Recap: Shorthanded Canes Roster Battles Past Detroit

RALEIGH, NC. - Despite dressing two skaters short of a full NHL lineup Thursday, the Carolina Hurricanes pulled out a 5-3 victory over the Detroit Red Wings.

Entering the contest after receiving notice of six positive COVID-19 tests by players in the previous three days, the team began the day by recalling three skaters from their American Hockey League affiliate in Chicago.
Andrew Poturalski, Stefan Noesen and Jack Drury gave the Canes ten forwards for the contest, etching the season debut for the first two and the first NHL contest for the 21-year-old Drury.
The club came out of the gate with zest, striking on their first power play of the night courtesy of Nino Niederreiter. Just 2:05 in Niederreiter put back a Poturalski shot from the circle, marking the first NHL point for the American Hockey League's leading scorer.
It was the first goal in what would become a back-and-forth affair, as Detroit struck just seconds after their first man advantage of the night came to a conclusion, beating Frederik Andersen in his 20th start of the season.
Sam Gagner's tally was responded to by Carolina defenseman Tony DeAngelo, who was playing in his first game since Sunday, November 28. Finally rejoining the team after his own stint on the COVID-19 Protocol list, a few successful board battles led to a shot from the point by Jesperi Kotkaniemi that was initially tipped wide but forced home by the right-handed #77 for his fifth of the year.

Still in the first and 6:18 later, Detroit captain Dylan Larkin was able to sneak behind the Canes and convert on a breakaway, then setting the score at 2-2.
The final goal of the first belonged to the Canes though, allowing them to head into the middle 20 with a lead once again. This tally was a little different from the first two though, as Drury, in his first period as an NHL-er was able to also double his evening of history, notching his first NHL goal. Setup in exemplary fashion by Kotkaniemi for his second point of the night, it was a second effort from the Harvard product that beat Alex Nedjelkevic in his return to Raleigh.

Maintaining their advantage into the middle frame, the lone goal of the portion belonged to Detroit, with Tyler Bertuzzi beating Andersen on a wraparound try. Initially on the ice it looked as if the Canes netminder had kept it out and play continued on, but less than a minute later the horn sounded mid-action, signifying that the league's review center in Toronto had gotten a good enough look to determine that the puck had actually crossed the line completely before the save was made.
So the game headed into the third knotted up at three goals aside. 18 seconds after the puck went down that changed though, as Niederreiter struck for his second of the game, unleashing a wrist shot off the post and in to make it a 4-3 contest.
That would have been enough for the victory itself, but an empty net goal from Vincent Trocheck within the final five seconds was the cherry on top, finalizing the night at 5-3.
They Said It:
Rod Brind'Amour on the players from Chicago coming up and making an immediate impact:
"That's huge, right? You have to give management a ton of credit for this past offseason - looking and making sure we have those types of guys [in Chicago]. Guys that can play, guys that have experience. That's been huge. Obviously Jack didn't have that experience, but a good draft pick. Good job by management recognizing the type of players we need around here."
Jack Drury on what he'll remember most about the night in a few years:
"I think probably being there on the bench [during the first star interview with Abby Labar of Bally Sports South]. That was really cool. That was really special. It's hard to put into words how that felt. Like I said though, if we don't get the win there, then it's all kind of forgotten. We battled through hard, got a couple great goals and it's just great to get the win."
Nino Niederreiter sharing his thoughts on what he was most impressed about from tonight's victory:
"I think we competed right from the get-go. We stuck to our game plan. Obviously they got a couple fairly easy goals on us, so we knew we just had to stick with it and play as hard as we could. We needed to play simple and that's why we got rewarded at the end."
What's Next?:
The crew is currently set to practice Friday at PNC before hosting both Los Angeles and Nashville Saturday and Sunday.
Bonus Notes:
- Five Canes forwards recorded multiple points in the win (Fast, Kotkaniemi, Necas, Niederreiter, Teravainen). - Tonight's victory was the fourth win in a row for Frederik Andersen, who stopped 23 of 26. - Trocheck led all forwards with 23:29 played. - Niederreiter now has 13 points in 11 games played since American Thanksgiving. Again a product of the shorthanded staff, he played a season-high 25 shifts throughout the game.