RALEIGH, N.C. — With four straight games coming up against the Tampa Bay Lighting, the Carolina Hurricanes needed to take care of business Friday against the Chicago Blackhawks.
Playing with a sense of urgency, the Canes did that, taking charge in the third period for a 5-3 victory at PNC Arena.
The Canes and Blackhawks were to have played a back-to-back set. The NHL changed that Friday morning, postponing Saturday’s game and instead slotting in the Lightning.
Nino Niederreiter, continuing to put together a strong bounce-back season, scored twice and had an assist for the Canes (11-3-1). He had the first goal of the game, then added a power-play to give Carolina a 4-2 lead in the third.
Martin Necas also had a power-play goal in the third period that pushed the Canes ahead 3-2. And had Chicago goalie Kevin Lankinen not made a pad save moments later, Necas would have scored again.
Jaccob Slavin had a goal and assist for the Canes, scoring his first of the season on an empty-net goal.
Vincent Trocheck’s goal in the second, off a nice give-and-go with defenseman Jake Bean, gave the Canes a 2-0 lead. But the Blackhawks scored twice in the final 3:21 of the second for a 2-2 tie.
Patrick Kane, a man of many moves, scored on a spinning backhander to give the Blackhawks (9-6-4) their first goal. In the final seconds of the period, Chicago then had an extra attacker on a delayed penalty against the Canes and defenseman Ian Mitchell was open at the top of the slot for a shot and score.
Canes goalie James Reimer, shaky at times, was at his best in the third in earning his eighth win of the season. The Blackhawks did get a late power-play score from Carl Soderberg as Kane picked up an assist.
