Hurricanes score six, defeat Flames for fifth straight win

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Brady Skjei had a goal and two assists, and the Carolina Hurricanes extended their winning streak to five games with a 6-3 victory against the Calgary Flames at PNC Arena on Friday.

Andrei Svechnikov scored two goals, and Jesper Fast had a goal and an assist in his 500th NHL game for the Hurricanes (24-7-1). Frederik Andersen made 36 saves for his seventh straight win. Carolina had not played since a 7-4 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Jan. 1.
"Of course you feel that, and you're not in game shape," Svechnikov said. "Obivously, our first period wasn't our best, but I think we played a great game after the first period."

Blake Coleman, Matthew Tkachuk and Johnny Gaudreau scored for the Flames (17-10-6), who finished a five-game road trip with their third straight loss. Dan Vladar made 31 saves, one night after making 29 saves in a 4-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Coleman took advantage of a Jordan Staal turnover and scored on a short-side wrist shot for a 1-0 lead at 5:12 of the first period. The Flames outshot the Hurricanes 21-10 in the first period.
"It was the best period of the 15 on the trip," Calgary coach Darryl Sutter said. "It's the start we wanted, the emotion we wanted to see and the detail in how we want to play."
Fast tipped Brett Pesce's shot from the point for his eighth goal of the season, tying it 1-1 at 17:15.
"Especially during that time, we needed a goal to get some confidence going back and move our legs a little bit more," Fast said. "We were standing still a lot, and [there were] a lot of turnovers in the first period."
Derek Stepan put the Hurricanes ahead 2-1 at 7:40 of the second period. Steven Lorentz held off Adam Ruzicka in the right face-off circle before feeding a backhand to Stepan in the slot.
Svechnikov kept the puck on a 2-on-1 with Vincent Trocheck and scored from the slot to push the lead to 3-1 at 9:22.
Tony DeAngelo scored into an open net for a 4-1 lead at 12:35 after Sebastian Aho batted the puck off the crossbar.
"You've got to be in the rhythm, and it took us a while," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "'Freddie' kept us in the game in the first period. In the second period, we had our legs and we took it to them the whole period. That was the difference in the game to me."
Tkachuk scored his 15th goal of the season when he held the puck on a 2-on-1 and scored through the five-hole to cut Carolina's lead to 4-2 at 13:26.
Gaudreau took a stretch pass from Erik Gudbranson and scored top shelf to cut the lead to 4-3 at 8:57 of the third period.
"It's a one-goal game, we had a little momentum," Gaudreau said. "We were right there, then we let the game get away from us."

Skjei scored on a wrist shot from the slot to make it 5-3 with 1:52 left. The goal was upheld by video review after Calgary challenged for goaltender interference. Skjei has three goals and four assists in his past four games.
"I've had some pretty good looks coming down the slot and I've been able to take advantage of those opportunities," Skjei said. "Hopefully I can keep finding those spots and putting the puck in the back of the net."
Skjei has scored 12 points (four goals, eight assists) in 32 games.
"It's not really surprising he's able to do this," Brind'Amour said. "You don't expect that to happen at this rate, but if you watch his game, he's always getting scoring chances pretty much every night because he gets in the play so well."
Svechnikov scored a power-play goal with 55 seconds remaining to make it 6-3.
NOTES: Calgary has played 22 of its first 33 games on the road. ... Sutter said goalie Jacob Markstrom (undisclosed) did not play because he was not 100 percent healthy. … Fast has scored 181 points (69 goals, 112 assists) in his 500 games for the Hurricanes and New York Rangers. … The Hurricanes swept the season series after a 2-1 overtime win at Calgary on Dec. 9. … Carolina went 5-for-5 on the penalty kill and has killed 27 straight penalties. … Lorentz had his first two assists of the season. … Svechnikov has five points (three goals, two assists) in a three-game point streak.