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Despite many players being unavailable, the Carolina Hurricanes held on for a 5-3 win over the Detroit Red Wings tonight.
The Hurricanes had eight players out, as Sebastian Aho, Ian Cole, Seth Jarvis, Steven Lorentz, Jordan Staal and Andrei Svechnikov remained in COVID protocol, while Jalen Chatfield and Jordan Martinook were out with injuries. As a result, Jack Drury made his NHL debut, while Stefan Noesen and Andrew Poturalski drew into the lineup and the Hurricanes played with just 10 forwards. Tony DeAngelo and Brett Pesce also returned to the lineup, providing a big boost on defense.
In the first period, the Hurricanes capitalized on an early power play after some key saves by Frederik Andersen, as Nino Niederreiter opened the scoring only about two minutes in. The Red Wings didn’t take long to respond though, as Sam Gagner got to a puck in front and spun for a shot, beating Andersen to tie the game at 1-1.
The scoring didn’t stop there, as Tony DeAngelo picked up a puck that came off the boards and beat Nedeljkovic. Detroit would tie the game once again though, as Dylan Larkin got in on a breakaway and slid a puck past Andersen. When it seemed as though we’d head into the intermission tied though, Jack Drury got a shot off then followed up his rebound to score his first NHL goal and get the Hurricanes ahead once again.
The Red Wings evened the game partway through the second period, as it looked like Andersen had made a great save on Tyler Bertuzzi, but the puck had crossed the line, tying the game 3-3. It was a less eventful frame but the Hurricanes did give up some pretty good chances and it wasn’t the team’s strongest period.
The Hurricanes took the lead back once again just 18 seconds into the third period though, as Niederreiter scored his second goal of the game from quite a poor angle while coming down the wing. Carolina did a great job limiting chances after that and in the dying seconds, Vincent Trocheck added an empty netter to secure a 5-3 win.
Considering all the absences and the team only going with 10 forwards, this was a really impressive effort. The Hurricanes have managed to stay a top team despite some key absences but this was another level of adversity. It says something about how good this team is that they can be without so many important forwards and still battle to get the win.
Jack Drury scoring his first NHL goal was also a cool moment. He didn’t look out of place tonight.
On another note, while I wasn’t a fan of Alex Nedeljkovic being traded, he didn’t look great in his return to Carolina. That said, it’s still nice to see him having success with the Red Wings this season.
The Hurricanes’ next game comes on Saturday against the Los Angeles Kings.
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Supersurvey
OTHER ARTICLES FROM DECEMBER
Hurricanes lose to Stars as three defensemen remain in COVID protocol
Hurricanes get back on track with big win over Sabres
Hurricanes off to strong start on road trip with win over Jets
Hurricanes pick up overtime win against Flames
Hurricanes defeat Oilers but fall to Canucks in weekend back-to-back
Hurricanes vs. Wild game postponed, several players test positive for COVID 
Carolina Hurricanes Blogger • 
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