Hurricanes at Red Wings
After being the talk of the league following a sizzling 4-0-1 start, the Carolina Hurricanes have seen that conversation quieted with losses in three straight contests. The Hurricanes aim to get back to their winning ways on Monday when they visit the Detroit Red Wings, who posted their first victory of the season in the last outing.
"You don't want to let things snowball and go the wrong way," Carolina veteran forward Justin Williams told reporters following Saturday afternoon's 3-1 setback to Colorado. "The trick is to not let it become bigger than it is. Nip it. As long as we approach it that way, we'll be fine." Sebastian Aho registered his team-leading 13th point Saturday and extended his point streak to eight games, which ties the Hurricanes' record to start a season, with an assist on a goal from Micheal Ferland, who has tallied in three straight contests. Gustav Nyquist capped his second multi-point performance of the season when he scored 3:44 into overtime on Saturday as Detroit posted a 4-3 triumph over Florida. "Seven games and you're looking for your first win, it's not the position you want to be in, but finally we got that one and it feels nice," the 29-year-old Swede told reporters.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FS Carolinas, FS Detroit
ABOUT THE HURRICANES (4-3-1): Carolina's power play has been a sore spot, as the club failed on all five opportunities with the man advantage against the Avalanche to drop to 2-for-30 on the season - and one of those goals was into an empty net. "The power play is stale, and that's got to change," coach Rod Brind'Amour told the media. "That might be an area we shake up." Teuvo Teravainen, who scored on the power play in an 8-5 win over the New York Rangers on Oct. 7, has one goal and seven assists in his last seven games.
ABOUT THE RED WINGS (1-5-2): Defenseman Dennis Cholowski continues to make an impact during his rookie season, scoring a 5-on-3 goal in the second period on Saturday before notching an assist on Thomas Vanek's power-play goal to forge a 2-2 tie. "You can't be afraid of making a mistake, or else nothing's gonna happen," the 20-year-old Cholowski told reporters. "You're just gonna play conservative, and that's not gonna help anybody. You have to be able to try to make those plays that you were making in previous years." Dylan Larkin, who scored his team-leading fourth goal on Saturday, had three assists in three encounters with Carolina last season and seven points (two goals, five assists) in nine career meetings.
OVERTIME
1. Detroit G Jimmy Howard owns a 4-5-0 mark despite posting a .916 save percentage in nine career matchups with Carolina.
2. The Hurricanes have outshot their opponent in all eight games this season.
3. Vanek has two goals in his last three contests after recording a minus-6 rating while being held off the scoresheet in each of his previous five games.