Recap: Canes Pick Up Point, Fall In Shootout

RALEIGH, N.C - The Carolina Hurricanes forced overtime after trailing three separate times, but the Chicago Blackhawks took the extra point with a 4-3 shootout victory at Lenovo Center on Thursday.

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The back-and-forth began just past the midway point of the first period, when Ilya Mikheyev cashed in on his own rebound to put the Hawks ahead while shorthanded. Undeterred after what had been a solid start, the Canes responded 98 seconds later through Joel Nystrom's first NHL goal, with the rookie wiring a wrister through traffic from the left circle after being set up by Jesperi Kotkaniemi.

A similar story ensued in the second stanza; Chicago regained its lead on a Nick Lardis goal at 4:35, but once again, Carolina bounced back with an equalizer in short order. This time, it was Jordan Staal coming through for his club, calling his own number on a 2-on-1 and picking the short-side corner on Spencer Knight to send the teams to the third tied at two apiece.

Trading tallies once again during the back half of the final frame, Chicago's third lead of the night lasted just 42 seconds, as Jackson Blake cancelled out Connor Murphy's go-ahead goal with a tap-in of Logan Stankoven's wraparound bid.

Neither side found the decisive goal in overtime, despite a smattering of chances both ways. The stalemate rolled into the shootout as well, with Andrei Svechnikov and Connor Bedard netting the only goals of the first five rounds. Closing out the sixth after Carolina failed to further dent Knight, Chicago rookie Oliver Moore slotted the game-winner to cap off the breakaway battle.

Frederik Andersen turned in a steady showing in the Carolina cage, stopping 19 of 22 shots and going 4-for-6 in the shootout.

Stats & Standouts

• Defenseman Joel Nystrom became the third Canes defenseman to score his first NHL goal this season, which is the most among all teams. Joining Alexander Nikishin and Charles Alexis Legault in that category, Nystrom is now up to nine points (1G, 8A) in 36 career games.
• Forward Jackson Blake lit the lamp for the second time in his last three games. Now with 16 tallies in 51 games this season, the 22-year-old needs just one more goal to match last year's total of 17 in 80 contests.
• Defenseman Alexander Nikishin recorded the first fighting major of his NHL career and is the fifth Hurricane to post one this season.
• The loss ends Carolina's winning streak at three games, but extends its point streak to four (3-0-1).

They Said It...

Jordan Staal offering his thoughts on the contest...

"I thought 5-on-5, it was a good game. There were opportunities to score goals, there was some pretty good defending and, for the most part, I think it was pretty even. The score showed that, and shootouts are shootouts."

Rod Brind'Amour on how he weighs positives and negatives from the game...

"If you win the game or lose it, you're going to find positives and negatives. Obviously, you work with both. There were some good things in that game, not a lot, but I like the pushback. Getting right back to it, get a goal to tie it up a couple of times, okay, that's great, but why did we get down? It wasn't a great game by us, top guys [were] 'ehh,' kind of non-factors. That's more probably on the power play stuff. When they're out there, we've got to make it count."

Jordan Staal on the power play going 0-for-5 and conceding a shorthanded goal...

"[The power play] wasn't great tonight. Obviously, it's a good penalty kill, for one. I think they're one of the top [units] in the league. We weren't very sharp; we were trying to make plays that we probably weren't supposed to be doing. A couple off-cue passes and a little bouncing pucks, and next thing you know, they've killed all of them. That definitely hurt us tonight."

Rod Brind'Amour on his team's response throughout the game...

"We get down, and we just kept playing. Good play by Stanks there to get us right back in the game and get us a point. We had our opportunity, and obviously, shootouts, whatever. You get to that point, it is what is..."

Joel Nystrom on scoring his first NHL goal...

"Of course, I'm happy to get my first goal. I've been waiting for it. It was a great pass from KK, and I had a lot of space there, so I just tried to shoot it and I'm happy to see it went in."

What's Next After This Game?

• The Canes are scheduled to practice on Friday before flying to Ottawa for Saturday's matchup against the Senators.
• Next Game: Saturday, January 24 at Ottawa | 7:00 p.m. ET | FDSNSO
• Next Home Game: Thursday, January 29 vs. Utah | 7:00 p.m. ET | FDSNSO | Whalers Night | Tickets | Parking