RALEIGH, N.C. _ Carolina Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour believed the Canes were playing their best hockey of the season _ before the NHL All-Star Game break, before their mandated bye week.
The long rest period over, the Canes finally returned to the ice Friday to play, looking for a victory over the Vegas Golden Knights at PNC Arena. They got it, 5-2.
Nino Niedereitter scored his fifth goal in five games since his trade to the Canes for a 1-1 tie in the first period, and Brett Pesce and Jordan Martinook had goals in the second _ Martinook finishing off a memorable week in which he became a father with the birth of his son, Chase, and signed a two-year contract extension.
The Canes' Sebastian Aho, coming off his first All-Star appearance, then provided an all-star move in the third, sweeping down the ice and scoring with a quick backhand that beat Vegas goalie Max Lagace to the short side. That made it 4-2, Canes.
Goalie Petr Mrazek earned his 11th win of the season and Justin Faulk became a new franchise leader in career points by a defenseman for the Canes (25-20-6), 10-3-1 in their past 14 games. Faulk also had a late empty-net goal.
Defenseman Shea Theodore had both goals for the Golden Knights (29-20-4), who also were playing their first game after the All-Star break and their bye week.
The game didn't start well for the Canes. Theodore's first goal, barely five minutes into the first period, came on a power play and gave the Golden Knights a quick lead. Theodore's blast from the right wing caught Mrazek a little deep in net, but the Canes rebounded.
Niedereitter and Justin Williams teamed up for a tying goal on a play that also was the record-setter for Faulk.
Faulk tried to pass to Williams as he went to the front of the crease, only to have Williams use the back of his right skate to kick the puck to Niedereitter in the slot. The shot was true and Niedereitter had his fifth goal since the Jan. 17 trade from the Minnesota Wild.
Faulk's assist gave him 241 career points, passing Dave Babych for the franchise record for points by a defenseman. Babych set the record from 1985-91 with the Hartford Whalers.
Goals by Pesce and Martinook, sandwiched around Theodore's second of the game, left the Canes with a 3-2 lead entering the third.
Pesce's fourth of the season may have been his easiest. Lagace lunged out of the net attempting to play the puck, only to have Vegas' Brayden McNabb fall over him, leaving the net open for a Pesce snipe.
Martinook's goal came 36 seconds after Theodore had tied the score 2-2 with a shot from the left circle that had Mrazek screened. On a rush into the zone late in the period, Brock McGinn's pass set up Martinook for his 11th of the season, tying his career high set in 2016-17 with the Arizona Coyotes.
Mrazek was forced to make a couple of late saves in the second to preserve the lead.
With a road game Saturday against the Florida Panthers, Vegas coach Gerard Gallant decided to give Lagace his first start of the season. Lagace also made a couple of sparkling stops in the second period, denying Canes rookie Andrei Svechnikov with the tip of his left skate at the post and later sprawling out after a Niedereitter shot to smother the puck.
