Hurricanes rally, pad lead in Central with win against Blackhawks

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Andrei Svechnikov and Teuvo Teravainen each scored three points, and the Carolina Hurricanes rallied to extend their point streak to 12 in a 6-3 win against the Chicago Blackhawks at PNC Arena on Tuesday.

Svechnikov had two goals and an assist, Teravainen had a goal and two assists, and Nino Niederreiter scored two goals for the Hurricanes (36-10-7), who have won five games in a row and are 9-0-3 in their past 12.
"It wasn't a great game tonight," Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "We got by with a lot of good efforts. The talent we have on this team kind of won us this game, but it wasn't pretty."
Petr Mrazek made 27 saves to win his return after missing seven games with a lower-body injury.
The Hurricanes are in first place in the eight-team Discover Central Division, four points ahead of the Florida Panthers. Carolina, Florida and the Tampa Bay Lightning have clinched Stanley Cup Playoff berths from the division; the Nashville Predators lead the Dallas Stars by four points for the fourth and final spot.

Alex DeBrincat scored twice, and Mike Hardman scored his first NHL goal for the Blackhawks (22-25-6), who have lost six in a row (0-5-1), including 5-2 here Monday, and have been eliminated from playoff contention. Collin Delia, in his first start since Jan. 17, made 22 saves.
Chicago led 2-0 entering the second period.
"Obviously, we had momentum, we were doing things well and things were going our way," Blackhawks defenseman Riley Stillman said. "Their goalie made some big stops, they capitalized on their chances, and that was it."
Svechnikov took a pass from Teravainen in the neutral zone and scored with a backhand on a breakaway to put the Hurricanes up 3-2 at 4:08 of the third period.
Teravainen has six points (three goals, three assists) in five games after missing 32 of 33 games recovering from a concussion.
"I feel pretty good," Teravainen said. "We have a couple more games and these are good games for me to get to my game and get my feel for the puck and that kind of stuff. It's been good, I think."

Teravainen scored from the slot off a pass from Sebastian Aho for a 4-2 lead at 7:19.
"[Teravainen] makes players around him better, clearly," Brind'Amour said. "That's really evident tonight, obviously. He's a big part of what we've got to do, and he was great tonight."
DeBrincat made it 4-3 on a wrist shot from above the right face-off circle at 11:52, but Martin Necas scored shorthanded into an empty net with 2:37 left to make it 5-3.
Niederreiter scored another empty-net goal with 1:31 remaining for the 6-3 final.
The teams will play the last of a three-game series here Thursday.
DeBrincat stole the puck from Aho along the boards in the Blackhawks zone and scored shorthanded on a breakaway to make it 1-0 at 6:20 of the first period.
"He won the puck battle on the shorthanded goal, stripped the guy," Chicago coach Jeremy Colliton said. "To me, that's when he's most effective and he's done that a lot for us. He's one of the best at putting pressure on the puck and winning pucks back, and that allows us to control the tempo of the game more."

Mrazek made the save against MacKenzie Entwistle off the rush, but Hardman scored on the rebound to give the Blackhawks a 2-0 lead at 12:32.
"It was pretty surreal," said Hardman, who was playing his fifth NHL game. "It was a great play by [Patrick Kane] on the breakout there, then [Entwistle] using his speed going wide and just shooting the puck off the pad, and I was lucky to be there and tap it in. It was an awesome feeling."
The assist was Entwistle's first NHL point in his second game.
Niederreiter cut it to 2-1 at 4:32 of the second period. Morgan Geekie tried to lift the puck onto his stick blade behind the net for a lacrosse-style shot before sending a backhand pass to Niederreiter at the top of the crease.
Svechnikov scored on a shot that redirected off the stick of Nikita Zadorov to tie the game 2-2 at 15:56.
NOTES: DeBrincat extended his goal streak to four games (five goals). He has scored nine points (six goals, three assists) in seven games against Carolina this season. … The Hurricanes have the longest active point streak in the NHL and trail only the Colorado Avalanche for the longest this season (15 games, March 10-April 5). … With two assists, Aho extended his point streak to nine games (six goals, 11 assists). It is the longest active streak in the NHL. … Svechnikov has five-game point and assist streaks (two goals, seven assists).