Recap: Canes Top Blackhawks in Shootout

CHICAGO - Good teams find a way to win games, even when they're not at their best.
The Carolina Hurricanes won their fifth game in a row with a 4-3 shootout decision against the Chicago Blackhawks, and they'll take the two points, even with the knowledge that they can be better - a lot better.
"Today was not a good game for us. We'll just leave it at that. We'll take the win, for sure," head coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "We were good in spurts but not good enough, really. We got kind of fortunate tonight. Sometimes you have to win ugly games."

HIGHLIGHTS | PHOTO GALLERY | STATISTICS

The Difference

For the third time in their last four games, extra time was required to settle the final score, and for the second straight game, a shootout was the deciding factor. James Reimer stopped all three shooters he faced, including a brilliantly patient save on Patrick Kane, who skated slowly into the zone and stickhandled to try to lull Reimer into biting to no avail.
Meanwhile, Andrei Svechnikov netted the winning goal in the third round of the shootout.

"He had missed like three breakaways. I'm like, 'There's no way he goes 0-for-4. He's too good,'" Brind'Amour said. "At the end of the day, it's your best players going against the other team's best players, and we've got some good ones."

Fist Bumps

Jordan Staal
Staal was dishing out pucks with aplomb in the first period, the Canes' captain now has points in four straight games since returning to the lineup (1g, 5a).
"Everybody gets kind of caught up in points to play well, and that's not really how I judge it. He always plays well. It's nice to see him get on the scoresheet, but if you really watch his game, he's had those chances, and he sets up people all the time," Brind'Amour said. "He is very, very valuable to us, no doubt."
Svechnikov opened the scoring 3:51 into the game, as he was on the receiving end of a Staal pass that only got better with each replay loop. Staal fended off the defense of Nikita Zadorov to unload a one-handed backhand feed across to Svechnikov for the tap-in.

About 11 minutes later, Staal corralled a loose puck in the slot from a Brady Skjei point shot. Staal rotated with the puck and dished over to Warren Foegele, who snapped off a quick shot that beat Kevin Lankinen short side.

"He's so valuable to our team. He does all the small things. His vision has been great," Foegele said. "It's a treat to play with him. He works so hard."
Vincent Trocheck
Through the first seven games of the season, Trocheck is tied for the team lead in goals with five. Trocheck won an all-important offensive zone faceoff to begin the scoring sequence in the third period. At the right circle, he was in position to redirect Brett Pesce's point shot, but the puck took a 90-degree turn off Trocheck's blade and into open ice, where Nino Niederreiter fired off a shot. Connor Murphy dropped to a knee to block the shot, but the puck ricocheted over right to Trocheck, who buried the puck into the open net, putting the Canes up 3-2 for a brief period of time.

Plus/Minus

Plus: James Reimer
With Petr Mrazek now shelved for the foreseeable future, the Canes are going to be relying more heavily on Reimer in net. With the win, Reimer improved to 16-2-2 in his last 22 regular-season appearances.

"You can't say enough about Reims since he's been a Hurricane. It's just one great start after another. Watching Patrick Kane come down and do that, I was like, 'This could get ugly,'" Brind'Amour said. "You have to give Reims a lot of credit because he stayed right with him. … He's been great."
Minus: The first two periods, at least
The Canes jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period and maintained a 2-2 score through two periods, despite not establishing their game.
"Our success is from working hard and wearing other teams down," Foegele said. "We were trying to be a little too cute in the first two periods. When it came to the third period, we went back to the grind and keeping it simple to wear them down."
Four players returned to the lineup after missing the last two weeks, and while that gave the lineup an infusion of talent, the effects of the layoff were evident. But, after the final buzzer, the Canes left the building with a 6-1-0 record.
"They were really sluggish in general, and that's how it bled into our group. That's what I kind of expected," Brind'Amour said. "It was noticeable that we weren't on our game, but again, we found a way. That's really all you want. You want two points."

Stats Pack

8: The Canes have won eight straight shootouts dating back to March 19, 2019.
7: Trocheck recorded a game-high seven shots on goal, plus another three shot attempts that were blocked.
75%: Trocheck was a possession machine. In addition to his goal and seven shots on goal, he was also 15-for-20 in the faceoff circle.

Quote of the Night

"We got the job done tonight. It wasn't pretty or the way we wanted to play. … We found a way to win tonight and keep the ball rolling here. We've got a group that's committed and talented and finding ways to win. I thought Reims played a heck of a game to keep us in it. We'll take the two points, for sure." - Jordan Staal

Up Next

The Canes and Hawks will square off again on Thursday night.