Hurricanes defeat Red Wings, keep pace in Metropolitan race

RALEIGH, N.C. -- The Carolina Hurricanes kept pace in the Metropolitan Division race and clinched home-ice advantage for the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a 4-1 win against the Detroit Red Wings at PNC Arena on Tuesday.

Jesperi Kotkaniemi had a goal and an assist, and Antti Raanta made 20 saves for the Hurricanes (51-21-9), who had lost three in a row. Carolina remained one point ahead of the New Jersey Devils for first place in the Metropolitan with one game remaining for each. New Jersey won 6-2 against the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday.
"We got in a little bit of a rut there," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "I didn't dislike a lot of the games we played, it just didn't go our way. Tonight it was kind of the opposite. We got the breaks and obviously got the win."

Robert Hagg scored, and Alex Nedeljkovic made 24 saves for the Red Wings (35-36-10), who have lost four straight.
Detroit played without center Dylan Larkin, who was scratched with a lower-body injury.
"I think you're learning about our core, which I'm excited about," Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde said. "I just liked their compete [level] tonight. We're not a very deep team to begin with. Dylan was unavailable for us, we were down 2-0, and I liked their push back against a team like that."
Stefan Noesen gave Carolina a 1-0 lead at 2:46 of the first period. After Kotkaniemi tipped Shayne Gostisbehere's shot from the point, Noesen gathered the puck behind the net and stuffed it inside the left post off Nedeljkovic's right skate.
"I don't know if I loved the first goal against, but it was the perfect storm," Lalonde said. "I thought he gave us a really good chance again. His ability to play the puck against a forechecking team is very valuable."

Jordan Martinook made it 2-0 at 7:50. Brady Skjei made a hard pass from the left point to Martinook below the right face-off circle for a shot into an open net.
"I had seen there were five guys in front, so I wasn't going to go in the muck," Martinook said. "Usually [Skjei] is going high glove there, but he found me on the back side."

Hagg cut it to 2-1 at 5:05 of the second period from the left dot.
Brent Burns gave the Hurricanes a 3-1 lead at 9:10 when his shot from the point deflected off Veleno and past Nedeljkovic.
Kotkaniemi scored into an empty net with 42 seconds remaining in the third period for the 4-1 final.
Raanta is 16-1-2 in his past 19 decisions.
"For me, it was just one shot at a time," he said. "I was just trying to get us over the line and trying to get the win. Obviously three games in a row, we lose all three. That hurts for sure. But we knew what we didn't do right and we knew what we have to do to get those wins. Today we came out and we were ready to play."
NOTES: Lalonde said he's unsure whether Larkin will play in the season finale at the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday. … Red Wings center Andrew Copp was 14-for-20 on face-offs. … Skjei's assist was his 200th NHL point (55 goals, 145 assists in 528 games). … Carolina finished the regular season 28-10-3 at home and has the second-most home wins in the NHL (Boston Bruins, 34-4-3). ... The Hurricanes end the regular season at the Florida Panthers on Thursday, when the Devils visit the Washington Capitals.