Hurricanes extend point streak with victory against Blackhawks

RALIEGH, N.C. -- Nino Niederreiter had two goals and an assist for the Carolina Hurricanes in a 5-3 win against the Chicago Blackhawks at PNC Arena on Friday.

Martin Necas and Jaccob Slavin each had a goal and an assist for the Hurricanes (11-3-1), who are 4-0-1 in their past five games. James Reimer made 26 saves.
"We had a great game tonight," Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "I thought we could have had 10 goals. We were on it, and I don't think we gave up a ton. They're such a dynamic team, where they can all of a sudden out of nothing spring something. James had to make some big saves."
Patrick Kane had a goal and two assists for the Blackhawks (9-6-4), who had won three in a row. Kevin Lankinen made 33 saves.
"It was a big challenge, they're a really good team," Chicago coach Jeremy Colliton said. "They probably were better than us the first two periods, but I thought we hung in there, showed some resiliency to stay in the game, and gave ourselves a chance to make a couple of plays to be in a tie game."
The Hurricanes scored the first two of their three third-period goals on the power play.
Necas put Carolina ahead 3-2 at 2:28. Lankinen got a glove on the shot by Necas, but the rebound deflected high in the air and went in off defenseman Calvin de Haan's back.
"I think [Necas'] confidence has really grown, and you can see it in the way he's playing," Brind'Amour said. "He's been really solid."

Niederreiter drove the net and scored off a backhand touch pass from Jesper Fast to make it 4-2 at 15:04. He leads the Hurricanes with nine goals after scoring 11 in 67 games last season.
"Last year, there was a lot of overthinking and trying to do too much instead of laying back and playing the way you want to play," Niederreiter said. "I'm glad to find that jam again."
Colliton said three penalties by the Blackhawks in the third period were their downfall.
"In the third period, we just didn't quite reach their level," he said. "They were just stronger on the puck, they were stronger in battles, more clean with their puck plays, and it kind of led to a bunch of penalties for us. When you don't clear the puck on the penalty kill, you really make it hard on yourself, and they have two really dangerous units."
Slavin scored into an empty net at 16:46 to make it 5-2. It was his first goal of the season.
Carl Soderberg scored on a deflection of a Kane shot on the power play with 51 seconds remaining for the 5-3 final.

Niederreiter put the Hurricanes up 1-0 at 15:22 of the first period when he took a pass from Slavin and scored on a wrist shot that deflected off defenseman Nikita Zadorov's leg.
Vincent Trocheck made it 2-0 at 4:03 of the second period with a one-timer from the slot off a backhand pass from Jake Bean. Niederreiter got his 300th NHL point with an assist.
"Our line is working," Necas said. "It seems like we've got that chemistry. [Niederreiter] is a great player around the net. [Trocheck] is a good center. He plays in both ends and also making plays and scoring goals."

Kane scored at 16:39 to make it 2-1. Skating in 1-on-1 against defenseman Brett Pesce, Kane made a spin move in the right face-off circle and lifted a backhand inside the left post.
"I saw I had a little space and their guy was on my left shoulder, so I thought it was a good chance to try the spin-o-rama," Kane said. "I missed my shot a little bit. I was trying to go high blocker (side), and it went through the seven-hole. But always good to see those go in. That was a big goal for us too, especially down 2-0 to make it 2-1. We got a little life off that."
Ian Mitchell scored with a wrist shot from the high slot on a delayed penalty to tie it 2-2 with 11 seconds remaining in the period.
NOTES: Kane has eight points (three goals, five assists) in three games against the Hurricanes this season. ... Trocheck has three goals and five assists during a six-game point streak. … Reimer won his fourth straight start to improve to 8-1-0. … Niederreiter has 301 points (146 goals, 155 assists) in 616 games with the Hurricanes, Minnesota Wild and New York Islanders.