Jordan Staal was flattened Sunday. But for much of the game against the Dallas Stars, the Carolina Hurricanes captain stood tall.
Staal had a power-play goal early in the game and then set up Brock McGinn for a shorthanded goal in the second for the Canes, who took a 4-3 shootout win at PNC Arena and a sweep of the two-game Central Division series.
Dougie Hamilton and Vincent Trocheck scored in the shootout for the Canes (5-1-0), and goalie James Reimer stopped the Stars’ Jamie Benn on the final shootout shot to clinch it.
Nino Niederreiter’s goal with 2:35 left in the third tied the score 3-3. That came after the Stars (4-1-1) had jumped in front with third-period goals from Andrew Cogliano and Benn, who returned to the Dallas lineup after missing four games.
The Canes killed off a Hamilton penalty in the overtime to get the game to a shootout. Staal had a hand in that, too.
Staal took a big hit from behind from Benn in the first minute of the second period, knocking Staal to the ice and briefly out of the game. The Stars then tied the score when Jamie Oleksiak followed up a Benn shot.
Advantage, Dallas? Briefly.
Staal returned and soon was back on the ice. With the Canes killing off a Hamilton penalty, Staal set up McGinn for a blast from the left circle that beat goalie Anton Khudobin.
McGinn had his first goal of the season and the Canes their first shortie.
Staal scored in the first when he redirected Hamilton’s shot from the point on the power play for his first of the season. The Canes dominated play in the first, limiting the Stars to three shots after Dallas was held to 11 in a 4-1 loss on Saturday.
Staal going to the locker room 30 seconds into the second was unsettling for the Canes. Goalie Petr Mrazek left Saturday’s game in pain, holding his right hand, after a collision in net with teammate Max McCormick.
Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour had no update on Mrazek on Sunday, saying he continued to be evaluated. Brind’Amour said he hoped the four players who are off the NHL COVID-19 protocol list -- defenseman Jaccob Slavin and forwards Teuvo Teravainen, Warren Foegele, Jordan Martinook -- would be available for Tuesday’s game at Chicago.
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MCGINN WITH THE SHORTIE
Brock McGinn’s shorthanded goal has pushed the Canes ahead 2-1 lead after the second period.
McGinn’s first goal of the season, and the Canes’ first shortie, came on a blast from the left wing that beat goalie Anton Khudobin. Jordan Staal, who had a power-play score in the first, assisted on the McGinn goal as the Canes looked to kill off a Dougie Hamilton holding penalty.
The Stars tied the score in the second after a captain-on-captain hit that shifted momentum and had the Canes fuming.
Thirty seconds into the period, the Stars’ Jamie Benn launched into Staal from behind, knocking Staal to the ice. Staal, whose power-play goal in the first gave the Canes a 1-0 lead, had to leave the game after the hit that sent Benn to the penalty box. Staal returned later in the period.
The Stars then tied it 1-1 on a gosl by Jamie Oleksiak, who knocked the rebound of a Benn shot past James Reimer.
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CANES LEAD 1-0 AFTER FIRST
taal’s early power-play goal has given the Canes an 1-0 lead over the Stars after the first period.
Staal redirected a Dougie Hamilton shot from the point past goalie Anton Khudobin. Sebastian Aho also picked up an assist as the Canes, after converting three of five power plays Saturday, did it again at 1:58 of the first period.
It was the first goal of the season for Staal, Aho’s fifth assist and Hamilton’s fourth. Staal also won seven of eight draws in a strong first period.
The Stars had captain Jamie Benn back in the lineup after missing four games with an injury, and Stars coach Rick Bowness said he wanted his team to have a shooting mentality after being limited to 11 shots Saturday.
But the Canes had the puck much of the first and got off 12 shots while holding the Stars to three. Carolina killed off a Nino Niederreiter penalty without allowing a shot.
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GAME SETUP
The plan all along was for the Carolina Hurricanes to start goalie James Reimer on Sunday against the Dallas Stars in the second game of a back-to-back set at PNC Arena.
That’s didn’t change. But the Canes’ plans may have.
Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour, on his pregame media call Sunday, said he had no update on goalie Petr Mrazek, injured early in Saturday’s game with the Stars. Mrazek, who appeared to suffer a hand or wrist injury after a collision in net with teammate Max McCormick, continues to be evaluated and could have an MRI on Monday, Brind’Amour said.
McCormick, who injured a shoulder later in the first period Saturday after a hit along the boards, will not play Sunday and will be replaced by forward Drew Shore, a recent callup from the Chicago Wolves of the AHL. Shore, signed as a free agent in October, has 94 games of NHL experience with three teams and played last season in the KHL.
The Stars, beaten 4-1 on Saturday, will have Jamie Benn back in the lineup Sunday returning from a lower-body injury.
THE LINEUP
While the Canes had no morning skate Sunday, Brind’Amour will stick with the lines and D pairs that have won the past two games -- minus McCormick.
Sebastian Aho will center Brock McGinn and Andrei Svechnikov; Vincent Trocheck will center Nino Niederreiter and Martin Necas; Jordan Staal will center Steven Morentz and Ryan Dzingel and Morgan Geekie will be at center with Shore and Sheldon Rempal.
On the back end, Brady Skjei will pair with Dougie Hamilton, Jake Gardiner with Brett Pesce and Haydn Fleury with Jake Bean.
Alex Nedeljkovic, the Canes’ No. 3 goalie, was to serve as Reimer’s backup Sunday. Reimer faced just 11 shots Saturday.
COVID REPORT
Jesper Fast was the only Canes player on the NHL COVID-19 protocol list Saturday and Brind’Amour said he hoped to have the players recently coming off the list -- defenseman Jaccob Slavin and forwards Teuvo Teravainen, Warren Foegele, Jordan Martinook -- to be available for Tuesday’s game at Chicago.
“They’ve got to get up to speed and their conditioning has to be at the right level and they’ve to get cleared,” Brind’Amour said Sunday. “There’s a whole bunch of things that go on.”
The Blackhawks had five players on the NHL COVID list on Saturday. They canceled a scheduled practice Saturday as a precaution.
