Panthers shut out Hurricanes 6-0 in second-half comeback – Hockey Writers – NHL News

As the final horn sounded on Saturday afternoon (Nov. 30) in Sunrise, Florida, half of the Carolina Hurricanes' November games were over. Mercifully, it was needed for the Hurricanes, as two games after Thanksgiving didn't go their way. After losing on Friday, Nov. 29, 6-3 in Raleigh, falling to South Florida and losing 6-0 in a game that saw the Panthers dominate from start to finish.

Recap of the game

After the first 20 minutes there was a lot of hope as the Hurricanes outscored the Panthers 11-9 in the first half to make it 0-0. As the game progressed, it was all about the church as they went on to outscore the visitors 26-9 in the last 40 minutes. The Panthers had two goals in the second half by Aaron Ekblad and Mackie Samoskevich. Samoskevich's goal was on the power play, the first of three goals in the game. Ekblad's goal came after their first goal was ruled out for offside, but it was disallowed even though the referees wanted to interfere with the goalkeeper.

Related: Hurricanes' Winning Streak snaps to 6-3 at Panthers

Despite going down 2-0 after 40 minutes, there was still time for the Hurricanes to climb back into the game. They returned earlier in the week against the Dallas Stars and the New York Rangers. There was to be hope for more magic from the team against the defending Stanley Cup champions.

Unfortunately, it was not to be, as things got worse for Rod Brind'Amour's team.

The third period saw four goals for the Panthers, two on power plays by Aleksander Barkov and Evan Rodriguez. They went 3 of 6 on the power play against a Hurricanes penalty kill unit that was top 10 in the NHL going into the game. Their other two goals came from Sam Bennett and Adam Boqvist, the latter's first of the season. The former scored his goal after leaving the penalty box. He was there to receive a pass interference penalty after hitting Jalen Chatfield on netminder Spencer Martin. The visitors had two shots in the final period compared to the home team's four goals.

In two games, Florida outscored Carolina 12-3 in six periods.

The next game for the Hurricanes (16-7-1) is Tuesday, December 3, vs the Seattle Kraken at home. The Panthers next game is December 3rd vs the Pittsburgh Penguins on the road.