Hurricanes inch closer to wild card despite OT loss

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Andreas Athanasiou scored at 1:59 of overtime to lift the Detroit Red Wings to a 4-3 overtime win against the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena on Monday.
Hurricanes goaltender Eddie Lack was stretchered off the ice after being
injured on the game-winning goal
when Athanasiou swept to the net. Lack was able to give a thumbs up before he was taken off. He was taken to a hospital, where tests indicated that he has full feeling in his extremities.
"With Eddie going down, it's hard to think about the game," Hurricanes forward Jordan Staal said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with Eddie right now."

The Hurricanes (33-27-14) are four points behind the Boston Bruins for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the Eastern Conference after extended their point streak to 11 games (7-0-4).
WATCH: All Red Wings vs. Hurricanes highlights
Petr Mrazek made 39 saves for the Red Wings (31-32-12), who are 5-1-1 in their past seven games. Detroit is trying to avoid missing the playoffs for the first time in the past 26 seasons.
"If you look throughout the season, they're all one-goal games, and we've been able to win these [recent] one-goal games," Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. "We've got real good goaltending over the little bit. It's been minuscule differences all season to flip your one-goal losses to one-goal wins."

The overtime winner was the second in two days for Athanasiou. He scored on Sunday to defeat the Minnesota Wild 3-2.
"I had a tight angle there, so I just tried to drive the net and I'm fortunate it worked out," he said.
Justin Faulk tied it 3-3 on a high wrist shot with the extra attacker with 52 seconds left in the third period. Tomas Tatar's power-play goal gave the Red Wings a 3-2 at 8:30 of the third.

Jeff Skinner gave the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead at 5:15 of the first period. Jaccob Slavin found Skinner alone in right circle for a slap shot that fluttered past Mrazek between his blocker and body.
Anthony Mantha scored on breakaway goals 1:10 apart in the second period to give the Red Wings a 2-1 lead.
He took advantage of a turnover by Teuvo Teravainen and got ahead of the Carolina defense before shooting over Lack's blocker at 9:04 to tie it 1-1.

Athanasiou's pass through the neutral zone set up Mantha for his 17th of the season, a backhand between Lack's pads to make it 2-1 at 10:14.
Faulk tied it 2-2 at 19:02 when he made a move around Dylan Larkin in the right faceoff circle and beat Mrazak between the legs. The goal was Faulk's 15th, the third straight season he has reached that plateau.

#

Goal of the game

Faulk's tying goal came on a perfectly placed wrist shot.

#

Save of the game

Lack used a quick poke check to stop Darren Helm on a breakaway with 7:20 remaining in the first period.

#

Highlight of the game

Athanasiou showed tremendous speed bringing the puck off the wall at a difficult angle before scoring on the forehand.

#

Unsung performance of the game

Skinner had 14 shot attempts: eight shots on goal, five attempts blocked and one attempt that missed the net. He extended his personal-NHL-best goal-scoring streak to six games.

#

They said it

"I had no idea I hit him. I tried driving the net and I felt the [Victor Rask's] stick on my back. He hit me pretty hard. I just tried to put the puck in the net. Even after, I had no idea I came in contact with him. I didn't know if it was me or [Rask]. I spoke to the ref after, and he said after the contact from [Rask] I must have ran into him." -- Red Wings forward Andreas Antanasiou on the collision with Eddie Lack prior to his goal in overtime
"Right now, everyone is thinking of their teammate. We are going to regroup and come back tomorrow with the right answer tomorrow. We'll come in tomorrow and refocus on hockey." -- Hurricanes coach Bill Peters

Need to know

The Hurricanes are 18-1-5 when Skinner scores a goal this season. Skinner's 174th NHL goal tied him with Carolina assistant coach Rod Brind'Amour for third place on the Hurricanes all-time list. Hurricanes defenseman Ryan Murphy sustained a lower-body injury in the third period. ... Red Wings center Luke Glendening left the game in the first period with a lower-body injury.

What's next

Red Wings: At the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; FS-D+, FS-SC, NHL.TV)
Hurricanes: Host the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; FS-D+, FS-SC, NHL.TV)