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The Carolina Hurricanes continued their recent slide, falling 3-2 in overtime to the Florida Panthers last night.
It was a relatively even first period which saw the Hurricanes generate some good chances. They managed to open the scoring near the end of the frame, when Teuvo Teravainen just threw the puck on net and it somehow found its way past Sergei Bobrovsky, giving the Hurricanes a lead after 20 minutes.
Carolina nearly extended their lead early in the second period off a scramble in front, but Lucas Carlsson made a ridiculous save to keep the puck out. The Panthers took over in the second period after that, outshooting Carolina by an 11-6 margin. Aleksander Barkov then managed to tie the game later in the period, sneaking a puck through Frederik Andersen to make it 1-1 heading into the final period.
The Hurricanes took their lead back in the third period, as Tony DeAngelo’s point shot deflected in off Gustav Forsling’s skate. However, the Panthers dominated the rest of the frame, holding Carolina to just two shots in total. Andersen made some important saves in an attempt to preserve the lead but with under a minute to go, Sam Reinhart capitalized on a rebound, sending the game to overtime.
The extra frame didn’t last long, as Jonathan Huberdeau sent an excellent pass down ice to Aaron Ekblad, who went in on a breakaway to beat Andersen, giving Florida the win.
After a strong first period, the Hurricanes really struggled to get anything going. They were outshot 22-8 in the back 40 minutes and didn’t manage to generate many chances, especially off the rush.
With the loss, the Hurricanes have dropped four of their five games since the All-Star Break (though two of them did come in overtime). The team’s offense wasn’t as dynamic as we’re used to seeing and this was probably the first of the four losses where they were really outplayed (other than the first half of the outing against Ottawa).
The Panthers are good competition but if the Hurricanes really are a contender, the performance against the Panthers isn’t justified simply based on quality of competition. They were held to just 18 shots and while there isn’t reason to worry, they do need to find a way out of the current slide.
Carolina’s next game comes tomorrow against the Nashville Predators.
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PollMaker
OTHER ARTICLES FROM FEBRUARY
Hurricanes drop both games of back-to-back, fall to Leafs and Senators
Hurricanes beat Bruins 6-0 to sweep season series
Hurricanes wrap up road trip with loss to Wild 
Carolina Hurricanes Blogger • 
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