RALEIGH, N.C. _ Successful on the road, the Carolina Hurricanes couldn't follow up at home Saturday.
Coming off the most successful five-game road trip in franchise history, the Canes were looking to please a near-sellout crowd at PNC Arena with a victory against the Florida Panthers. Provide some early Christmas cheer, so to speak.
Instead, the Panthers turned to rookie goalie Chris Driedger and shut down the Canes 4-2.
Coaches always fear the unpredictability of the first game home after a long road trip. There's often the jet-lag factor and players relaxing and getting a little too cozy back on home ice. That was the concern of Canes coach Rod Brind'Amour.
Nino Niederreiter scored in the third period for Carolina, but Noel Acciari quickly gave Florida a 4-1 cushion with his seventh goal in three games. Lucas Wallmark's goal pulled the Canes within 4-2, but Carolina, which beat the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday with a late rally, couldn't pull off another comeback.
The Canes were 4-0-1 on the road, taking nine of a possible 10 points, on a trip that began Dec. 10 against Edmonton. They also had center Erik Haula back in the lineup Saturday for the first time since Nov. 16 _ Haula missing 15 games with knee issues _ and were all full strength.
But the Panthers (18-12-5) also have been playing well, scoring 13 goals in big wins over Ottawa and Dallas to end a nine-game homestand before the trip to Raleigh.
Acciari had consecutive hat tricks for the Panthers in the two wins, becoming the first Florida player to do it since Pavel Bure in February 2001. Had Acciari done it again Saturday, he would have set NHL history.
Evgenii Dadonov had a first-period breakaway for his 13th goal, Brian Boyle had a power-play score in the second and Jonathan Huberdeau's power-play goal 26 seconds into the third made it 3-0. Then, Acciari.
Driedger, big in net at 6-4 and 205 pounds, is the first Florida goalie to have a shutout in his NHL debut _ Nov. 30 against the Nashville Predators _ and was in charge and poised throughout Saturday's game. After Teuvo Teravainen's goal, he made a strong stop on a Ryan Dzingel shot to keep it a 3-1 game.
The Canes (22-12-2) had some sloppy puck management in the first period and some bad penalties throughout the game. Andrei Svechnikov had two high-sticking calls in the second period and Wallmark an interference call in the offensive zone in the second.
Late in the period, referees Wes McCauley and Ghislain Hebert huddled while Brind'Amour steamed on the Canes bench. Svechnikov was called for his second high-sticking penalty and for unsportsmanlike conduct, and defenseman Joel Edmundson for an unsportsmanlike penalty. The Panthers' Brett Connolly, who Edmundson believed had embellished the call against Svechnikov, and Josh Brown both were hit with unsportsmanlike penalties.
Edmundson and Brown both dropped the gloves and were ready to fight. The crowd wanted it. The refs did not, separating the two players. When the period ended 30 seconds later, Canes fans booed the refs off the ice.
The Panthers, who had lost five straight to the Canes, quickly took advantage in the third, Huberdeau scoring his 13th on the power play.
