Hurricanes hold off Blackhawks, win fourth straight

CHICAGO --Petr Mrazek made 30 saves, and the Carolina Hurricanes held on to extend their winning streak to four games with a 4-2 victory against the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center on Tuesday.

Nino Niederreiter had a goal and an assist, Andrei Svechnikov scored, and Lucas Wallmark had two assists for Carolina (13-7-1), which swept a road trip of at least three games (3-0-0) for the first time in its history.
"We came out and we were] ready," Svechnikov said. "We scored a couple of goals and it was huge for us. Obviously, we can't give up a couple of those goals in the third period, but I feel like we played a really hard game."
***[WATCH: [All Hurricanes vs. Blackhawks highlights]*
Patrick Kane had two assists, and Robin Lehner made 29 saves for Chicago (9-8-4), which had won four straight and also had its six-game point streak end (5-0-1).
"We came out and worked, and I guess you're bound to have a game like that where [you] play a lot of games, a lot of travel, all those things," Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews said. "You got to find ways to get your energy from the get-go, even if you're not feeling it 100 percent. But we found a way late in the game, we just got to find a way to bring it early on and I think if we play three solid [periods], we have a better chance of winning."
Martin Necas gave the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead at 14:24 of the first period, skating in with Niederreiter on a 2-on-0 and scoring off a give-and-go.
"As soon as I gave him the puck early, I knew I'd eventually give it back to him," Niederreiter said. "That's exactly what happened and he put it home."

Svechnikov scored 53 seconds into the second period to extend the lead to 2-0 when his shot from the left circle went under the arm of Lehner. Svechnikov has eight points (four goals, four assists) during a five-game point streak.
Niederreiter made it 3-0 at 11:54 of the second, receiving a stretch pass from Wallmark and scoring with a backhand in front after skating around Erik Gustafsson.
"First I wanted to cut in, and then I knew I had nothing in the middle so I turned around and then [Wallmark] found me on the outside," Niederreiter said. "I had a chance to take it to the net and it went in, which was crazy."

Gustafsson cut it to 3-1 at 12:05 of the third period, getting behind Ryan Dzingel and redirecting a pass from Kane in front. Kane has 19 points (eight goals, 11 assists) during a 10-game point streak.
Connor Murphy scored his first of the season to make it 3-2 at 13:15 from the high slot, but Sebastian Aho scored into an empty net with 18 seconds remaining for the 4-2 final.
"Yeah, they did a good job," Blackhawks coach Jeremy Colliton said. "They were really aggressive. We had an opportunity to expose them because they were pinching really hard and committing two and three forecheckers, and we just didn't win those pucks. So that's it."

They said it

"I mean, we played pretty good (in the) neutral zone. With their best players, with Kane, don't give him some space. As you saw, if you give him space it's impossible to catch him or he always makes a play. That was pretty good for most of the game. Couple of goals, but we still won." -- Hurricanes center Martin Necas
"Obviously, everyone in the building [knew] the first two periods weren't good enough. They dominated us the first two periods. Then we had a push and played the way we can. Then we dominated them. But again, 60-minute game. Go to bed, let this one go. Come Thursday (to) win a game (against the Tampa Bay Lightning). Pretty simple." -- Blackhawks goalie Robin Lehner

Need to know

Kane is one assist shy of 600 in the NHL. … Blackhawks rookie forward Kirby Dach had the secondary assist on Murphy's goal and has seven points (four goals, three assists) in a five-game point streak. … Necas has nine points (three goals, six assists) in his past nine games. … Hurricanes defenseman Dougie Hamilton had an assist and has seven points (three goals, four assists) in a six-game point streak.

What's next

Hurricanes:Host the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; FS-CR, NBCSP, NHL.TV)
Blackhawks: Host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday (8:30 p.m. ET; NBCSCH, SUN, NHL.TV)