The Carolina Hurricanes withstood a furious third period rally to pick up another win at home as they defeated the San Jose Sharks, 3-2 on Friday night in front of a sell out crowd at the RBC. The Canes now have a 10-3-1 record in their last 14 home games. They have also earned points in 10 of their last 11 contests overall.
Justin Peters picked up his first win of the season with a solid 35 save performance. It was also the first win for a Carolina backup goalie in over a year, (January 9, 2011).
The Canes jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period, despite only putting seven shots on goal. The Sharks, who had played the night before in Tampa, had just six shots for the period.
Jeff Skinner got the scoring started for the home team when he sent the puck toward the crease from a sharp angle which bounced in the net off of a San Jose defenseman. Jussi Jokinen picked up the only assist on the play.
Then during a powerplay, Carolina used a similar play which was successful in Montreal when Justin Faulk skated behind the San Jose defense. Jiri Tlusty found him with a perfect pass and Faulk made no mistake with the shot. The goal was Faulk's third powerplay goal of the season and fifth overall.
After a scoreless second period, the Sharks threw everything but the kitchen sink at the Canes in the third and outshot the home team by an 18-6 margin. Before the first four minutes of the period were completed, the score was tied and the Sharks were smelling blood. But the defense tightened and Peters would make some nice saves down the stretch to keep his team in it.
Jokinen would tip in the eventual game winner 11:55 into the third off of a Jamie McBain shot. The Sharks again battled hard to tie the score, but were unable to solve the Peters one more time. The game ended with much action around the Carolina net.
The Canes left right after the game to travel for tomorrow night's match against the Islanders on Long Island.
Game Notes:
- Jiri Tlusty stayed hot and now has points in six straight games. He made a perfect pass to Faulk for the powerplay goal. Eric Staal also picked up an assist and has points in four straight.
- The Canes put 25 shots on goal led by Faulk and Jerome Samson with four each. Faulk also had a team high 23:31 TOI.
- Tim Gleason had a team best four blocked shots. The Canes had 18 total.
- The experiment putting defenseman Derek Joslin at forward did not seem to hurt the team. He and Anthony Stewart got about the same amount of playing time, (7:58 and 8:02) and both were tied with Patrick Dwyer with a team high three hits each.
- The Canes won 45% of their faceoffs: (Staal 33%, Sutter 50%, Skinner 63%, Brent 40%, Jokinen 60%)
Post game interviews:
Jeff Skinner audio: Jeff Skinner 2 17 12