Recap: Canes Blank Red Wings to Open the Season

DETROIT - On March 10, 2020, the Carolina Hurricanes faced off with the Detroit Red Wings in their 68th game of the 2019-20 regular season. It turned out to be their last when the NHL paused the season only days later.
Fast forward 310 days, and the Canes were back in Detroit to drop the puck on the 56-game 2020-21 season with a pair of games against the Red Wings.
Backed by 14 saves from Petr Mrazek, the Canes scored a 3-0 win in their first game.

HIGHLIGHTS | PHOTO GALLERY | STATISTICS

The Difference

Mrazek didn't see a lot of shots - five in the first period, six in the second and just three in the third - but he stopped every puck that hit him, making 14 saves in a shutout performance against his former team. It was the third opening night shutout in franchise history and first since Sean Burke did so for Hartford in October 1996.
"Not a lot of action, but they were in our zone for a while," Mrazek said. "Our D did a great job. They blocked a lot of shots tonight, so I can thank them for that."

Key Moments

Niederreiter & Dzingel Find the Net
Nino Niederreiter scored 11 goals last season, and Ryan Dzingel netted eight. Both knew they had more to give coming into this season.
It had to feel good, then, to see each of them find the back of the net in the very first game.
"They expected more, and we did too. They're better players than they did numbers-wise and everything last year," head coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "For those guys to just break the ice early is huge and big for our team."
Nino Niederreiter scored the Canes' first goal of the season at 3:38 of the first period. With Filip Hronek draped on him, Sebastian Aho protected the puck and dished a backhand pass through the Red Wings' defense. Niederreiter made a move to get Thomas Greiss to bite and then buried his shot.

Dzingel stretched the Canes' lead to 2-0 in the third period when he redirected a Jake Gardiner point shot for a power-play tally.

Hamilton Drops the Gloves
Dougie Hamilton … fighting major? Believe it or not, it happened on Thursday night.
Sam Gagner caught Jordan Staal from behind in front of the Canes bench, sending the captain awkwardly into the boards. Hamilton took exception, dropped the gloves and entangled with Gagner while his teammates looked on, smiling, on the bench.

"I think it was a good fight. I'm happy for him," Mrazek smiled. "He did well."
Perhaps not smiling was his head coach.
"That was surprising," Brind'Amour said. "I don't like seeing that, to be quite honest, but I like that he stepped up for his teammate."
It was just the second fight in Hamilton's 553-game NHL career, his last one coming nearly six years ago against Gabriel Landeskog on Jan. 21, 2015.
Finding a Way
The Canes played just 36 games in the 2020 calendar year, so forgive the fact that the first game of 2021 was sloppy and scrambly at times. That's to be expected and is something that may seep into games around the league for the first week or so of the season.
The good news? The Canes still got the win. They out-shot the Red Wings by an incredible 43-14 margin. They scored a power-play goal. Their defense locked it down when they needed to. And, when called upon, Mrazek was unbreakable.
"It proves a lot for our team," Niederreiter said. "We all know as a group we have a lot better, and we know what we have to do to be better. It's the first game of the season, so it was a good win."
"You're always going to be nitpicking, but that's definitely not how it should look," Brind'Amour said. "Game one after a long layoff, I'm not too upset about it. The effort was really good, and that's the key."

Stats Pack

1: Goals for Niederreiter, Dzingel and Andrei Svechnikov this season
1: Shutouts for Mrazek this season
1: Assists for Aho, Gardiner, Martin Necas and Teuvo Teravainen this season
1: Fights for Hamilton since Jan. 2015
1: Wins for the Canes this season

Quote of the Night

"Petr, whenever we needed a save, it felt like he was going to make it." - Rod Brind'Amour

Up Next

The Canes and Red Wings rematch on Saturday night with a 7 p.m. puck drop at Little Caesars Arena.