Hurricanes begin homestand against hot Red Wings
RALEIGH, N.C. -- The Carolina Hurricanes have something to build on and they will begin a six-game homestand Saturday night at PNC Arena.
The Detroit Red Wings, who will be the opponent, have been building in the right direction for quite some time.
The Hurricanes will be home for the first time since Oct. 30, going 1-2-1 in four road games since then.
Carolina won 4-3 on Thursday night at Chicago, something that could be a springboard to a better stretch.
"Hopefully we can use that moving forward here and get on a roll," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "We've been struggling to score so that put the monkey off the backs so to speak,"
The Red Wings have won five of their last six games after an overtime victory Friday night against the host New York Rangers.
Carolina goalie Scott Darling could be in line for his second home assignment of the season. He picked up his first victory in three outings this season Thursday night.
"He was solid, and he looked pretty calm in there," Brind'Amour said. "Hopefully he moves forward from that and has another good start."
The Hurricanes were outshot for the first time this season in the 4-3 victory at Chicago, with a 38-34 tally in that game, which snapped a five-game winless stretch for Carolina.
"We sat back a little, that's human nature," Brind'Amour said. "We felt pretty good about our overall game. ... The battle level was really good."
Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said his team can still make upgrades, pointing to special teams as an area that can always become better.
"It's early and it's a relentless league, so we'd better keep getting better at (special teams)," Blashill said. "A big part of the power play is making big plays."
Red Wings center Dylan Larkin scored the winning goal in overtime Friday night just three nights after he left a game with an ailment. He said he was ready for action and it showed by what he did on the ice.
"We're continuing to find ways to win," Larkin said. "We're not getting rattled like we were early in the season ... when something bad happens."
Detroit is getting multiple sources of scoring, something that is making it more difficult to prepare for the team.
"We've had great depth with guys coming in and scoring big goals," Larkin said.
For the Hurricanes, there were some notables from the Chicago game. Defenseman Calvin de Haan's goal marked his first score as a member of the Hurricanes. Left winger Phil Di Giuseppe, who was in his first game since being recalled from Charlotte of the American Hockey League, posted his first goal of the season. Center Lucas Wallmark notched two assists for the first multi-point game of his career.
Carolina left winger Micheal Ferland, who has a team-high seven goals, became ill during the Chicago game and so he skipped some shifts. Brind'Amour said he doesn't think it's a serious situation.
Detroit defeated Carolina 3-1 at home on Oct. 22.
