Jarvis scores 2 in 3rd, Hurricanes top Blackhawks to gain in Metropolitan

CHICAGO -- Seth Jarvis scored the tying and go-ahead goals on the power play in the third period for the Carolina Hurricanes in their fifth straight win, 4-2 against the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center on Sunday.

Jarvis, who also had an assist, gave the Hurricanes a 3-2 lead with 3:33 remaining on the rebound of a shot by Brent Burns.

The goal came after he tied it 2-2 at 6:24 when he redirected a shot by Jake Guentzel with his stick blade, and the puck deflected into the net off the stick of Blackhawks defenseman Ethan Del Mastro.

“I thought we were OK,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “It was a tough game to play. We’ve got our eyes on some other things. To get through a game like this, I thought we got going a little bit.”

Sebastian Aho and Jordan Staal scored, and Andrei Svechnikov had two assists for the Hurricanes (52-22-7), who pulled within one point of the New York Rangers for first place in the Metropolitan Division with one game remaining for each team. Pyotr Kochetkov made 14 saves.

“Just play our game,” Aho said. “Kind of business as usual. You try to win hockey games, doing it with good habits and just play our game. That’s pretty simple. You try to build, build your game towards Game 1 of the playoffs. I think we’ve done a pretty good job of just sticking with it and playing our game. I know it’s a cliché. Especially this time of year, it’s big to not pick up bad habits.”

Frank Nazar, who signed a three-year entry level-contract out of the University of Michigan on Saturday, scored his first NHL goal on his first shot on goal in the opening period for the Blackhawks (23-52-5), who have lost four in a row. Petr Mrazek made 31 saves.

“Frank was really good,” Chicago coach Luke Richardson said. “I really liked his game tonight. Really happy for him. He had a nice chance on the power play actually before that, but they made a good stick play on him.”

Nazar, who was the No. 13 pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, gave the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead at 10:05 of the first period. He broke up a play in the defensive zone and took a pass from Seth Jones before skating alone into the slot and scoring past the stick of Kochetkov.

“It was a nice play at the blue line, and I was able to go in and I was kind of shooting for whatever was open,” Nazar said. “I mean, who wouldn't have any nerves going into their first NHL game? It was nice to get one early there to kind of calm it and play a little bit more poised. But the guys here have done a really good job, and they've been really nice and welcoming. It's been really great.”

Nazar said the past few days have been “pretty hectic.”

“From being at the Frozen Four to flying in [Saturday] night and then figuring out I was playing today was really crazy. I'm a little exhausted but it was a blast.”

Staal tied it 1-1 at 4:10 of the second period, following his own rebound and getting to the puck in the slot before putting it past Mrazek.

Andreas Athanasiou put Chicago back ahead 2-1 at 1:54 of the third period. He scored off the rebound of a shot by Lukas Reichel, who moved in alone on Kochetkov.

Aho scored an empty-net goal at 17:54 following Jarvis’ goals for the 4-2 final.

“Obviously we are one of the best teams in this league,” Svechnikov said. “We’ve got a great mentality and a great team to do what we did this season, and we’re not done yet. We’ve got one more game to go here. Our mentality is the same. We’ve got to win every game and just stick with that.”

NOTES: Jarvis has 67 points this season (33 goals, 34 assists), and is now tied for the third-highest goal total in a season by a Hurricanes player age 22 or younger, behind Eric Staal (45 in 2005-06) and Aho (38 in 2019-20). … Jarvis scored his 12th and 13th power-play goals of the season and tied Aho (13 in 2021-22) for the most in a season by an active player with the Hurricanes … Nazar (20 years, 91 days) became the fourth-youngest player in Blackhawks history to score in his first career game, behind Eddie Olczyk on Oct. 11, 1984 (18 years, 56 days), Jonathan Toews on Oct. 10, 2007 (19 years, 164 days) and Ken Solheim on Dec. 10, 1980 (19 years, 258 days).