Up Next

A two-game set against the Detroit Red Wings is next on the docket in the Canes' longest homestand of the season.