The Carolina Hurricanes flew into Helsinki, Finland, with four points and a confidence-building start to the 2010-2011 NHL season in mind.
And, as the back-to-back concluded Friday afternoon, they achieved exactly what they were looking for.
With a 2-1 shootout victory over the Minnesota Wild to back up their 4-3 win over the Wild the day before, Carolina returns to North America leading the league in points. While it's still a little premature to say that means much, leading the league was certainly something the 'Canes never got to experience last season.
The Hurricanes came through in Game 1 after holding on in the closing minutes. After Brandon Sutter scored the Hurricanes' first goal of the season with seconds remaining in the first period, tying the game at 1-1, Anton Babchuk gave Carolina their first lead of the season just minutes into the second. Although former Hurricane Matt Cullen again knotted the score soon after, late-period goals by Brandon Sutter, yet again, and Jussi Jokinen put the Hurricanes up 4-2 at the break.
A conservative, quiet third period kept the score like that until Brent Burns found the back of the net ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Mark Jones
Carolina Hurricanes Win Both Games Against Minnesota Wild in 2010 NHL Premiere
October 9th, 2010 by Mark Jones Leave a reply »
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