RECAP: Blackhawks Drop High-Scoring Tilt in Carolina, 6-3

The Blackhawks scored first and last and held two leads on the night, but a stretch of five straight goals in the middle of it all from the Hurricanes was the difference in a 6-3 defeat against Carolina on Friday.
Brandon Hagel and Adam Gaudette scored their first goals of the season in the first period and Alex DeBrincat took the team lead with his fourth on the year late in the loss. Kevin Lankinen made stops in his second straight start.

POSTGAME LINKS
GAMECENTER: CHI at CAR
HIGHLIGHTS: Blackhawks at Hurricanes
GALLERY: Blackhawks at Hurricanes
STAT OF THE NIGHT: For the second straight game, a Blackhawks defenseman notched a multi-assist night as Erik Gustafsson added helpers on the Hagel and Gaudette tallies.
UP NEXT: The Blackhawks head to St. Louis to face the Blues on Saturday night in the second back-to-back of the season (7 p.m. - NBCSCH).

GAME RECAP

CHI: 1, CAR: 0

1st - 6:12 - Brandon Hagel (Jonathan Toews, Erik Gustafsson)

For the second straight game, the Blackhawks opened the scoring about six minutes in Brandon Hagel notched his first of the season. Jonathan Toews muscled his way around the back of the net with a Hurricanes defenseman on him before sliding a backhand pass to Hagel in the slot for a quick one-time bid and a 1-0 lead.

CHI: 1. CAR: 1

1st - 7:10 - Tony DeAngelo (Vincent Trocheck)

The opening lead was short-lived as the Hurricanes took a missed Chicago shot at one end the other way with pace. Vincent Trocheck brought the puck through all three zones before sliding a pass cross-ice to Tony DeAngelo, who found the net before Kevin Lankinen could get across to the opposite post.

CHI: 2, CAR: 1

1st - 10:21 - Adam Gaudette (Philipp Kurashev, Erik Gustafsson) - PP

The Blackhawks got on the board again three minutes later while on the man advantage as Adam Gaudette found his first of the season with a slick backhander. Philipp Kurashev hit the winger in the high slot and Gaudette put a quick chance low just inside the post for a 2-1 score.

CHI: 2, CAR: 2

1st - 13:09 - Jordan Staal (Ethan Beer, Jaccob Slavin)

Carolina once again tied the game shortly after a power play of their own. Jaccob Slavin's shot from the point was partially blocked in the high slot, but bounced right to the stick of Ethan Bear who quickly found Jordan Staal at the back post for the score.

CHI: 2, CAR: 3

1st - 13:26 - Derek Stepan (Jesper Fast)

The Hurricanes took their first lead 17 seconds later off when Jesper Fast denied a Blackhawks clearing attempt from their own end. He found Derek Stepan in the corner, who walked out with space and tucked a low-angle chance past Kevin Lankinen for the 3-2 lead.

CHI: 2, CAR: 4

1st - 18:40 - Jesperi Kotkaniemi (Sebastian Aho, Ian Cole)

A wild first period had one more goal in it as Jesperi Kotkaniemi scored his second of the season in the final minutes. Off a Chicago neutral-zone turnover, Sebastian Aho and Kotkaniemi went the opposite direction in a 2-on-1, the former feeding the latter with a saucer pass for a 4-2 score.

CHI: 2, CAR: 5

2nd - 3:43 - Sebastian Aho (Tony DeAngelo, Teuvo Teravainen) - PP

Early in the second, Carolina pushed the lead to 5-2 as Sebastian Aho walked through the faceoff circle and attempted a cross-ice backhand pass that deflected off Brandon Hagel's skate and right back into the path of Aho in tight. The forward quickly put a shot to the short side and past Kevin Lankinen, who had pulled off the post to follow the initial pass.

CHI: 2, CAR: 6

2nd - 6:16 - Andrei Svechnikov (Tony DeAngelo, Vincent Trocheck)

Another bad bounce made it a 6-2 game for the home team before the game's midpoint. Andrei Svechnikov got along the goal line in the corner and went to make a cross-ice pass that bounced off the leg of Jake McCabe in the slot and past Kevin Lankinen into the net.

CHI: 3, CAR: 6

3rd - 8:08 - Alex DeBrincat (Seth Jones, Dominik Kubalik) - PP

Alex DeBrincat got Chicago on the board again late in the game with his team-leading fourth of the year. The winger picked up the puck at the top of the circles in his own zone on a breakout and went the length of the ice before splitting a pair of defensemen and putting a wrister into the back of the net for a 6-3 score.