Log In | Register
RALEIGH — Jussi Jokinen scored on a deflection with 8:05 left to lift the Carolina Hurricanes past the San Jose Sharks, 3-2 on Friday night.
Jeff Skinner and Justin Faulk scored 3:03 apart in the first period for the Hurricanes, who let a two-goal lead slip away before regrouping to beat the Pacific Division leaders.
The Southeast Division's last-place team won its second straight, earned points in its sixth consecutive game and improved to 10-3-1 in its last 14 at home.
Dan Boyle and Brent Burns scored in a 2:26 span of the third for the Sharks, who fell to 1-2-1 midway through their nine-game road swing and have lost five of seven overall.
Justin Peters made 35 saves in his first start since Jan. 7 and third of the season. His first victory came in a battle of the backups against Thomas Greiss, who stopped 22 shots in place of Antii Niemi.
A solid dump-in by Jaroslav Spacek started the sequence that led to Jokinen's winner. Drayson Bowman cycled the puck out to Jamie McBain at the blue line, and McBain unloaded a blast that Jokinen tipped past Greiss.
The Sharks trailed 2-0 after two periods but tied it fewer than 4 minutes into the third after they received goals from a pair of defensemen.
Boyle struck 1:26 into the third when he snapped the puck past Peters from the back edge of the circles. Burns made it 2-all with 16:08 to play when he took a feed from Dominic Moore and beat the Carolina backup.
Peters stopped the last 13 shots he faced, including a sprawling save — with some help from defenseman Bryan Allen — on Patrick Marleau's point-blank attempt with about 1:20 left.
Greiss was in goal one night after coach Todd McLellan ripped starter Niemi, saying "he wasn't any good" in a 6-5 overtime loss at Tampa Bay.
The Sharks didn't arrive until late Friday morning because foggy conditions in Raleigh on Thursday night kept their flight grounded in Florida, and they fell behind early after allowing a pair of goals.
Skinner put the Hurricanes up 1-0 with 12:29 left in the first with a fluky goal. His shot along the end line clipped the back of Greiss' skate and went in for the reigning rookie of the year's 16th goal and fourth in 12 games since since returning from a concussion.
Then, Faulk — their latest Calder Trophy candidate — made it a two-goal game just over 3 minutes later on the power play. The rookie defenseman took a pretty backdoor feed from Jiri Tlusty and buried it into an open net.
NOTES: Tlusty has points in six straight games, while Carolina C Eric Staal has points in four in a row. ... Moore made his debut with San Jose, one day after he was acquired in a trade with the Lightning. ... The Sharks scratched D Douglas Murray, who was hit in the throat with a puck in the Tampa Bay game. ... Carolina skated without RW Chad LaRose (upper body).
