Hurricanes at Wild
The Carolina Hurricanes are one of four teams without a regulation loss in the first 10 days of the season as they embark on a three-game road trip that begins with a matchup against the Minnesota Wild on Saturday night. The Hurricanes have won the last three contests while totaling 16 goals and can match the best start in franchise history since the Hartford Whalers went 4-0-1 to open the 1995-96 campaign.
“There’s still a lot of room for improvement, which is good, but we’re finding ways to win, which is better,” Carolina’s first-year coach Rod Brind’Amour told reporters after Tuesday’s 5-3 victory over Vancouver. Sebastian Aho has led a potent offense for the Hurricanes, who are 1-for-10 on the power play in the early going, with six points and they will face a Minnesota team coming off its first victory of the season. The Wild rallied from a two-goal deficit Thursday and scored with 23 seconds left in regulation to tie it before Jason Zucker’s overtime tally gave them a 4-3 victory against Chicago. “We all knew we haven’t been great the first two games,” Minnesota center Eric Staal told reporters. “So it was the response we needed to have from us and from guys that are counted on here. So we wanted to make sure we were ready to play, and (Thursday) was the night we had to stick with it obviously right to the end.”
TV: 6 p.m. ET, FS Carolinas, FS North (Minnesota)
ABOUT THE HURRICANES (3-0-1): Rookie forward Warren Foegele has gotten off to a strong start with three goals and an assist while skating for veterans Jordan Staal and Justin Williams, giving him five tallies and two assists in six NHL games. “He’s fun to watch, another tenacious player who’s constantly moving his feet and constantly pressuring the puck,” Staal told the Raleigh News & Observer. “He’s a big body and holds the puck well. He’s got sneaky good hands and good vision.” Staal and fellow power forward Micheal Ferland have each totaled five points while Jordan Martinook, Calvin de Haan and Justin Williams at a team-best plus-five rating.
ABOUT THE WILD (1-1-1): Zucker, a left wing who had a career-high 64 points last season, rebounded from a rough first two games with a pair of goals to go along with an assist and 10 shots in Thursday’s victory. Zucker (99 career goals), fellow forwards Zach Parise and Eric Staal, and defenseman Ryan Suter share the team lead with three points while Minnesota is one of six teams without a power-play goal - going 0-for-7. Goalie Devan Dubnyk turned aside 77 of 80 shots in the first two games without a victory before stopping 27 of 30 against Chicago but backup Alex Stalock could get his first start with three games in four days.
OVERTIME
1. Carolina D Dougie Hamilton shares the team lead with Staal and Ferland at 14 shots and has posted two assists in four games.
2. Suter had a pair of assists Thursday move past Marian Gaborik (218) for third on the franchise’s all-time list with 220.
3. The Wild has points in nine of the last 10 games (8-1-1) against the Hurricanes, including a 6-2 victory at Minnesota last season.