Teravainen helps Hurricanes rout Wild, 5-1
Teuvo Teravainen had a goal with two assists, and Jordan Staal recorded one of each as the Carolina Hurricanes beat the visiting Minnesota Wild 5-1 on Saturday night in Raleigh, N.C.
Brett Pesce, Andrei Svechnikov and Lucas Wallmark also scored for the Hurricanes, who bounced back from Thursday's 6-3 home loss to Tampa Bay. A winner in five of seven, Carolina (41-26-7, 89 points) owns the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Minnesota (35-32-9, 79), meanwhile, fell to 2-5-1 over its last eight and sits just outside of playoff position in the West, one point back of Colorado.
It did not help that the Wild were minus leading scorer Zach Parise, who reportedly suffered a lower-body injury in Friday's 2-1 victory at Washington. Parise has 59 points on the season, and one in each of his last four games.
Following a scoreless first period, Staal put Carolina ahead 3:06 into the second. Staal, who has five points in his last four games, redirected a Justin Faulk shot off his skate and past Devan Dubnyk (28 saves).
It would be 2:26 later that Carolina extended its lead to 2-0 via a Minnesota defensive breakdown. Pesce delivered from the left circle for his seventh of the campaign.
Shortly after, though, the Wild pulled one back while on a four-minute power-play following a double-minor, high-sticking penalty to Carolina's Micheal Ferland. Eric Staal, brother of Jordan, banked one in off Hurricane goalie Petr Mrazek (24 saves) at 8:57 into the period. Eric Staal, who appeared hurt prior to the goal, skated out of the right corner to convert his 21st as Minnesota worked the puck well for a shot.
Svechnikov provided some insurance with his 19th of the season, 3:27 into the final period. Wallmark put things away with his 10th goal just before the midpoint of the third.
Teravainen then scored on a backhand off a breakaway. He has that goal and eight assists in the last seven contests.
With an assist, Justin Williams recorded his 300th point as a Hurricane.
--Field Level Media
