Recap: Two Early Goals Propel Canes Past Devils

The Carolina Hurricanes scored two goals in the first 30 seconds of the game, and as it turned out, that's all they needed in order to defeat the New Jersey Devils, 2-1.
Justin Williams and Micheal Ferland scored eight seconds apart to give the Canes an early lead that they held onto for the balance of the game, and Curtis McElhinney made 33 saves on 34 shots.
Here are five takeaways from this evening's divisional tilt.

One
Performances and losses like Saturday night happen over the course of an 82-game season. The important question the Canes faced: How do you respond?
The first and second shifts of the game emphatically provided that answer.
Just 22 seconds into the game, Jordan Staal curled a pass at the blue line to Williams, who split the defense and beat Cory Schneider five-hole on the first shot of the game to give the Canes a 1-0 lead.

On the very next shift, just eight seconds later, Teuvo Teravainen fed Ferland for the one-timer, and Ferland buried his team-leading 10th goal of the season.
Two shots, two goals.

"That's the game," head coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "They had their two worst shifts of the game to start the game, and it benefitted us."
"Who would have thought that would have been all the scoring?" Williams said. "Every game is a surprise, and not all are the same. That was a battle and a grind."
Those two tallies were the fastest two goals to open a game in franchise history. In fact, the Canes are just the sixth team in NHL history to score twice in the first 30 seconds of a game. And, with just eight seconds separating the two strikes, it was the fastest two goals scored by the Hurricanes since relocation.
"We got the win. … At the end of the day, it was a battle game," Brind'Amour said. "I thought our best players tonight were our veteran guys."
Two
After that hot start, the Hurricanes didn't generate a whole lot offensively and were out-shot (34-25) for just the second time this season. (Funny enough, they're also 2-0 in those games.)
But, a win is a win, and the Hurricanes shut down the Devils' counterattack when it mattered most.

"They did a great job coming back into the game, grinding and making it a tough game. I thought we responded well," Staal said. "It wasn't our best game, but I thought we worked hard and found a way to get the points."
"We're nitpicking a little bit in the sense that we got the win, and that's the most important thing. But, it's the process, too," Brind'Amour said. "We definitely want to create more offense, that's for sure."
Three
McElhinney wasn't tested with two many grade-A opportunities, especially in the third period when the Hurricanes protected their one-goal lead. And, his only blemish was a nice play by Pavel Zacha to go forehand-backhand and roof a shot in the first period. After that, McElhinney's scoresheet was clean, and he finished the night with 33 saves in his first win since Oct. 13.
"I thought in the third we didn't give up a lot," Brind'Amour said. "We tried to limit their opportunities and played smart, maybe smarter than we have in the past. We got a couple nice saves when we needed them. … It didn't feel like we were going to give up one, but it certainly wasn't our best game, that's for sure."
Coming into the game, McElhinney had posted a 4-1-0 record against New Jersey in his career, with a 1.68 goals-against average and a .935 save percentage. He only improved on those numbers tonight.
"No idea," he said when asked about it. "Don't even remember the last game, to be honest with you."
Four
The Hurricanes' penalty kill finished 3-for-3 on the night, all three kills (one very abbreviated) coming in the second period. The Canes have now successfully dispatched 11 of their last 12 penalties, improving to nearly 74 percent (48-for-65) on the season.
"The PK has been a little more solid as of late," Staal said. "As a whole, I think we've given up a lot less. We've done a better job of standing at the line and making it at least more difficult on teams to get into the zone."

Five
That's the bounce-back. Less than 24 hours after being outplayed and outmatched in almost every facet of the game, the Hurricanes came back to the rink and grinded out a victory. It might not have been the prettiest, but two points are two points, and sometimes you have to win ugly.
"We can put that one behind us, had a great game here against New Jersey and grinded one out," Staal said. "That's nice to respond after that one, and hopefully we can build off this."
"That's the nice thing about hockey: You get an opportunity to turn it around and come right back. Big win for us," McElhinney said. "I think the most important thing was the start, in general, was the key to the game tonight."
"Winning is a lot more fun, isn't it?" Williams said.
It sure is.
Up Next
Two home games sandwich Thanksgiving to wrap up the Hurricanes' season-long, six-game homestand: Wednesday vs. Toronto and Friday vs. Florida.