The Carolina Hurricanes struck first, but fell to the Anaheim Ducks 3-2 Monday night at Honda Center thanks to a handful of unforced errors.

Only a minute and change into the game, Justin Williams tipped a shot by Trevor van Riemsdyk through the five hole of John Gibson to give the Hurricanes an early 1-0 lead.

But it would only take about four more minutes for the Ducks to tie it up, as Scott Darling lets an relatively easy save on Logan Shaw slip through his left pad, and Derek Grant tipped it in.

The Hurricanes couldn’t capitalize on two first-period power plays, set up by Cam Fowler’s hold on Sebastian Aho and Ondrej Kase boarding Derek Ryan, and the period closed at a 1-1 draw.

The second period looked up compared to recent second-period woes the Hurricanes have had, including two strong penalty kills and a couple close calls off a couple Jeff Skinner shots. But it was a miscue by Haydn Fleury that would lead to the period’s only goal from the stick of Jakob Silfverberg, returning from an injury to face the team he has scored more against than any other (13 points in 12 career games).

In the third period, the Ducks came out early, taking advantage of a stickless Darling as Logan Shaw went blocker side (aka the stickless side) to give the Ducks a two-goal advantage.

After that goal, the Hurricanes put up a strong effort to get back to even. However, like the last game in Los Angeles, great goaltending kept Carolina off the board for what seemed like forever. Gibson’s highlights included a split pad save to deny Teuvo Teravainen, a flailing glove save on Elias Lindholm and just...this....

However, Victor Rask gave the Hurricanes an ounce of hope, corralling a loose puck at the left edge of Anaheim’s goal crease to make it 3-2 with about three minutes left to play.

Carolina was unable to score another one, though, and were visibly gassed in the waning seconds of the game, falling to 0-2-2 in the last four games.

The Hurricanes get another chance for a win in this six-game road stretch in Las Vegas tomorrow.

Rank the Performances

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