Nikolaj Ehlers scored a tiebreaking goal in the first minute of the second period to cap a dizzying stretch and the Carolina Hurricanes held on to defeat the Minnesota Wild 4-3 on Thursday night in Raleigh, N.C.
Jackson Blake and Sean Walker both had a goal and an assist and Andrei Svechnikov also scored for the Hurricanes, whose rotations took a hit when defenseman Jalen Chatfield left in the first period with an upper-body injury.
Carolina goalie Frederik Andersen, who allowed three goals in the first four Wild shots, finished with 19 saves.
Matt Boldy scored twice and Brock Faber had the other goal for the Wild, who were trying to build on their first two-game winning streak of the season.
Filip Gustavsson stopped 23 shots.
Boldy’s second goal came on a power play 37 seconds into the second period to knot the score at 3-3. Nine seconds later, the Hurricanes were back ahead on Ehlers’ goal. Ehlers has scored in back-to-back games after failing to find the net in Carolina’s first 11 games.
Less than 21 minutes into the game, the teams had combined for seven goals on 12 shots.
It was a milestone game for Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal, who played in his 910th contest with Carolina — the most of any Hurricane, and one more than his brother Eric Staal.
Boldy, skating in his 300th NHL game, knocked in a loose puck near the net 5:34 into the game shortly after Minnesota’s first power play expired. With the goal, Boldy tied Mats Zuccarello for the second-most points (258) through 300 games in a Wild uniform.
Minnesota center Tyler Pitlick was issued a match penalty for a check to Chatfield’s head with 8:14 left in the first period. For starting the ensuing fight, Staal was sent off for an instigator penalty and received a 10-minute misconduct. Chatfield didn’t return.
Blake scored on the 4-for-4 that followed and, 31 seconds later, Faber converted in a similar situation.
The Wild scored on their only two shots on goal across the first 17 minutes. The teams combined for five goals on 10 first-period shots.
The Hurricanes had defenseman K’Andre Miller back into the lineup following a six-game injury absence. He had an assist in 23:13 of ice time.
–Field Level Media
