Recap: Teravainen, Canes Skate Past Wild

Led by Teuvo Teravainen's three-point performance, the Carolina Hurricanes skated by the Minnesota Wild in a 5-1 win on Saturday night.
Teravainen posted a goal and two assists in the Canes' final regular-season match-up against a Western Conference opponent.
Here are five takeaways from a rambunctious Saturday night in Raleigh.

One
Teravainen had a dynamite night that included two tremendous passing plays to set up goals and a silky move on a breakaway to score a goal of his own.
Those were points 68, 69 and 70 in Teravainen's team-leading 21st multi-point game of the season.
"That was pretty impressive. High-end plays," head coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "He's also taken his game to another level this year on the defensive side of things. The little plays he can make, he's capable of those, those high-end offensive plays. Tonight, you saw them."
Teravainen played a key part in helping the Hurricanes break the ice just over three minutes into the second period. He executed a give-and-go in a tight space at the blue line with Justin Faulk, who then got a shot off that bounced in off the skate of Jordan Staal.

In the third period, Teravainen notched a primary helper to build upon what was then just a one-goal lead for the Canes. The scoring play, like the one in the second period, began with the filthy mitts of Teravainen, as he stickhandled his way through a defender and dealt the puck off to Andrei Svechnikov, who lasered a wrist shot past Devan Dubnyk for his 19th goal of the season.

Teravainen got in on the scoring fun to add to the Canes' lead in the third period. He intercepted a pass off the tape of Greg Pateryn to skate in alone and go forehand-backhand around the reaching stick of Dubnyk.

"We got a couple and then a couple more. It was a good feeling to see the puck go in," Teravainen said. "When you score goals, you get some confidence. It's more fun to play when you score some goals and have the lead."
Two
Teravainen's assists were his 50th and 51st of the season. Sebastian Aho also recorded his 50th with the secondary helper on Brett Pesce's goal in the second period. The last Hurricanes skater to post 50 assists in a season was Ray Whitney (53) in 2008-09, and the last pair of Hurricanes teammates to each do so was Whitney (51) and Brind'Amour (56) in 2006-07.
Teravainen now sits at 70 points (19g, 51a) on the season, while Aho leads the team with 80 (30g, 50a). The last Canes player to surpass 80 points in a season was Eric Staal, who tallied 82 points (38g, 44a) in the 2007-08 season.
Teravainen and Aho are a dynamic Finnish duo - and they've been continuing to produce apart from each other on different lines for the better part of 2019.
Three
The Hurricanes brought a one-goal lead into the third period on Thursday, and the Lightning proceeded to score four unanswered goals in a 6-3 final.
Justin Williams said after the game that the Canes "pissed it away." They expected to win that game, just as they expect to win every game, and they didn't. That didn't sit well in the locker room.
"We know we can beat any team. We played against the best," Teravainen recalled. "I feel like we had the game, but we weren't smart enough and didn't battle enough to win the game."
"We expect to win every night, and we also expect a certain level of play," Brind'Amour said. "When it's not there, everyone wasn't too happy."
So, when the Canes brought a one-goal lead into the third period on Saturday, they didn't let their foot off the gas. They stuck to their game, went after the next goal, got it and kept pushing until the final horn (and the team still hasn't lost consecutive games in regulation since mid-January).
"We came out confident. We didn't stop, which I think was key," Pesce said. "We kept on the gas, and the results came out."
"That was the way to play in the third. That was a tough game," Brind'Amour said. "We hung in there and then opened it up in the third. That was good to see."
Sandwiched between Svechnikov's goal at the 3:27 mark and Teravainen's tally about eight minutes later was a goal from Lucas Wallmark. Micheal Ferland threaded the needle cross-ice to Wallmark, who one-timed in his 10th of the season.

Four
Following a scoreless first period, the Canes tallied twice in a span of 2:26 to take a 2-0 lead. After Staal's redirection at the 3:06 mark, Pesce stepped up with room to skate and shoot and sniped a shot glove side on Dubnyk.

"I think I'm getting lucky, honestly," Pesce said of his career high in goals (7).
The Wild took some momentum back on a four-minute power play not too long afterward. Former Canes captain Eric Staal, who had been hobbled by a collision, scored from a tough angle to cut the Wild's deficit in half, but that's as close as they'd come.
"All season, we've been learning from our mistakes," Teravainen said. "Every game is huge. We have to make sure we're ready every night."
"We've got to play the way we're playing and take care of business," Brind"Amour said.
Five
"We want playoffs!" was the chant of the third period inside a raucous PNC Arena.
The Canes are certainly trending in that direction.
"It's awesome. Personally, I don't think I've ever had so much fun playing hockey," Pesce said. "We're confident in our group."
"That was fun," Teravainen said. "Our fans are really getting into it and helping us. It was nice to hear."
After the crowd stood to cheer its hometown team on in the final minute of regulation, the Canes celebrated with another creative variant of the Storm Surge. This time, madness. March Madness, to be exact, as noted UNC fan Trevor van Riemsdyk weaved his way through the lane and jammed it home.

"It's over," van Riemsdyk motioned in his best Vince Carter impression.

Up Next
Another big game is up next, as the Hurricanes, situated in the first wild card spot, host the Montreal Canadiens, who trail by two points and occupy the second wild card spot, on Sunday to close out a give-game homestand.