Recap: Red Wings Spoil Robidas' Debut

DETROIT - The Carolina Hurricanes started slow and were unable to recover on Friday, falling to the Detroit Red Wings by a score of 5-3 at Little Caesars Arena.

GAME SUMMARY | BOX SCORE | UPCOMING HOME GAMES

Going into battle once again without Captain Jordan Staal (lower-body injury) and Andrei Svechnikov (undisclosed injury), the Canes fell behind the eight ball early when Detroit struck for two goals in 26 seconds during the first period.

Although they were able to get on the board to start the second via Jackson Blake's fourth goal in four games, another set of quick strikes from the Wings extended their lead to three.

Carolina countered with an Eric Robinson tip-in to close the middle stanza, and a seeing-eye shot from Brent Burns made things interesting in the back half of the third period, but ultimately, the early hole proved to be too much to crawl out of.

An Alex DeBrincat empty-net goal in the final second of the contest closed the scoring, putting Pyotr Kochetkov (four goals allowed on 20 shots) in the loss column for the third time in his last four outings.

Stats & Standouts

• Justin Robidas made his NHL debut in Detroit on Friday, skating 8:14, going 4-for-7 in the faceoff dot and recording his first NHL point with an assist on Eric Robinson's second-period tally.
• Robidas joins Jackson Blake and Scott Morrow as the third member of the Canes' 2021 NHL Draft class to suit up for the team and the fifth player selected by any club in the fifth round or later of that draft to appear in an NHL game.
• Jackson Blake scored for the second straight game to notch his fourth goal in his last four outings. The 21-year-old now ranks T-5th in rookie goal-scoring with 15 on the year.
• After sitting out the last five games, Scott Morrow drew back into the lineup tonight. Dmitry Orlov served as the extra to make room.
• With two helpers tonight, Jaccob Slavin hit the 20-assist mark for the fourth consecutive season and the eighth time in 10 seasons.

They Said It...

Rod Brind'Amour offering his thoughts on the loss...

"The first period, we weren't really engaged enough. We gave them two goals - I don't know if we 'gave' them, but we got behind, and then we dug in and played a great game after that. But unfortunately, we gave them two, and then the other two were turnovers where we had full possession of the puck that led to one breakaway and then a guy all alone in front. Just kind of sloppy decisions, other than that, the game was pretty solid."

Rod Brind'Amour on Justin Robidas' performance in his debut...

"[He] did a great job. Obviously, on (Robinson's goal), he just worked and worked and worked and got us a goal. Won us some faceoffs (too), he was good."

Rod Brind'Amour on if Jackson Blake's game has changed at all to lead to more goals...

"He's not doing anything differently, he's been playing well all year. Playing him with Fishy and Jarvs, I think that's helping him obviously, but he's really, in my opinion, been maybe even the best one out there on that line. He's driven it. As long as he - we've talked about it - continues to work and continues to get better, it's a real big bonus for us."

Justin Robidas on how he felt ahead of his debut...

"I was pretty nervous for sure. Didn't really nap this afternoon. Just tried to enjoy it as much as I could and had fun with it."

Justin Robidas on making the jump from the AHL to the NHL...

"It's, for sure, a lot faster. You can't really make mistakes out there, it'll cost you. Very quick, very high-pace, and I'd say it's less sloppy, for sure. You have to be sharp every shift, so it was definitely a good learning experience for me."

What's Next?

The Canes will fly to Boston post-game, before completing their back-to-back against the Bruins on Saturday.

Next Game: Saturday, April 5 at Boston | 7:00 p.m.

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