Recap: Hurricanes Top Blackhawks, 3-2

CHICAGO - Sebastian Aho scored a power-play goal in the third period to help the Carolina Hurricanes defeat the Chicago Blackhawks, 3-2.
Jaccob Slavin and Justin Williams also lit the lamp for the Hurricanes, and Scott Darling made 22 saves in his return to Chicago.
Here are five takeaways from tonight's tilt in the Windy City.

One
Darling had this one circled on his calendar for some time.
For the first time since being traded and then signing a multi-year deal with the Hurricanes over the summer, Darling made his return to his hometown to face his former club.
With 22 saves on 24 shots, he delivered the goods for the Hurricanes, especially down the stretch of the game.
"Any win right now is good. I feel like I've been playing well but I haven't been getting the results. Tonight was a good time to get it," Darling said. "I was happy to be back here and see everybody. It was a fun night."
Darling and Trevor van Riemsdyk were honored during the first media timeout with a video board tribute, and the fans gave the pair a hearty welcome.
"I only caught the end of it. It was cool," Darling said. "I didn't really know it was going on at first. It was pretty early in the game and I just got scored on, so I was kind of focused on that. … It was a nice warm reception. It was a really great night."
Two
Darling's best saves were made down the stretch of the contest. He made a desperation save with his right pad and stick on David Kampf late in the second period to maintain the 2-2 score. Then, with the Hurricanes leading 3-2 in the final minutes of the game, he used his big body to swallow a tip chance off the stick of Anthony Duclair.

"I thought he did a great job shutting the door," Peters said.
"I was excited to be here," Darling said. "I'm really happy with the way the night ended."
Darling was, of course, rewarded with the postgame honor, passed to him from another former Blackhawk, Teuvo Teravainen.
Three
As is the case on most nights in this league, net-front presence was a theme on a number of the goals scored tonight - none bigger for the Hurricanes than Aho's power-play tally in the third period. Teravainen settled the puck at the point and let a shot go, and both Jordan Staal and Aho were parked at the top of the blue paint. It was Aho who got a stick on the shot for his team-leading 24th goal of the season that gave the Hurricanes their first lead of the game.

"Turbo was shooting. I saw the puck and tried to get a piece of it and tip it," Aho said.
Teravainen's primary assist on the goal was his 34th of the season, which paces the team along with his 53 points.
"All the goalies here now as soon as they see the puck they're going to make the save," Lindholm said. "Having someone in front is a big key for us, and I think we can do a better job with it."
Four
Elias Lindholm might have been the Hurricanes' best player on the ice tonight. He logged two assists and was a plus-2, and he nearly scored in the first two minutes of the game, as his shot rang the post.
His first assist was a beauty, a heads up play from his own end to look up and find Williams exiting the penalty box and streaking through the neutral zone. Lindholm put the pass right on Williams' tape, and he finished. That goal - No. 14's 14th of the season - tied the game at two just 66 seconds into the second period.

"I saw Willy up there. I can't remember if he yelled. Probably. He screams a lot out there," Lindholm said with a smile. "It was a nice finish by him."
Lindholm tallied a secondary assist on Aho's power-play goal in the third period, and though he didn't receive recognition on the scoresheet, he was instrumental in the Canes' first goal, as well. Along with Brett Pesce, Lindholm provided net-front presence in front of J-F Berube when Jaccob Slavin's point bomb took a bounce off a Chicago defender and in.

"I could have probably had way more, but as long as we win, it doesn't matter to me," Lindholm said.
"I thought he was the best player in the game. That line was dominant," Peters said of the McGinn-Lindholm-Williams trio. "I kept getting them out there as much as I could."
Five
It's become an unfortunately familiar refrain for the Hurricanes that they outplay opponents but don't see that effort reflected on the scoreboard. Such was again the case in the first period, where the Hurricanes were the better team for much of the initial 20 minutes but still found themselves in a 2-1 deficit.
The Canes could have let that seep in and eat away at their confidence, but they stuck with the game plan, built a game and came away with two points.
"I thought we played a good 60 minutes here. A lot of shots and a lot of chances," Lindholm said. "It was a big win for us, and we needed it."
"It was a good way to build a game," Aho said. "We just stuck with the plan and found a way to win."
"It was good. I thought the guys had some good resilience to them, but I thought we played well," Peters said. "I thought we played well in the first period and deserved a better fate and had a real good second period. The third period was a good push by them but we had the power-play goal that was the difference."
Up Next
The Hurricanes will head home for a few days before facing off with the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Monday.