Brandon Sutter lights the lamp twice as Carolina Hurricanes storm Minnesota Wild in Helsinki
Guillaume Latendresse may have scored the first goal of the 2010-11 National Hockey League season, but he and his Minnesota Wild teammates fell to the Carolina Hurricanes in the first
game of the new season.
The game was played in Helsinki, Finland as part of a European start for several NHL teams. Latendresse opened the scoring by firing a shot past Hurricanes goaltender Cam Ward at 3:33
of the first period. Brandon Sutter would add his first of two goals with a tip-in at 19:50, with Jussi Jokinen and Jamie McBain supplying the assists.
Nearly six minutes into the second frame, Anton Babchuk put a backhand shot past Nicklas Backstrom. Babchuk, who had played last season in Russia with the Kontinental Hockey League, was
brought back by the Hurricanes during the offseason.
Former Hurricanes centre Matt Cullen took a big pass from Martin Havlat and launched a wrist shot that beat Ward for Minnesota’s second goal at 9:52. During the next seven minutes of play,
Jussi Jokinen tallied for Carolina, while Brandon Sutter scored his second goal of the night.
Down by a score of 4-2 in the third period, defenceman Brent Burns brought the Wild within one goal with a wrist shot at 16:39. The Wild would go on to create many more scoring chances
in the third period, but none of them managed to find the back of the net. Ward and the Hurricanes held on to the lead as long as they could, and eventually outlasted the Wild to skate off with a narrow victory. Ward stopped 26 of 29 shots to earn the win,
while Backstrom turned aside 27 of 31 shots.
There were a total of six Finnish players playing in front of their countrymen last night, and Hurricanes forward Jussi Jokinen was among them.
“We were nervous during the first 10 minutes,” Jokinen said of the Hurricanes’ play during the game. “Then we got bigger intensity and energy and played a good second period. They have
two good units offensively, but their weakness is the defence, and we used that, putting pressure on their defencemen.”
Jokinen was well-supported in the game, as he had friends and family from his hometown of Kalajoki make the trek down to Helsinki to watch him in action. He made the trip worthwhile for
them as he scored a goal and set up another.
The Hurricanes and Wild will face each other again in Helsinki on Friday evening, October 8, in the second game of a two-game series.
Tags: