2010 Compuware NHL Premier Series – Carolina Hurricanes win 4-3 against Minnesota Wild
The NHL regular kicked off today with the 3rd game that saw the Carolina Hurricanes play the Minnesota Wild. The match took place at the Hartwall Arena with around 12,000 spectators. The Carolina Hurricanes were looking to bounce back from the
defeat they faced from the hands of Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), St. Petersburg. The Minnesota Wild was looking to make a good start to the season with a win at home; this made the encounter all the more exciting.
1st Period
The early attacks were made by the home team as the home fans backed them and cheered their team. They were able to create scoring opportunities but couldn’t convert them into goals. The crowd went wild when Cal Cutterbuck hit the puck in the crowd.
The Carolina Hurricanes quickly identified the weak areas from where the Minnesota Wild was penetrating. However, it was too late too little as the Minnesota Wild were able to score in the 4th minute. The goal was scored by Guillaume Latendresse
from 12 feet by some good wrist work.
The Minnesota Wild was able to come with many scoring opportunities but couldn’t convert any of the chances into goals. But the away team, Carolina Hurricanes shifted gears in the last few moments of the period and were able to score in the last minute of
the period. Brandon Sutter scored the goal from 10 feet to level the score 1-1.
The end of the 1st period saw the Carolina Hurricanes stack up 10 goal attempts scoring once and the Minnesota Wild fired 7 shots out of which 1 goal was scored.
2nd Period
When the 2nd period started, neither of the teams was able to dominate. Both were looking rugged on the offence and weak while defending. As the period progressed, both teams were able to make their offences stable that resulted in many goal attempts.
Both teams ran to and fro, as the puck was seen moving quickly between the two goals. However, it was the Carolina Hurricanes who scored in the 6th minute of the 2nd period to take the lead. The goal was result of a spectacular 10 feet
backhand by Anton Babchuck.
The Minnesota Wild, with the support of the home crowd was able to score in the 10th minute when Matt Cullen netted the puck from 16 feet. This levelled the score and the Minnesota Wild was hopeful that they could regain the lead.
The Carolina Hurricanes shattered any such hope and stunned the home fans when they scored in the 12 minute through Jussi Jokinen’s 36 feet wrist off shot. Taking the lead with the score on 3-2, the Carolina Hurricanes pressed on for further goals. They
were successful in doing so when Brandon Sutter scored in the 19th minute to take the score 4-2 in favour of the Carolina Hurricanes.
The period ended with the Carolina Hurricanes scoring thrice out of the 14 goal attempts. The Minnesota Wild score once out of the 11 goal attempts they made.
3rd Period
Going in to the last period, the Minnesota Wild had to devise a strategy that would enable them to take the lead. This wasn’t the case as the Carolina Hurricanes was able to form a very strong defence that seemed impossible to get through.
The Carolina Hurricanes were not looking to score more goals with the score on 4-2 but were contend on not letting the 2 goal cushion slip. But this was not what happened as the Minnesota Wild was able to score in the 17th minute through Brent
Burns from 12 feet.
The game ended with the score 4-3 in favour of the Carolina Hurricanes. The Hurricanes were able to make 7 unsuccessful goal attempts and the Minnesota Wild score once out of the 11 goal attempts.
"I knew Backstrom didn't think I am going to throw the puck to the net," Jokinen said during a post-game press conference that included a mix between English and Finnish.
"I saw Eric there in front of the net so I tried to get the puck to the front of the net. I think I was a little lucky there."
"This League is too good and the teams are too close that if you give up three goals (in one period), that's a pretty big hill to climb,"
Richards said. "We battled, but we made some mistakes. I think we got outskated in some areas of the game that led to opportunities for them. We got caught watching at times, checking with our eyes instead of moving with our legs."
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