Recap: Red Wings fall in contested road battle to Hurricanes, 5-3

RALEIGH -- Detroit Red Wings rookie Lucas Raymond tallied two points and joined an exclusive list of NHL teenage wingers Thursday night, but the Red Wings fell to the Carolina Hurricanes, 5-3, at PNC Arena.
Raymond recorded two assists, pushing his season total to 27 points, which continues to lead all NHL rookies. In League history, only three other teenage wingers (Gaye Stewart, Patrick Kane, Sylvain Turgeon) have scored more points in their first 30 career games than Raymond.
Dylan Larkin netted his team-leading 12th goal in the first period, Tyler Bertuzzi scored his 10th of the season and Sam Gagner found the back of the net for the first time since Dec 4.

Red Wings goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic returned to PNC Arena Thursday for the first time since being traded to Detroit. During player intros, Hurricanes fans gave the 25-year-old a round of applause.
Detroit dropped to 14-13-3 (31 points) this season and is 4-10-1 on the road. The Hurricanes improved to 20-7-1 (41 points) overall and are 8-3-0 at PNC Arena.
NEXT UP:The Red Wings will host the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night at Little Caesars Arena. Puck drop is set for 8 p.m. on Bally Sports Detroit Plus and the Red Wings Radio Network.

SCORING SUMMARY

Detroit 0, Carolina 1 (2:05, 1st period)
The Hurricanes took a little more than two minutes to open the scoring as Nino Niederreiter fired a wrist shot past Nedeljkovic on the power play for an early lead.
Detroit 1, Carolina 1 (5:32, 1st period)
The Red Wings answered with an equalizer after Sam Gagner intercepted a pass from behind Carolina's net, collected the puck, and beat Carolina goalie Frederik Andersen on his glove side to tie the game at 1-1.

Detroit 1, Carolina 2 (7:36, 1st period)
After a shot from the point was tipped past the Red Wings' net, Tony DeAngelo pounced on the loose puck and snuck one in from the blue line for his fifth goal of the season to put the Hurricanes back in front.
Detroit 2, Carolina 2 (13:54, 1st period)
Detroit made it a 2-2 game when Raymond lobbed a perfect pass through the air to Larkin on a breakaway. The Red Wings captain collected the puck in the neutral zone and netted his second goal in as many games.

Detroit 2, Carolina 3 (18:40, 1st period)
In his first NHL game, Jack Drury scored off his own rebound to give Carolina a 3-2 advantage going into the first intermission.
Detroit 3, Carolina 3 (11:19, 2nd period)
Bertuzzi, assisted by Larkin and Raymond, scored on a wraparound shot to tie the game, 3-3, just over midway through the second period. It was Bertuzzi's first goal since Nov. 7 and his first point since Nov. 24.

Detroit 3, Carolina 4 (0:18, 3rd period)
Just seconds into the third period, Niederreiter scored his second goal of the evening to push the Hurricanes back in front, 4-3. It was the 29-year-old's first multi-goal game this season.
Detroit 3, Carolina 5 (19:55, 3rd period)
Vincent Trocheck scored on an empty-netter with less than five seconds remaining to seal the win for Carolina.

Larkin on Detroit's response after Carolina scored three goals in the first period

"We gave it to them. We gave them goals. We gave them easy looks. They capitalized. They get one on the power play to start the game. That'll get them going. From there on out, we gave it to them. It's a disappointing feeling right now."

Larkin on the Red Wings' road struggles this season

"We're looking for answers. We need a spark. We need to get in a groove. But it's just been really difficult. We don't have the answer for it right now. We play so sound at home. I think on the road, every night it's a different story. It's not always our effort. I feel like our effort is there on the road and at home, and it's just a different story."

Jeff Blashill on how Detroit and Carolina played without key players on Thursday night

"They're missing good players. We're missing good players. We talked about the fact that there's two points on the line. What happens when you are short guys a little bit is that it's like youth hockey. You end up playing your best players a lot."