Hurricanes 3, Avalanche 2
RALEIGH, N.C. -- The Carolina Hurricanes produced all their offense after the midway mark of the game, posting a 3-2 victory against the Colorado Avalanche on Friday night at PNC Arena to run their winning streak to three games.
Potentially road weary after seven consecutive games on the road, the Hurricanes picked up the pace and received goals from center Victor Rask, defenseman Justin Faulk and left winger Jeff Skinner.
Goalie Cam Ward made 28 saves for the Hurricanes, who played a home game for the first time in more than two weeks.
Left winger Alex Tanguay scored for the Avalanche, who lost for the fifth time in six games (1-4-1). Center Carl Soderberg scored on a tap-in with 31.8 seconds to play for his first goal of the season.
Right winger Kris Versteeg assisted on Carolina’s first two goals.
Ward, who blanked the Avalanche with 26 saves in a 1-0 overtime victory Oct. 21 in Denver, was tested several times early and answered the call throughout the game.
Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov wasn’t as effective as a night earlier as the Hurricanes collected three goals on their first 23 shots. He finished with 23 saves.
Carolina defenseman Brett Pesce had his first career point with an assist on Skinner’s goal.
The Hurricanes scored twice in a three-minute span of the second period to lead 2-1 going to the third period.
Faulk converted a power-play goal with 5:06 to play in the period.
Rask's goal came off a deflection amid a strong stretch for the Hurricanes.
Tanguay, who was without a goal for the first eight games of the season, has scored on back-to-back nights. His goal on Friday came 6:49 into the second period and was the game's first goal.
It also was the first time the Avalanche broke through against Ward in more than 88 minutes covering two games this season.
The first period was scoreless, though the Avalanche put 11 shots on goal.
Colorado's problems on power plays have been frustrating for the first few weeks of the season. That showed again with an abbreviated 5-on-3 advantage in the first period.
The Hurricanes almost converted on a power play just 20 seconds into the second period. That would-be goal by Faulk was nullified after video review showed the puck didn't completely cross the goal line.
NOTES: This marked the first of nine sets of games on back-to-back days for Colorado, which won Thursday night at Tampa Bay. ... The Avalanche went with G Semyon Varlamov for the second night in a row, in large part because of his strong 34-save work in the previous game. ... Hurricanes D Ryan Murphy played in his 100th career game, all with Carolina. ... D Brett Pesce and LW Brock McGinn, who both made NHL debuts during Carolina's seven-game road trip, appeared in their first home game. ... The Avalanche concluded a three-game road trip, returning home for Sunday afternoon's game against the San Jose Sharks. ... This began a four-game homestand for the Hurricanes, who meet the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday.