Recap: Reimer, Hurricanes shut out Red Wings

Playing the second leg of a back-to-back, the Carolina Hurricanes picked up two points on the road with a 2-0 shutout of the Detroit Red Wings Sunday night.

It wasn’t the most exciting game for either team, a far cry from the seven-goal outburst the Canes posted the last time the two teams met, but the Canes came away with the win thanks to a second-period tally from Sebastian Aho, an empty netter from Teuvo Teravainen and a 19-save shutout from backup netminder James Reimer, his first with the Canes.

The Canes controlled the Red Wings for the entirety of the game, out-shooting Detroit 36-19 and allowing just three Red Wings shots in the final period. Reimer battled for the win over Jimmy Howard, who stopped 34 of 35 shots faced.

Reimer was sharp for the Canes throughout a scoreless opening period, shutting down a few good looks for Detroit with great saves. The Hurricanes out-shot the Red Wings 12-11 in a mostly eventless first period. Carolina did have a chance at a late power play, but couldn’t get a goal from it.

The first half of the second period was more of the same, as the Canes and Red Wings remained scoreless. The Hurricanes defensemen seemed active though, blocking shots and keeping Detroit from getting many good looks. One of those blocked shots looked like it may cost the Canes, as Brett Pesce was slow to get off the ice and headed back to the locker room. Pesce, however, would return for Carolina later in the period.

Aho ended the stalemate just over the midway point of the game, taking advantage of some carelessness from Howard to tally his 12th of the season. Aho tried to hit Teravainen skating towards the net, but the puck went wide and ricocheted off the boards and back to Howard, who couldn’t control it. Aho attacked the puck and was able to poke it in to put the Canes up 1-0.

Teravainen and Andrei Svechnikov were credited with assists on the goal. For Svechnikov, the helper moved his point streak to eight games. The second-year winger has 27 points through 24 games this season, just ten points shy of his season total from a year ago.

Carolina really controlled the game throughout the third period, not giving the Red Wings any real chances at tying things up. Detroit had just two shots through the first 17 minutes of the third, leading to Detroit coach Jeff Blashill pulling Howard with three minutes left in the game.

Things compounded for the Canes 30 seconds later, as Nino Niederreiter took a bad hooking call to give Detroit a six-on-four opportunity with Howard still out of net. Detroit didn’t manage a single shot on net during that time, and Teravainen ended the Red Wings’ chances with a shorthanded empty netter with just over a minute to play.

The Canes will now get two days off after playing four of the last six days. Carolina will face off with the New York Rangers in Madison Square Garden Wednesday night.