There are no good ways for a team to have a long winning streak come to an end.
There are bad ways, however.
The Carolina Hurricanes had their eight-game win streak end Tuesday against the Detroit Red Wings, who outplayed the Canes in a 4-2 victory at Little Caesars Arena.
The Canes (20-7-1) had too many penalties. They allowed two power-play scores. Their goalie, James Reimer, was shaky much of the game, twice losing his stick, giving up too many rebounds and being outplayed by the Wings’ Jonathan Bernier.
The Wings took the 3-2 lead in the second on a rush into the Canes zone as Dylan Larkin dropped off a pass to Robby Fabbri for the score at 12:28. Filip Hronnek had a late-empty netter in the final seconds of regulation.
The Canes have often found ways to win games this season when they have not been at their best. They weren’t at their best Tuesday and they couldn’t find a way to win.
It was Carolina’s first loss in March and the first since a 3-1 defeat at Tampa Bay on Feb. 25.
Nino Niederreiter had the first goal of the game, his 13th of the season, scoring on a power play for the Canes early in the first period. Sebastian Aho then scored his 11th early in the second for Carolina to tie the score 2-2.
But the Red Wings (9-17-4) always had a response. Adam Erne scored twice on the power play in the first, taking advantage of Reimer without a stick on the first. Both came off rebounds.
In the second, the Wings scrambled to keep the Canes from scoring shorthanded and take the lead. Bernier managed to make the stop, smothering the puck among a pile of bodies in the crease.
The Canes’ Dougie Hamilton, who had a career-high 11 shots in the game, extended his point streak to nine games with an assist on the Aho goal, the longest active streak in the league.
The Canes pressured Bernier in the third, forcing him into some tough stops. On the Canes’ end, forward Brock McGinn blocked a shot with Reimer well out of position to keep it a one-goal game.
The Canes again played without center Vincent Trocheck, who missed his third game. Forward Warren Foegele left the game with an upper-body injury.
Hamilton tied Ulf Samuelsson (1987-88) for the second-longest point streak in franchise history by a defenseman -- Mark Howe had an 11-game point streak in 1979-80.
The Canes next have another scheduling quirk: four straight games against the Columbus Blue Jackets. The first two will be at PNC Arena, where they go at it Thursday.
