Recap: Svechnikov, Canes Top Wild in Overtime

ST. PAUL - Andrei Svechnikov scored his ninth goal of the season to lift the Carolina Hurricanes to their second straight overtime win, a 4-3 victory over the Minnesota Wild.
Joel Edmundson, Brock McGinn and Warren Foegele tallied in regulation for the Canes, who have now won three consecutive games.
Here are five takeaways from Saturday afternoon in Minnesota.

1. Finding a Way
The Hurricanes didn't have their best on Saturday afternoon, but they still leave Minnesota with two points, and in the end, that's what's most important.
"The positive is we found a way to win a game we weren't very good in," head coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "This game wasn't our best, but I loved the fact that we got together. The third was a good period, and obviously in overtime we did some good things. We'll take the win and move on."
"Over the last couple of games we've showed no quit," McGinn said. "We had a little bit of a lull there in the second period where they came back. It was just a good job going out there in the third, playing the right way and coming out with the win."
Leave it to Andrei Svechnikov, who is having a phenomenal start to his sophomore season, to be the difference-maker in overtime. Dougie Hamilton hit Svechnikov with a cross-ice pass in the neutral zone. Svechnikov settled the puck down and scorched a wrist shot - that dangerous, lethal shot we've seen from the opposite ice on the power play so many times before this season - that beat Devan Dubnyk.

"I tried to close my eyes and shoot it into the net," Svechnikov smiled.

2. Marty Party
The Hurricanes were missing Jordan Martinook's energy, both on and off the ice.
"I'm diving right in," he said
after practice on Friday
. "I'm going to go out and just play the way I play."
Martinook's energy was infectious before the game, as he was both animated and vocal in the two-touch soccer circle. Even above the din of the electronica blaring behind the closed doors of the locker room, you could hear the hooting and hollering continue as the team prepared for warm-ups. As the Canes lined up to head out to the ice, Martinook's customary "Yeah, Svech!" made its return. Hype: engaged.
"He's a character, to say the least. He makes everybody in the room comfortable and brings that energy," McGinn said. "Just having that vocal personality on the bench helps everybody stay calm and focused and brings a lot of life to the room."
"He's a character in the dressing room. He's always keeping it light with the guys, and he brings a lot of energy to our team," Edmundson said. "It's a great guy to have back in the lineup."
And perhaps it was that energy that provided the spark the Canes were looking for in the first period, as Edmundson and McGinn helped build a 2-0 lead in the opening frame.

As for Martinook, he provided that "pace and chaos," as Brind'Amour said he would. He finished the night with an assist, a shot on goal and a hit in 10:56 of ice time.
3. Edmundson Piling Up Points
After not factoring in on the scoresheet in the first 17 games of the season, Joel Edmundson has put together quite a week of hockey.
The secret?
"Switched from CCM to Bauer," Edmundson said. "It's the lightest stick I've ever used, and I guess it's bringing me good luck."
Not an ad. At least, not yet.
"They better pay me," he joked.
With his goal in the first period - a blast of a slap shot that he unloaded from the left point - he extended his point streak to three games (2g, 3a).

"I've had some luck," Edmundson said. "I think as a unit on the back-end, we're doing a good job of getting pucks through."
"He's heating up," McGinn said. "I think a couple of us might have to start using that stick. He's been playing good. He's definitely shooting the puck hard."
4. A Bright Spot in a Sleepy Second
Big Marty Energy might have had the team fired up for the first period, but a sleepy - or, as Brind'Amour called it, "terrible" - second period followed and allowed the Wild to get right back in the game.
The Hurricanes took a penalty early in the second period, and though they killed it off, Luke Kunin roofed a pass from Jonas Brodin to get the Wild on the board just about 30 seconds later.
The Canes were held without a shot in the period until the 8:50 mark, when Warren Foegele restored his team's two-goal lead for the time being.
Jordan Staal did the heavy lifting, rumbling into the zone with the puck and taking it deep below the goal line, where Ryan Dzingel then spun with the puck and fed Foegele in the slot. Foegele's shot bounced off the defending stick of Ryan Sutuer and into the top corner of the net.

That will wake the team up, right?
Maybe not so much.
The Wild pulled back within a goal with a shorthanded tally when Zach Parise tapped in his own rebound, not the Canes' finest defensive sequence. Just 81 seconds later, Carson Soucy wired in his first career goal to even the score at three.
"Give them credit. They got to their game a little bit, but we were just nonexistent as a group," Brind'Amour said. "We got a little bit fortunate there, but I love the fact that we put that behind us, came out and played a good third period and got a win."
That short-term memory, that ability to park a bad 20 minutes in the intermission is a sign of fortitude for these Canes.
"We're on the road, and it's a tie game. 20 minutes, and you win a hockey game," Edmundson said of the team's mindset after the second period. "We just stayed positive. We knew if we played the way we could … we'd set ourselves up good."
5. Niederreiter Returns to Minnesota
Nino Niederreiter made his long-awaited return to Minnesota, and during the first media timeout in the first period, a video tribute played on the video board. The crowd responded with warm cheers, Niederreiter standing to acknowledge the Minnesota-nice reception.

"The video tribute was very emotional and special. It was great to see," he said. "I pretty much know all the guys there. I made a lot of great friends during that time. The fans were terrific. It was definitely special."
The fans probably wouldn't have responded as warmly had Niederreiter scored his 65th goal at Xcel Energy Center. That will have to wait another year, at least, but the former Wild forward did record a secondary assist to notch his first point against his former team.
And, in the end, two points for his new team.
"The win was definitely huge," he said. "It was definitely very emotional and special. Very happy to get the win."
Up Next
The Hurricanes conclude their three-game road trip in Chicago on Tuesday.