Hurricanes finally end power-play drought in Game 5 win

RALEIGH, N.C. -- From the moment Brendan Smith scored the game-winner in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Second Round against the New York Rangers, and through 29:47 of Game 5, the Carolina Hurricanes had scored more goals while on the penalty kill than they had on the power play.

Two goals while shorthanded, and zero with the man-advantage.
The first shorthanded goal was by Smith. The second came Thursday in the first period, on a beauty of a pass from Jordan Staal to Vincent Trocheck, to give Carolina a 1-0 lead.
But, then that power-play drought finally broke.
At 9:47 of the second period, Teuvo Teravainen connected on a one-timer from the bottom of the left circle, erasing not only the burden of an impotent power play but giving the Hurricanes a lead that would last.
The goal stood as the game-winner in a 3-1 victory, and Carolina now leads the best-of-7 series 3-2. Game 6 is Saturday in New York.
"It's big, of course," Teravainen said. "Special teams are big this time of year. That was just kind of the talk after [the] last game, just reset and start over. We don't have to think too much behind. Just keep thinking what's going forward. And today, big goal on the power play."

The drought was even longer than the series with the Rangers. It stood at 335:29, dating to Game 6 against the Boston Bruins in the first round of the seven-game series. Against Boston, Carolina scored a total of five goals with the man-advantage, going 5-for-36 (13.9 percent), putting it well below its 22.0 percent effectiveness in the regular season.
But against New York, the power play went from cool to ice cold.
"It's weird," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "We've been in that funk for a long time. It was OK, as far as how it looked. But that obviously was much better tonight. I don't know how to explain it, to be honest with you. You talk about the same things. But that's how it goes sometimes."
The penalty kill has been clicking. In the regular season, Carolina was No. 1 in the NHL (88 percent), and it is generally happy with its performance against New York (10-for-13) after allowing six power-play goals on 29 opportunities against Boston.
To defeat the Rangers, however, the Hurricanes will need more on special teams, specifically on the power play. They'll need goals, and not just of the shorthanded variety.
They got one, finally.
"For the power play, that's big," said Trocheck, who was sitting atop the crease in anticipation of a rebound that never came on the goal. "We need to score on the power play. Obviously, special teams are huge in the playoffs. We've said it a million times."
RELATED: [Complete Hurricanes vs. Rangers series coverage]
Trocheck got his first point of the series on his shorthanded goal in the first period. He was not the only player to get his first point of the series; Andrei Svechnikov scored on a breakaway in the third period for the insurance goal. The forward, who was Carolina's second-leading scorer in the regular season -- and tied with Teravainen for the second-most power-play goals (nine) -- had not scored a goal of any variety since Game 6 against the Bruins.
Maybe the goal would change his fortune?
"We hope," Brind'Amour said. "Obviously we need him to score if we're going to win games, at this time of year especially. That's a huge goal at the right time. I don't know that he was playing lights-out up to that point, but that kind of player has that ability to, out of nowhere, make something happen and that's what happened there."
The Hurricanes head back on the road for Game 6 with positive signs coursing throughout their team. They are 0-5 away from PNC Arena and 1-for-21 on the power play.
"Everyone played well," Brind'Amour said. "That's kind of that game that I've been waiting for."