RALEIGH, N.C. _ Carolina Hurricanes general manager Ron Francis said he expected his team to be rested and hungry after their five-day bye week.
The Canes were rested. They're hungry for wins.
But sharp? The Canes, in their first game back after the NHL-mandated break, were a little too sloppy and sluggish at times in their game Friday against the Colorado Avalanche at PNC Arena.
The Avs, the worst team in the NHL, played well enough to win 2-1 in overtime, getting the winning goal from Mikko Rantanen with 36.4 seconds left.
Rantanen scored on a pass from Matt Duchene, who stole the puck from the Canes' Victor Rask at the Avs' blue line.
The Canes (24-22-8), beginning a five-game homestand, went into the game eight points out of playoff position in the Eastern Conference. Carolina hosts the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday.
The Avs began the overtime with a four-on-three power play after Canes defenseman Justin Faulk was called for tripping in the final seconds of regulation. The Canes killed off the penalty and had a shorthanded chance in the final seconds of the kill.
Jeff Skinner scored his 19th of the season for the Canes in the final minute of the first period, offsetting a score by Avs defenseman Tyson Barrie. It was 1-1 after the first and 1-1 after 40 minutes as Canes goalie Cam Ward and the Avs' Calvin Pickard matched saves.
Skinner beat Pickard again nine minutes into the third, bringing Canes fans out of their seats. But the Canes' Lee Stempniak had been called for slashing just before Skinner's score, nullifying the goal.
A lot of teams have struggled this season after their bye weeks. Before Friday, teams were 3-9-1 in their first game after the break, and one of the wins was in a game matching two teams coming off bye weeks.
Then again, the season has been struggle for the Avs, who were ending a five-game road trip. They came into PNC with a five-game losing steak _ losing Thursday against Buffalo and having gone 2-13-1 since early January _ and were 0-10-1 in their past 11 road games.
Avs general manager Joe Sakic has been along on the trip, further fueling speculation that star forwards Duchene and Gabriel Landeskog could be available for trades.
Skinner's goal, with 48.5 seconds left in the first, came off a sharp-angled shot from the left wing, the puck glancing off the stick of defenseman Nikita Zadorov. It salvaged an otherwise spotty period for the Canes, who fumbled pucks, were caught out of position at times and didn't appear to be mentally sharp.
But not Ward. He was sharp enough, allowing the Barrie goal off the rush but also making 13 stops in the period.
Ward continued that play into the second, robbing Landeskog with a quick right-to-left move. Ward was caught out of position on a Matt Nieto breakaway, but Jordan Staal's backpack was enough to cause Nieto to be unable to finish.
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