RALEIGH, N.C. _ As the games begin to count down in the NHL season, there will be times when a team's mental and physical toughness will be tested. Games will become a test of wills.
So it was Friday as the Carolina Hurricanes faced off against the Edmonton Oilers at PNC Arena. The Canes won, 3-1, getting two goals from Nino Niederreiter another sparkling game in net from goalie Curtis McElhinney.
The Canes (30-22-6), after a 4-1 road trip that was their best since 1998, began the game three points out of playoff position in the Eastern Conference. They were chasing both the Pittsburgh Penguins and Columbus Blue Jackets, two Metropolitan Division rivals, with no room for slippage.
McElhinney was the Canes' best player much of the game. He allowed an early goal to Leon Draisaitl as the Oilers converted on a two-on-one rush but was calm and steady after it on a night when the Canes were outshot, when the Oilers' Connor McDavid again demonstrated why he's the league's most explosive player.
The game's start was blistering, exciting. Niederreiter scored his first 37 seconds into the game. Less than a minute later, Draisaitl tied the score for the Oilers (24-28-5) with his 34th of the season, but Lucas Wallmark quickly gave the Canes the lead again off a Teuvo Teravainen pass.
After three goals in the first 2:16, both goalies settled in. McElhinney had to be sharp, especially with McDavid on the move and active much of the night. The Oilers' Mikko Koskinen, a giant in net at 6-7, didn't face as much work but also made some timely saves before Neiderreiter scored his second late in regulation, again off a Sebastian Aho assist.
Neiderreiter has scored eight goals in 12 games since the trade from Minnesota. Aho's two assists gave him 66 points this season, setting a career high.
McDavid was not much of a factor in the Jan. 20 game in Edmonton, when the Canes won, 7-4, and Niederreiter and Wallmark each scored twice. But No. 97 was a handful Friday, although the Canes' defensive pairing of Calvin de Haan and Trevor van Riemsdyk did their best in containing him.
Things turned chippy late in the second. The Oilers' Kris Russell flattened Niederreiter with a cross-check behind the Edmonton net, but there was no call. An angry Niederreiter jumped back up and quickly slammed into the Oilers' Oscar Klefbom along the boards.
After all the bodies were separated, Niederreiter was headed to the penalty box for a boarding penalty and Canes fans booing the refs before and after _ although a lot louder after _ the replay was shown on the video board.
McElhinney and the Canes got the job done on the penalty kill, although there was another skirmish, this one in front of the Canes' net. Roughing penalties were called on both Carolina's Jordan Martinook and the Oilers' Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.
McElhinney snuffed out one late chance on the Oilers' power play, stopping a shot in tight by forward Ty Rattie, who once spent time with the Canes.
McElhinney's sharp play continued in the third as he stopped a point-blank shot by Colby Cave with about 14 minutes left in regulation, then denied McDavid from the slot with 5:25 left.
McElhinney, who is 15-6-1, has won his last four starts and eight of his last nine.
