New coach Kirk Muller gets first win with Carolina Hurricanes over Edmonton Oilers 5-3 -NHL Update
It was easy to see that new Carolina head coach, Kirk Muller, could not have been easier as his team finally performed up to expectations with the Hurricanes thrashing Edmonton Oilers, 5-3, Wednesday night, December 7, 2011, at the sold-out Rexall Place
in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Muller was hired over former coach, Paul Maurice, and was given the position to actually lead the team to some wins, which he is surely happy to get, their first in the past eight matchups.
"It feels good," Muller said after the contest. "The game is all about emotion. You have nights you want to forget and nights that are fun. To get the first win is night, and I'm really proud of the way the guys played hard after last night [a 7-6 loss in
Calgary]."
Eric Belanger gave Edmonton the go ahead lead midway through the opening period for his first of the 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season but Carolina rookie, Jeff Skinner, came right back for his 12th on their initial power play
opportunity of the night during a breakaway chance unassisted with less than 38 seconds remaining.
Jamie McBain followed right back in the first five minutes of the second period while Edmonton lost Andy Sutton for boarding to a minor penalty. Patrick Dwyer potted another Carolina goal while Chad LaRose extended the lead while the team was shorthanded.
Ben Eager also added his first of the season nine seconds after LaRose to keep the Oilers alive in the contest.
Tuomo Ruutu scored another 3:43 into the third period, which would come to be the game-winner as the Oilers failed to add anymore after first-year rookie, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins potted his 13th with less than seven minutes to go.
"It's nice to be able to smile after a game," Hurricanes goalie Cam Ward said. "It's been a while since we won a hockey game. We wanted to do this for Kirk. He's been great since he got here. We rebounded from a tough loss (Tuesday) night and played a really
good hockey game.
Carolina has the next against the Winnipeg Jets on Friday on the road while Oilers face the Colorado Avalanche on the same day.
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