Recap: Hurricanes Fall Short in Anaheim

ANAHEIM - The first win of this six-game road trip continues to elude the Carolina Hurricanes, who fell 3-2 to the Anaheim Ducks.
Justin Williams got the Canes on the board early in the first period and Victor Rask cut the deficit to a goal late in the third, but Logan Shaw's tally was the difference.
Here are five takeaways from the Canes final game in California this season.

One
After Logan Shaw scored early in the third period to stretch the Ducks' lead to 3-1, the Hurricanes made a push and showed that fight and desperation we've seen at times on this road trip.
But for much of the period, it was the John Gibson show. Teuvo Teravainen had a glorious scoring opportunity on a rebound, but Gibson made an even better left skate save. Shortly after, Gibson slid across the crease to get a piece of Elias Lindholm's shot with his glove hand. Then, with seconds remaining on a Canes' power play, Lindholm nearly tapped in a rebound to make it a one-goal game, but Gibson desperately dove across to slide the puck out of the crease with his glove.
"Gibson played great. He made a ton of huge saves for them," Justin Faulk said. "We just weren't able to get enough past him. It's tough. Scoring two, it's tough to win that way. We thought we had our chances, but he played well."
Rask scored his third goal in as many games to make it a one-goal game with 2:40 left in regulation, but that's as close as the Canes would come.

"In the third when we pushed I thought we had some real good looks," head coach Bill Peters said. "Just some desperation. I think the D-men did a better job getting involved in the rush, and we threw more pucks to the net. The ice wasn't very good, so the net has to be the final destination for the puck. Get some rebounds and some grease."
Two
Rask is in the midst of a fine stretch of hockey after returning from being a healthy scratch for two games. He's physical, he's engaged and he's making an impact on the scoresheet, which is exactly what the Hurricanes' need from their young center.
"It sucks to be on the side. You never want to be out," Rask said. "I think me and Bill Burniston did a good job off the ice getting more work in."
"He's been more involved in the game. Guys who are having success are in the heart and guts of the game. They're where you have to be. They're playing in the high-traffic areas," Peters said. "How far from the net was Victor when he scored? That's where you've got to go to score."
Three
Williams opened the scoring just 1:37 into the game, as he redirected a Trevor van Riemsdyk point shot from the slot.

The Ducks tied it up about four minutes later when Shaw's shot slid through Scott Darling and Derek Grant reached to poke the puck into the net.
"It was nice to get the first goal. I made a mistake on their first one and let them get some life. I can't be making those. When we're on the road and get up one, we've got to try to take advantage of that and get on a team," Faulk said. "I can't make that mistake to let them get some life and get back into it."
"I thought it was very tight in the first period. I thought we played well," Peters said. "I don't think we gave up much at all in the first."
Four
The second period wasn't all that bad for the Hurricanes, who haven't fared well in the middle frame as of late. The Canes killed off both penalties assessed against them, and the team's leading goal scorer, Jeff Skinner, was dangerous with two quality scoring opportunities.
But then the period turned in an unfortunately familiar fashion. Haydn Fleury was backtracking with the puck through the neutral zone when someone appeared to use the Force and upend him. Jakob Silfverberg was there to collect the goods and put a perfectly placed shot in the top corner of the net to give the Ducks a 2-1 lead with just 35 seconds left to play in the period.

"Mistakes happen in this game. It's a game of mistakes," Faulk said. "It's tough when we're in a little bit of a tough stretch right now, and every mistake weighs on you a little bit more."
"Tough break on their second one, obviously," Peters said. "[Mistakes] are magnified when you're struggling to score. … It's tough. It was a tough one."
The Canes have now been outscored 15-3 in their last nine second periods and 30-19 on the season, a notable statistic considering the team sports practically even or positive goal differentials in the first and third periods.
Five
Through four games on this road trip, the Canes are 0-2-2 and have collected just two of a possible eight points. It's an ill-timed slide that the team needs a find a way to slow before it becomes too late.
"We've got to start winning games here," Rask said. "We've been playing good. We've just got to get that next step. This is a stretch where we've got to win games."
"We've just got to work. Every game we have to keep working. If there was a key point that we could say is the reason why this is happening, we'd be trying to get on top of it and fix it right away," Faulk said. "We're just trying to work. We have to work for 60 minutes every game, whether we're in a little bit of a slide or not. We've just got to bear down and fight. It might take a couple greasy goals or a greasy win to get us going and get us on the right track. We'll take it any way we can."
Up Next
It's off to Vegas for the Hurricanes, who square off with the Golden Knights on Tuesday for the first time ever.
"I've heard good things about the atmosphere and arena," Peters said. "I look forward to getting the opportunity to bounce back and get two points tomorrow."
"It's another opportunity for us to get this thing going on the right track, put in a 60-minute effort, compete and try to get the win," Faulk said.