Canes clip Ducks’ wings with Jarvis winner, Andersen gem

It was a battle between two of the NHL’s best in Anaheim Thursday night, as the 12-2-0 Carolina Hurricanes took to the ice against the Ducks, who entered on an eight-game win streak.

Something had to give, and it came in the third period in the form of Canes’ rookie Seth Jarvis, who netted his second straight game-winning goal to snap Anaheim’s win streak and move the Hurricanes to 2-0 on the westward road trip with a 2-1 victory.

The game before the Jarvis winner was a battle, a physical affair that looked exactly like a game between two very good teams. The Canes weren’t their best, though Frederik Andersen was marvelous in goal, but they fought against a good Ducks team.

Ethan Bear scored his first goal as a member of the Hurricanes in the first period, opening up the scoring by finishing a fantastic pass from Martin Necas. Anaheim’s Troy Terry tapped in a rebound later in the first for the Ducks only goal.

The battle between the pipes was a good one as well, as Andersen was really, really good in his first game in nearly a week. Andersen stopped 31 of 32 shots faced, doing some phenomenal work in the second period to keep it tied. John Gibson was good in the loss for the Ducks, turning away 29 of 31 shots faced.

It was Anaheim that got most of the chances in the opening few minutes but the Canes who got the first goal, as Necas delivered an unbelievable pass to Bear for his first Carolina goal.

Necas got the puck and patiently skated with it, seeing a window open up through the entirety of Anaheim’s defense to Bear breaking towards the net on the back side. Necas’ pass was perfect and Bear did everything he needed to with it, ripping a shot past Gibson to make it 1-0.

Other than the Bear goal, it was the Ducks that really seemed to hold an edge in the first period. Terry tied the game just over the midway point, tapping in a late rebound off Andersen after an initially great save.

The first period came to an end with Anaheim leading the shot battle 17-11, with Andersen looking very sharp early after nearly a week off.

The second period was all about Andersen for the Canes, as Carolina again didn’t play its sharpest hockey in a period that saw both teams get a little chippy and physical.

Both teams had power plays in the middle frame, with Carolina getting a 4-on-3 for a bit, but neither team found the back of the net. Andersen was certainly the reason Anaheim didn’t score on either of its man advantages, with the Carolina netminder standing on his head a little bit in the second.

The Hurricanes got a golden opportunity to break through for the lead early in the third period, as Jarvis got in on a breakaway and was pulled down from behind. Jarvis was awarded a penalty shot but couldn’t do much with it, as he skated slowly towards the net and put one straight into Gibson’s pad.

Jarvis was denied on the penalty shot but wouldn’t be denied his goal, as he followed up his own rebound in the third and shot it off the back of Gibson and into the net. Andrei Svechnikov made a good play to crash the net and create a rebound, which Jarvis followed up quickly before scoring on his second effort.

The Hurricanes got some more brilliance from Andersen down the stretch, as the Danish goalie just simply would not be beaten by the Ducks.

Carolina will be back in action Saturday afternoon in Los Angeles for a meeting with the Kings.