Recap: Hurricanes Race Past Canucks

Propelled by a three-goal first period, the Carolina Hurricanes topped the Vancouver Canucks, 4-1, on Friday night at PNC Arena.
Brett Pesce, Phil Di Giuseppe and Sebastian Aho netted goals in the Canes' prolific opening frame, and Justin Williams scored in the third period to stretch the lead. Scott Darling made 21 saves to earn his first victory in nearly a month.
Here are five takeaways from You Can Play Night.

One
Against a team that was in action last night, the Hurricanes knew their start was important: jump on the opponent early and bury them.
So, they did just that and took a 3-0 lead into the first intermission.
"It's very important," Williams said. "You've got to try to jump on teams. You could tell they kind of got their legs under them in the second period, and then we kind of shut it down."
"Our starts have to be better, no matter if we're playing a team on a back-to-back or straight up," head coach Bill Peters said. "Colorado has us tomorrow, but our starts have to be better in every situation. I think they will be. I think the guys understand the importance of getting off to a good start and playing with the lead."
Two
Just 14 seconds into the game, Pesce grabbed a puck in transition and fired home his second goal in a week. The quick strike set the franchise record for the earliest goal scored by a defenseman, besting Justin Faulk's previous mark of 23 seconds set in 2013. The goal was also just five seconds shy of the franchise record for fastest goal to begin a game, held by Shane Willis (nine seconds, set on Nov. 12, 2000).

"A real good start, obviously," Peters said. "Lost the draw but executed defensively which led to the transition opportunity."
"You can't ask for a better start than that, less than 20 seconds in scoring a goal, getting on the board and getting going," Williams said. "We had lost three in a row, so we need to get traction somewhere. That was a good start."
"For the guys, it's a good way to start the game," Darling said. "Get some momentum going and get a little excitement on the bench. It's a great way to start the game."
Three
It's been a long time coming for Di Giuseppe, who was without a goal through 21 games this season. (His shootout-winning goal in Vegas, while nice and celebrated with much-appreciated passion, does not count toward his regular-season statistics.) With just over five minutes left in the first period, Di Giuseppe whacked in a loose puck alongside the net to give the Hurricanes a 2-0 lead. He was then mobbed by his elated teammates who I'm sure had said nothing about his goose egg in the goal column.

"It's a tight-knit group in there, obviously, and they're real happy for him," Peters said.
In the final minute of the first period, Jaccob Slavin tossed the puck down the ice to Aho, who slipped through the Canucks' defenders and skated in alone. Pushing the puck to his backhand, Aho opened up Jacob Markstrom's five-hole and slid the puck through for his team-leading 20th goal of the season.

For a team that had scored just three goals combined in its previous three games, a trio of goals in the first period was a welcomed sequence of events. Not only did it give the Hurricanes a 3-0 lead heading into the locker room against a team that was bested 5-2 the night prior, but they also scored all three goals at even strength.
"We're more worried about the process and how we play," Williams said. "We know all the good things after that fall. We did well tonight."
Four
In the third period, the Canes stretched their lead to three goals again when Jeff Skinner forced a turnover in the neutral zone and left the puck for Williams, who walked in and scored.

"Jeff does what he does. He creates turnovers," Williams said. "I just called for the puck and shot it."
"It's nice when you score four. If you lose the game when you score four, we're doing something wrong," Darling said. "We played a great game tonight defensively and offensively. The guys were great."
Five
Darling earned his first win since Jan. 11 by making 21 saves on 22 shots tonight.
"I've just been working hard in practice the last couple of weeks, biding my time and making sure I was as ready to go as I could possibly be for this one," Darling said. "I felt really good tonight."
"He was really good. I thought he made some big saves, especially when it was 3-1," Peters said. "He handled the puck real well and did a good job." "It's the best we've played in front of him in some time, and that goes hand-in-hand."
Darling didn't have to face a whole lot of quantity or quality - a credit to the group of five in front of him - but when he was needed, he responded. His only blemish was a shot off the stick of Michael Del Zotto that ricocheted off two Hurricanes' legs before finding the back of the net. Darling had an active defense in front of him that pounced on rebounds, cleared out the garbage and moved the puck up the ice efficiently.
"Rebounds, helping me out. Boxing out," Darling said of his defenders. "Dahly, someone's whacking me and Dahly drops the gloves with him. That's a great teammate right there."
Up Next
The Hurricanes host the Colorado Avalanche in a later-than-usual 8 p.m. start on Saturday at PNC Arena.
"The game means nothing tonight if you don't win tomorrow," Williams said. "You've got to follow up stuff, and we need to string some wins together."
"Every game is huge," Darling said. "The standings are so tight that you can't give any points right now. Two were huge tonight."