McElhinney makes 40 saves for Hurricanes, stays perfect against Oilers

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Nino Niederreiter scored two goals to lift the Carolina Hurricanes to a 3-1 win against the Edmonton Oilers at PNC Arena on Friday.

Curtis McElhinney made 40 saves for the Hurricanes (30-22-6), who moved within one point of the Pittsburgh Penguins for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference with their seventh win in nine games.
McElhinney improved to 7-0-0 against Edmonton in his NHL career.
WATCH: [All Oilers vs. Hurricanes highlights]
"You need goaltending, especially on nights like tonight where we weren't at our best," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "It was one of those games where we didn't get to our game at all."
Leon Draisaitl scored his 10th goal in the past nine games for the Oilers (24-28-5), who have lost three in a row and are 1-7-2 in the past 10. Mikko Koskinen made 24 saves.

"We come and we play the right way, and we're doing the right things," Oilers center Connor McDavid said. "We just can't seem to find a bounce. We're having a lot of shots and creating chances, but that only gets you so far."
Carolina took a 1-0 lead 37 seconds into the first period when Sebastian Aho set up Niederreiter in the slot with a touch pass. Aho had two assists to set an NHL career high with 66 points (24 goals, 42 assists).
Draisaitl tied it 1-1 at 1:32 with his 34th goal of the season on a give-and-go off a 2-on-1 with Zack Kassian.
"We needed to calm it down a bit," Niederreiter said. "We knew we had to get pucks in deep and outwork Edmonton. They had a great push, but at the end of the day we got the win."

Teuvo Teravainen set up Lucas Wallmark for a one-timer in the right circle for a 2-1 Carolina lead at 2:16.
"We're getting down early in games, or we're chasing the game halfway through, and that takes a lot of energy out of you," Oilers coach Ken Hitchcock said. "I think if we got a lead we might be able to be even better."
Niederreiter scored from the slot to make it 3-1 at 16:23 of the third period. He has eight goals in 12 games with the Hurricanes, who acquired him in a trade with the Minnesota Wild on Jan. 17 for center Victor Rask.
"I think everyone knew [Niederreiter] was a talented player," Brind'Amour said. "For whatever reason, sometimes you get stuck in ruts. He just needed a little change of scenery. Obviously we've got a good mix with him playing with [Aho and Justin Williams]."

They said it

"They're usually the team outshooting [opponents] by 10 or 15 shots. It just goes to show that we were a desperate hockey club today, but you don't get the result. That's the unfortunate part." -- Oilers forward Milan Lucic on Edmonton outshooting Carolina 41-27
"Personally, I think we've been in every game and really been the better team a lot of nights. I like our group. I've said it since Day 1, they're hard-working, honest guys. They play for each other, so that's special." -- Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour

Need to know

McDavid had his eight-game point streak end. … Oilers forward Alex Chiasson had a game-high eight shots. … Brind'Amour became the fastest coach in franchise history to reach 30 wins (58 games), surpassing Peter Laviolette (65 games in 2005-06). … McElhinney is 8-1-0 in his past nine starts. … Carolina has scored in the opening minute of the game six times this season (5-0-1). … Aho has 21 points (eight goals, 13 assists) in his past 15 games. … Teravainen has 14 points (seven goals, seven assists) in his past 11 games.

What's next

Oilers: At the New York Islanders (Barclays Center) on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; SNW, SNP, MSG+, NHL.TV)
Hurricanes:Host the Dallas Stars on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; FS-CR, FS-SW, NHL.TV)