Recap: Jesper Fast plays hero as Canes win nailbiter in Chicago

The second game of the Hurricanes and Blackhawks’ two-game series was night and day different from the first one. Jesper Fast scored with 29 seconds left to give Carolina a 4-3 victory.

On his 25th birthday, Warren Foegele scored two goals for Carolina, both assisted by Jordan Staal and Nino Niederreiter as that trio combined for six points. Vincent Trocheck also scored for the Hurricanes in his second game back from injury.

With 29 seconds left in the tied game, Fast was the hero for the Canes, pouncing on the rebound of a Trocheck shot to give his team a 4-3 lead.

Chicago had nearly taken a lead of its own directly before the Fast goal, but James Reimer came up massive and stopped Dominik Kubalik off a leading pass from Patrick Kane.

The Fast goal wrapped a wild, back-and-forth, four-goal third period.

Following a poor finish to the second period, the Canes continued to trend in the wrong direction early in the third, continually getting hemmed in their own zone. It cost them with 14:14 left to play, as Kirby Dach threw a backhand feed through the crease that deflected off two Canes and to Brandon Hagel, who tapped it in to tie the game.

The tie did not last long, however. Just 1:08, in fact. The line of Staal, Foegele and Niederreiter continued its strong play, as Foegele corralled a Niederreiter shot off the end boards, pulled the puck between his legs and slid it into the net for his second of the night to make it 3-2.

Not three minutes later, however, the Blackhawks tied it again, as Steven Lorentz lost positioning on Dylan Strome in the slot, and Strome tipped a Connor Murphy shot past Reimer to make it a 3-3 game.

Unlike in Tuesday’s game, the Hurricanes managed to jump out in front of this one as Trocheck continued to fail to miss a beat in his second game back from an eight-game absence. The Canes’ second-line center took a cross-ice pass from Dougie Hamilton and sniped a shot bar down to make it 1-0.

It’s not a technical “point streak” with the games missed, but Trocheck has now recorded at least a point in each of his last eight games played, with five goals and 10 points in that span.

Carolina once again carried play in the opening frame, outshooting Chicago 13-3, but, unlike Tuesday, made good on it by taking a lead to the locker room this time.

There was a dicey moment early in the second as Reimer was caught out of the crease, but Jake Bean made a goal-saving block to keep the Canes in front.

The Canes doubled their lead with a fortuitous bounce, as Fogele, celebrating his birthday, attempted to throw a puck to Nino Niederreiter in front that deflected off Duncan Keith and in to give Foegele his seventh of the year and the Hurricanes a 2-0 lead.

Chicago got one back late in the second period, as Dominik Kubalik, despite Jaccob Slavin having pretty good position on him, found a way to beat Reimer stick side with a bouncing puck that deflected off Slavin’s stick and in.