RECAP: Back from NHL’s holiday break, Detroit drops 5-2 decision in Carolina

RALEIGH, N.C. – In a Saturday night tilt that featured the Eastern Conference’s top two clubs coming out of the NHL’s three-day holiday break, the Detroit Red Wings struggled to get their game going and dropped a 5-2 decision to the Carolina Hurricanes at Lenovo Center.

“They really overwhelmed us for two periods,” Red Wings head coach Todd McLellan said. “We found our legs a little bit in the third, but they’re a tough team to come back against. We didn’t do much with the first 40, and not enough at the end.”

Unfortunately seeing his personal eight-game winning streak come to an end, netminder John Gibson finished with 33 saves for Detroit (22-14-3; 47 points). As for goalie Brandon Bussi, the 27-year-old rookie made 18 saves to help Carolina (23-11-3; 49 points) snap a three-game winless skid.

“It’s hard to win a game if you make the same mistakes over and over again,” Moritz Seider said. “I think that summarizes the game pretty well. Other than that, I think the third is something we can build off.”

Gibson made save after save in the first period, denying all 16 shots the Hurricanes sent his way – 11 of those were high-danger chances per NaturalStatTrick.com --- to help the Red Wings carry a 1-0 advantage into the first intermission.

When Alexander Nikishin bobbled Sean Walker’s pass deep in the Hurricanes' zone, J.T. Compher stole the puck and spun himself around before finding Rasmussen in the slot, where the 26-year-old forward beat Bussi with a wrist shot at 12:39 for his fifth goal of the season.

“The best player on the ice wore the funny-looking pads in goal,” McLellan said when asked to assess his club's opening-frame performance. “Gibby was excellent. We did hit a post early and then Ras scored, but other than that we didn’t generate a lot. We couldn’t keep anything alive in their end. When they got to ours, we expended too much energy just chasing them around.”

Within the first five minutes of the second period, Carolina got the best of Gibson twice in a span of 1:15 to jump in front 2-1. After Jackson Blake tipped home Shayne Gostisbehere’s shot from below Detroit’s blue line to tie it at 3:22, Eric Robinson jammed the puck in from the side of the net at 4:37.

Netting the Hurricanes’ third goal of the second period, Gostisbehere ripped a wrist shot into the top corner past Gibson from the middle of the left face-off circle to make it 3-1 at 15:22.

“In the second, we just got away from our game plan,” Seider said. “We gave up too many odd-man chances.”

On Detroit's first power play of the night, Andrew Copp was positioned right front of the net when he capped a tic-tac-toe play from John Leonard and Axel Sandin-Pellikka with a tip-in goal to get it to 3-2 at 3:11 of the third period. For Copp, it marked his fourth goal of the campaign.

“He’s big for us,” Lucas Raymond said about Copp, who has recorded 12 points (three goals, nine assists) in his last 12 contests. “With his play all over the ice, he’s produced a lot, especially recently. He’s a big player for us not only on the ice, but off the ice as well.”

That was the closest the Red Wings would see themselves get in the final frame, as Andrei Svechnikov scored to send the hosts ahead 4-2 at 13:09. Then putting things away for good with 1:21 to play, Jordan Martinook’s empty-net goal made it 5-2.

“We skated better,” McLellan said of his group’s play throughout the third period. “We managed the puck a little bit more. We played less time in our zone. We got some offensive zone whistles, which allowed us to start there. There’s a lot of things that were a lot better.”

NEXT UP: The Red Wings will wrap up their weekend back-to-back set against an Atlantic Division rival when they entertain the Toronto Maple Leafs at Little Caesars Arena on Sunday night.

WHAT WAS SAID

Seider on the first two periods of Saturday’s game

“They’re an overwhelming team in their own building. We knew that. I think we did an okay job. They came out flying in the first and we didn’t really have the jump. We had an answer ready, though, and in the second we just got away from our game plan.”

Raymond on what he felt made the biggest difference in Saturday’s end result

“We got a 1-0 lead in the first period, and we’re in a pretty good spot on the road against a good team. They come out better than us in the second period, and then we’re playing catch up. We get ourselves in a good spot, but couldn’t get the job done tonight.”