Versteeg scores twice to lead Hurricanes past Flames

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Kris Versteeg has played for five NHL teams, making his mark as a reliable secondary scorer and a smart two-way player. But it took a while to get the hang of his role with the Carolina Hurricanes this season.
"I learn little new things every day about the way (Hurricanes coach) Bill (Peters) coaches and what he likes out of guys," said Versteeg, who scored twice in the Hurricanes' 5-2 win against the Calgary Flames on Sunday. "But it's a new system and a lot of things I've never done as a hockey player."

Versteeg scored at even strength in the second period and on a power play in the third, giving him 10 goals on the season and 30 points. He is within striking distance of a 50-point season, a plateau he reached with the Chicago Blackhawks and Florida Panthers. They key has been making little adjustments.
"For six years out of my nine years, I've pretty much done the same faceoff. It's little plays here and there," said Versteeg, who has five goals in the past eight games. "When you come to a new team, you still have old habits and you have to break them and learn new things. It's nice to become more comfortable in the system."
Victor Rask, Elias Lindholm and Joakim Nordstrom scored and Eddie Lack made 33 saves for Carolina (22-20-8).
Jiri Hudler and Joe Colborne scored for Calgary (21-22-3). Karri Ramo allowed three goals on 19 shots before being replaced by Jonas Hiller, who made 15 saves.
Carolina struck quickly for the first goal of the game. Rask curled away from a defender at the blue line, cut towards the slot and beat Ramo with a wrist shot at 2:26. His 12th goal of the season surpassed his total as a rookie in 2014-15.

Lindholm made it 2-0 on a penalty shot after being hauled down by Flames defenseman Kris Russell on a breakaway. Lindholm came in slowly and sent a wrist shot past Ramo's blocker at 17:27.
The Hurricanes extended the lead to 3-0 at 3:50 of the second period when Eric Staal fed a pass across the slot to Versteeg. Staal took a long pass through the neutral zone from Ron Hainsey to start the play.
Carolina's third goal spelled the end of the night for Ramo, who finished with 16 saves.
"We were not ready," Flames coach Bob Hartley said. "Plain and simple. We had a few days over here (in Raleigh), and we talked about it yesterday. We talked about it this morning. But we were just not there."
But Calgary mounted a comeback after the goaltending change. Hudler shoveled a backhand shot past Lack at 11:15 of the second period. Mark Giordano's pass from the boards deflected off Justin Faulk's skate at the top of the crease before Hudler took a swipe at the loose puck.
Colborne made it 3-2 at 5:01 of the third period when he took a pass from Markus Granlund on the rush and scored over the glove.
From there, Lack played a key role in preventing the Flames from tying the game. He denied Sean Monahan on a redirect and stopped a tough one-timer from Mikael Backland in the right circle.
"He made some great saves," Versteeg said. "They're a skilled team. They make a lot of plays all over the ice that a lot of other teams won't try. It was a tough few minutes when they were coming at us, but he held the fort and did great for us."
Versteeg restored Carolina's two-goal lead on the power play at 11:13 when he stuffed a shot under Hiller's glove in a scramble at the crease.
Nordstrom made it 5-2 when he gathered a loose puck in the slot and turned to his forehand to beat Hiller at 11:45. Nordstrom, who did not have a goal in 38 games with the Blackhawks last season, has scored in back-to-back games. He credited Jordan Staal and Andrej Nestrasil, his linemates for the past two months.
"You don't always have to look for each other," Nordstrom said. "You know where they're at on the ice. Playing with Jordan, he makes me and Nestrasil better."
The Hurricanes are two games above .500 for the second time this season, but Peters warned they have more growing to do.
"I thought we played the right way through 40 minutes. I don't think we played the right way in the third at all," said Peters, noting that the Flames had 15 shots in the third period. "The (shots) started and the scoring chances, and the defensemen were in the rush. We were on the wrong side of battles.

"We have to learn how to win. We still don't have that figured out as a group of 23. When it's 3-1 going into the third period, you have to play properly."
The Flames continue to struggle on the power play. Calgary's 30th-ranked unit (14.9 percent) had five opportunities but managed just two shots.
"Right from the first bit, we generated one shot on our first two power plays," Hartley said. "It starts with our execution, it starts with everything. When mentally you're not ready to play, whatever you do on the ice, it just doesn't work."
The Flames will close out their five-game road trip at the Dallas Stars on Monday.
"It's a bad loss for us," Giordano said. "We started coming about the midway part of the third, but when you get behind 3-0, it's tough. We weren't skating and generating like we usually do."