Blog: Hurricanes defeat Golden Knights in shootout

By Jesse Granger

Published Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2017 | 4:15 p.m.

Updated Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2017 | 9:54 p.m.

Carolina winger Phillip Di Giuseppe deked past Marc-Andre Fleury and backhanded the puck into the top of the net to give the Hurricanes a 3-2 shootout win over the Golden Knights.

Vegas and Carolina went back and forth to extra rounds in the shootout, but the Hurricanes scored two goals to the Golden Knights’ one.

It drops the Golden Knights overall record to 19-9-2 and 11-2-1 at home.

Golden Knights, Hurricanes tied after regulation

Both teams had chances in the third period, but neither were able to find the back of the net and Vegas and Carolina are headed to overtime.

The Hurricanes outshot the Golden Knights 35-23 in regulation. This is the fourth overtime game in the last five for the Golden Knights.

The Golden Knights fought back to tie the game on two separate occasions in the second period, and find themselves tied 2-2 with Carolina.

First, Deryk Engelland sniped a shot from the blue line into the top corner of the net to tie the game 1-1. It was Engelland’s third goal of the season and was assisted by David Perron and Erik Haula.

The Hurricanes quickly regained their lead, when Trevor van Riemsdyk beat Marc-Andre Fleury 4:58 into the period.

The Golden Knights would tie the game again when Colin Miller found Reilly Smith behind the Hurricane’s defense with a long stretch pass. Smith took the pass and beat Carolina goalie Cam Ward high.

Hurricanes lead 1-0 after first period

The Carolina Hurricanes have allowed the second fewest shots on goal in the entire NHL, and they showed why during the first period tonight at T-Mobile Arena.

Vegas was held to only six shots through the first 20 minutes of hockey, and trails Carolina 1-0.

The Hurricanes peppered Marc-Andre Fleury with shots early in his first game back after missing nearly two months. Fleury stopped the first 10 shots he faced, but gave up a goal on a play where Vegas defenseman Brayden McNabb fired a shot from behind his own net, off the stick of Carolina’s Marcus Kruger and into the goal.

The wild bounce was the only score of an otherwise uneventful first period.

Pre game

After 60 days on the shelf nursing a concussion, Golden Knights goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury makes his return tonight.

Vegas hosts the struggling Carolina Hurricanes at T-Mobile Arena, 25 games removed from Fleury’s injury.

“The guys are happy to have him back,” coach Gerard Gallant said. “When we got him, he was the face of our franchise, and he’s a big part of our club.”

Fleury impressed in the first three games of the season prior to the injury. The 33-year-old netminder won all three while allowing only four goals. The Red Wings scored six on him in his final game, but Fleury was injured for most of them.

Tonight, Fleury will be attempting to shake off the rust after two months without a live game.

“It’s a fast game and I just have to get used to the timing,” Fleury said. “Guys have good shots, so you’ve got to get used to it.”

The Hurricanes have struggled mightily this season, sitting at the bottom of the Metropolitan Division standings with only 29 points. Carolina is on the second night of a back-to-back following a 3-2 loss Monday night in Anaheim.

Riding a four-game losing streak, and losers of eight of their last 10 games, the Hurricanes are desperate for a win.

Carolina does have strengths. The Hurricanes are second in the NHL with 35.13 shots on goal per game and first in the league in shots on goal allowed per game, with only 29.06. However, they haven’t converted on many of those shots, with only 2.7 goals per game.

This is a tough spot for Carolina, in the fifth game of a six-game road trip against the Golden Knights, who have been nearly unbeatable at home.

Prediction : Golden Knights 5, Hurricanes 2

Season record for predictions: 17-10

Puck drops: 7 p.m.

Where: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas

Radio: Fox Sports 1340 AM and 98.9 FM

TV: AT&T SportsNet (DirecTV 684, Cox 1313, CenturyLink Prism 1760)

Betting line: Golden Knights plus-155, Total 6 minus-115 to the over

Golden Knights (19-9-1) (11-2-0 home)

Coach: Gerard Gallant

Goal leader: William Karlsson (15)

Assist leader: Jonathan Marchessault (16)

Expected goalie: Marc-Andre Fleury (3-1-0, 2.48 goals against average)

Carolina Hurricanes (11-11-7) (5-7-4 away)

Coach: Bill Peters

Goal leader: Jeff Skinner (11)

Assist leader: Teuvo Teravainen (16)

Expected goalie: Cam Ward (4-2-1, 3.12 goals against average)

Golden Knights game day roster

Forwards (12): Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Cody Eakin, Erik Haula, William Karlsson, Brendan Leipsic, Oscar Lindberg, Jonathan Marchessault, James Neal, Tomas Nosek, David Perron, Reilly Smith and Alex Tuch.

Defensemen (6): Deryk Engelland, Brayden McNabb, Colin Miller, Luca Sbisa, Nate Schmidt and Shea Theodore.

Goalies (2): Marc-Andre Fleury and Malcolm Subban