Ducks top Hurricanes in shootout

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Ryan Miller made 34 saves, including nine in overtime, to help the Anaheim Ducks to a 4-3 shootout win against the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena on Sunday.
Miller, who made his Ducks debut, made saves against Sebastian Aho and Victor Rask in overtime. Miller missed the first nine games of the season because of a wrist injury.

"I was happy to just get going," Miller said. "I've been nervous and anxious for about a month to get moving with the team and start contributing. They gave me this game and I really wanted to get it."
WATCH: [All Ducks vs. Hurricanes highlights]
In overtime, Miller stopped Justin Faulk's early backhand bid from the slot before denying Aho's shot with the right pad. He then turned Rask's chance away with his blocker after a long pass from goaltender Scott Darling.
"As I get closer to game ready, I'm trying to do a lot of breakaways with the guys," Miller said. "Your gap and your depth on the ice when you're facing that shooter is kind of critical. It's something you want to practice when you're out for a while. It definitely paid off."

Corey Perry scored the only goal of the shootout for Anaheim (6-4-1). Jakob Silfverberg tied the game with 4:48 left in the third period.
Jeff Skinner, Jordan Staal and Faulk scored for Carolina (4-4-2). Darling made 22 saves.
The Ducks jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period. Ondrej Kase scored at 10:48 when he put a wrist shot past Darling. Derek Grant made it 2-0 when he was left alone in the slot at 17:14.
Carolina answered with a power-play goal from Jeff Skinner at 19:53. Miller stopped Derek Ryan's shot, but Skinner was lurking at the top of the crease for his team-leading seventh goal.

The Hurricanes tied it 2-2 on Staal's third goal of the season at 13:33 of the second period. Elias Lindholm fed Aho, who wrapped a pass from behind the net to Staal in the low slot.
Faulk gave Carolina a 3-2 lead on a hard slap shot from above the left circle at 18:33 of the second period. It was Faulk's first goal of the season.
"It was a good response in the second. We got back in the game," Staal said. "But we need to find ways to continue to move forward when we're up in the third and find ways to bury teams."
Silfverberg's first goal of the season tied the game 3-3 when he took a drop pass from Andrew Cogliano and scored on a slap shot at 15:12 of the third period.

"It's been a little bit of a struggle for me so far this year," said Silfverberg, who scored 23 goals last season. "I just closed my eyes and tried to shoot it. It wasn't my best shot, but I think [Darling] was screened by the defenseman, so he had a tough time seeing it."

Goal of the game

Silfverberg's tying goal at 15:12 of the third period.

Save of the game

Miller denied Aho with 2:00 remaining in overtime.

Highlight of the game

Rask took a long pass from Darling and skated in alone on a breakaway, but Miller made the save with his right pad.

They said it

"You know he saved our butt on numerous occasions. Specifically in overtime and in the second period, [the Hurricanes] took the game over and he was the last man standing there on a few situations that you have to credit him with." -- Ducks coach Randy Carlyle on goalie Ryan Miller
"We had a team come in off a back-to-back, and we let them kind of dictate the first period. We didn't play a complete game. Yeah, we got to overtime, but there's a lot more to the story than just seeing an overtime loss." -- Hurricanes defenseman Justin Faulk

Need to know

Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf was struck in the face by a puck on the first shift of the game. He went to the dressing room for treatment before coming back for six more shifts, but he did not return after the first intermission. Carlyle said Getzlaf made the decision to not return to the game. "We just felt it was in his best interest to be evaluated by our doctors to see what the issues are," Carlyle said. "He didn't feel comfortable going out there, so he couldn't play." ... With his seventh goal, Skinner established the best 10-game start of his NHL career. … The Hurricanes played a penalty-free game.

What's next

Ducks: Host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday (10 p.m. ET; FS-W, SNO, NHL.TV)
Hurricanes: At the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday (9 p.m. ET; FS-CR, ALT, NHL.TV)