RALEIGH, N.C. — With 86 points this season, the Carolina Hurricanes had twice as many as the Anaheim Ducks when the teams took the ice Saturday — which meant nothing once the puck dropped to start the game.
The Ducks had the best goalie in the game, John Gibson, and a team willing to play strong defense in front of him. That was enough as Anaheim ended a four-game road trip by holding off the Hurricanes, 3-2, ending the Canes’ five-game winning streak.
John Klingberg, Jakob Silfverberg and Troy Terry scored for the Ducks (19-34-7) and Gibson finished with 50 saves — the 11th game this season Gibson has had 40 or more stops, tops in the NHL.
Jesperi Kotkaniemi scored in the third — the center’s 11th of the season — after Anaheim had taken a 2-0 lead. Jaccob Slavin lifted a puck out of the Carolina zone to Kotkaniemi, who beat the Ducks down the ice.
Terry’s goal pushed the Ducks ahead 3-1, but the Canes’ Jesper Fast quickly answered with a redirection. Slavin couldn’t connect with an open net moments later with a chance to tie it.
The Canes had a late power play when Sebastian Aho was tripped with 2:18 left in the third. But Gibson made a sensational pad save on Andrei Svechnikov after the Canes emptied the net for a 6-on-4 advantage.
A week after the Stadium Series extravaganza and all that outdoor excitement, the Canes (39-11-8) had a hard time making things very uncomfortable for Gibson until the third period. There were offensive chances, but no one there to finish until Kotkaniemi finally did.
The Ducks blocked shots, a lot of them. They battled hard in front of their net, clearing the puck. They made the little plays needed to win despite mustering 15 shots against Canes goalie Frederik Andersen.
The Canes played Friday, shutting out Ottawa 4-0 behind Antti Raanta’s 32 saves. They went into Saturday’s game 7-0-1 in the second game of their back-to-back sets this season and with a 21-6-2 home record — which meant nothing once the puck dropped.
After a scoreless first, Klingberg gave the Ducks a 1-0 lead at 16:18 of the second period, taking a pass from Trevor Zegras and blasting a shot from the bottom of the right circle that beat Andersen to the far side.
The Canes had two power plays in the second but were more dangerous playing 4-on-5 on their penalty kill than with the 5-on-4 advantage. Jordan Martinook and Aho both had short-handed chances in the second after Aho drew a penalty on Kevin Shattenkirk.
Gibson made a save on a Seth Jarvis shot early in the third. Silfverberg then pushed the margin to 2-0 at 4:06 of the third with a shot from the low slot.
But the Slavin-to-Kotkaniemi combination clicked 13 seconds later to get the Canes on the board and the third period was exciting.
