Carolina Hurricanes open season with shootout win over Canadiens

The Hurricanes defeated the Canadiens 4-3 in a shootout to start the season.

After an offseason of waiting and feuding with the Montreal Canadiens, not even 65 minutes was enough time to decide the match-up on the ice. In the end, the Hurricanes defeated the Montreal Canadiens 4-3 in a shootout to start the season.

Dougie Hamilton pushed a wrist shot through Carey Price‘s five-hole for the only goal of the shootout and Petr Mrazek shut down all three Canadien shooters to get the win.

The talk all offseason was about the additions to the 3rd and 4th lines and they delivered on those expectations in the first game. The third and fourth lines scored all three goals for the Hurricanes tonight with Ryan Dzingel coming a crossbar away from making it four.

Despite being outshot 13-10 in the 1st period, the Hurricanes struck first. Lucas Wallmark fought through a check by Brett Kulak in front of the net to pound home a rebound to give the Hurricanes their first goal of the season.

The Canes entered the break up 1-0 and came out of the intermission firing. There are high hopes in Carolina for prospect Martin Necas and he validated some of that hype by depositing his first goal of the season just over two minutes into the second period.

After jumping out to a 2-0 lead, the wheels fell off for the Hurricanes as the Canadiens mounted a furious comeback to score three unanswered goals.

Goals by Tomas Tatar, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, and Jordan Weal staked the Canadiens to a 3-2 lead and silenced the PNC Arena crowd. The goals were a direct result of Carolina miscues and ineffective play.

Tatar’s goal came off a turnover in the defensive zone, while Kotkaniemi took advantage of a bad line change by the Hurricanes to tie the game.

But as we saw throughout the playoff run last year, the Hurricanes wouldn’t go away easily. New pick-up Erik Haula made his presence felt in his first game with the Hurricanes, banging home a rebound to tie the game at three late in the third period.

Mrazek was solid net for the Hurricanes, making 33 saves, including a crucial save in overtime on a point-blank shot that kept the game alive. He outdueled Price, who made 40 saves but couldn’t match Mrazek in the shootout.

The Hurricanes earned a big two points over a team that most fans are probably happy to be rid of. It’s a perfect start to what many hope to be another exciting season of hockey in Carolina.

And despite the rumors, the Hurricanes did, in fact, bring back the Storm Surge, going with a tribute to the first-ever Storm Surge last season.

The Hurricanes return to action on Saturday on the road against the Washington Capitals.