Hurricanes top Senators, gain in wild card

RALEIGH, N.C. --Warren Foegele had a goal and an assist in his NHL debut, and the Carolina Hurricanes gained ground in the Eastern Conference wild-card race with a 4-1 win against the Ottawa Senators at PNC Arena on Monday.
Valentin Zykov, Brock McGinn and Sebastian Aho scored, and Cam Ward made 19 saves for the Hurricanes (34-31-11), who won their third straight and are seven points behind the New Jersey Devils for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the East.

"They gave us good energy tonight," Hurricanes coach Bill Peters said. "A real good play by Warren on his goal, beat a guy out of the corner off the wall, then Zykov gets the game-winner. Huge contributions from all those young guys. Defenseman Roland McKeown] ends up being plus-three, so good for them."
[WATCH: [All Senators vs. Hurricanes highlights]
Bobby Ryan scored, and Craig Anderson made 26 saves for the Senators (26-38-11), who have lost five straight (0-5-0) and were eliminated from playoff contention on March 22.
"We know where we're at," Senators coach Guy Boucher said. "We knew the last portion of this year was trying guys out, give them experience. Once you get to the NHL level, it's a very difficult league to play in."

Foegele, who was drafted by the Hurricanes in the third round (No. 67) of the 2014 NHL Draft, made it 1-0 at 18:52 of the first period. He won a puck battle in the corner before scoring from a sharp angle on Anderson.
"I thought I would just do a tight turn on [defenseman Ben Harpur] and shoot it on net," Foegele said. "I heard the crowd make the noise and then I looked in the back of the net. Pretty surreal moment and something I will remember forever."
Ryan tied the game 1-1 at 9:39 of the second period, scoring on a turnaround from the slot off a pass from Matt Duchene.

Zykov made it 2-1 at 14:38, poking in a rebound in the crease off an initial shot from Foegele.
"Both of us like to go to the net," Zykov said. "That's where we get our goals mostly. You dream of having a sick shot, top shelf, but to have those kind of goals, you have to play a little more games and get a little more confident."
McGinn extended the lead to 3-1 at 16:16, beating Anderson over his left shoulder with a shot from the high slot.
Aho scored an empty-net goal at 18:01 to make it 4-1. He has 12 points (four goals, eight assists) in a nine-game point streak.

Goal of the game

McGinn's goal at 16:16 of the second period.

Save of the game

Ward's save on Mike Hoffman at 9:10 of the second period.

Highlight of the game

Foegele's goal at 18:52 of the first period.

They said it
"We've got a lot of young guys, especially (on defense) and they're giving it everything they've got. It's normal to see some turnovers, some mistakes, gaping. Everything starts on defense. So, it's tough for them back there." -- Senators coach Guy Boucher
"I was a little nervous out there. It took me until about the third shift to realize it was just another hockey game. My linemate kept talking to me and made me feel comfortable. Like everyone says, you can notice how fast everything is going. It's go, go, go. So that was definitely an adjustment." -- Hurricanes forward Warren Foegele

Need to know

The Senators are 7-22-3 when trailing after one period. ... Foegele is the fifth player in Hurricanes/Whalers history to record multiple points in his NHL debut, joining Randy MacGregor (1981-82), Dan Bourbonnais (1981-82), Brad Defauw (2002-03) and Brock McGinn (2015-16). … Zykov has five points (three goals, two assists) in four games since being recalled from Charlotte of the American Hockey League on March 19. … Trevor van Riemsdyk has a career-high 12 assists this season. … Ward is 10-1-2 in his past 13 games against the Senators with a 1.66 goals-against average and a .944 save percentage.

What's next

Senators:Host the New York Islanders on Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET; TSN5, RDS, MSG+, NHL.TV)
Hurricanes: At the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; MSG, FS-CR, NHL.TV)