RALEIGH, N.C. _ David Ayres did his part, again.
Sounding the warning siren Tuesday before the Carolina Hurricanes' game against the Dallas Stars at PNC Arena, the world's most famous emergency goalie gave it a good, hard crank. Canes fans loved it. It was soon time to drop the puck.
But the Stars, not the Canes, took it from there. They scored three times on Canes goalie Alex Nedeljkovic in the first period and glided to a relatively easy 4-1 victory, preventing Ayres from getting into a postgame Storm Surge celebration.
Sebastian Aho scored his 36th of the season in the second period, extending his point streak to 13 games. But that's all Stars goalie Anton Khudobin allowed, making 40 saves in beating the Canes for the second time this season.
Ayres was the man of the moment Saturday night in Toronto. When Canes goalies James Reimer and then Petr Mrazek left the game with injuries, in came Ayres, a designated emergency goalie at Leafs home games. The Canes won 6-3, everyone wildly celebrated and Ayres became an instant celebrity.
"He's a miracle worker," Canes coach Rod Brind'Amour said Tuesday.
Invited to Raleigh by the Canes, Ayres had another media blitz during the day and good seats after sounding the siren. But the Canes were missing the energy and intensity they had playing in front of him Saturday.
The Canes (35-23-4) went into the game two points out of playoff position in the Eastern Confernece, making a regulation defeat a dagger loss.
It was first game after the NHL trade deadline for the Canes, with forward Vincent Trocheck and defenseman Brady Skjei making their Carolina debuts. Both had some rough moments in the first period _ a turnover by Skjei on his first shift resulted in a Tyler Seguin goal for the Stars, and Trocheck had an offensive-zone tripping penalty that resulted in a power-play score by Roope Hintz.
"It's tough when you get new guys in and throw a lot at them, whole systems," Brind'Amour said after the morning skate. "We brought in really quality people here so I'm pretty excited about that. We know they're good hockey players but whole new systems for them and I don't want to expect too much out of them.
"It's overwhelming. At the end of the day they have to trust their instincts and go play early on, the first few games."
Skjei, obtained from the New York Rangers, was in the top defensive pairing with Jaccob Slavin, who played his offside. With defensmen Dougie Hamilton and Brett Pesce injured, the Canes have a shortage of right-hand shooting D-men.
Trocheck was acquired from Florida in a deal that sent centers Erik Haula and Lucas Wallmark and two prospects to the Panthers. The veteran center was put in Haula's slot on the third line between wingers Nino Niederreiter and Martin Necas.
Skjei and Trocheck both were used on the penalty kill, making some plays. Trocheck also was used on the power play.
With Reimer and Mrazek sidelined, the Canes have recalled Nedeljkovic and Anton Forsberg from the Charlotte Checkers of the American Hockey League. Forsberg has 45 games of NHL experience but Brind'Amour went with Nedeljkovic, a former Canes draft pick who was the AHL goaltender of the year in 2018-19.
"Ned's been here a long time," Brind'Amour said. "He's done everything we've asked of him."
Seguin scored off a rebound 51 seconds into the game for the Stars (37-20-6) and Hintz slipped past defenseman Joel Edmundson, another D-man playing his offside, for the second goal.
Jason Dickinson finished off the first-period scoring and Denis Gurianov had a second-period goal on a shot from the slot for a 4-1 lead.
