Carolina Hurricanes Avoid Third Period Woes, Defeat the Los Angeles Kings 3-1

The Carolina Hurricanes righted their wrongs from Wednesday night with an excellent effort against the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday.

Derek Ryan and Brock McGinn combined for all of Carolina’s goals as they took down the red-hot Kings by a final score of 3-1.

A tight-checking first period between a pair of defensive-minded clubs finally gave way to the game’s first goal. Andrej Nestrasil found Derek Ryan all alone in the slot, and he made a nifty move to beat Jeff Zatkoff and give the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead.

The second period opened up a bit as the Kings started to throw more pucks on net, but at the tail end of a great penalty kill, Ryan combined with Brock McGinn and netted a highlight-reel goal to extend the Carolina lead to two.

The Hurricanes have had near league-worst success in the third period this season. Just 24 hours after blowing a two-goal lead in the final frame in Anaheim, they needed to jump on the Kings, and that’s what they did. Great board play from Victor Rask and a well-placed pass to Brock McGinn ended in a nice snipe from the lower slot from McGinn and the Canes took a 3-0 lead.

The Kings didn’t lie down. With 7:10 to go in the third period, defending Norris Trophy winner Drew Doughty let a bomb go from the point and it found its way through bodies in front and past Cam Ward, putting an end to a shutout bid from the hot goalie.

The final seven minutes of the third period featured a strong shutdown performance from the Hurricanes as they kept the Kings at bay and finished out an immensely impressive outing in Los Angeles.

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