The Carolina Hurricanes have won three of their last four games and look to ride that momentum into Sunday night’s game against the visiting San Jose Sharks.
It will be the second of a back-to-back for the Hurricanes, who defeated the visiting Nashville Predators 6-3 on Saturday night.
Jackson Blake had two goals and an assist to end a six-game pointless streak.
“(Blake) is skating, holding onto the puck, making some good plays,” said linemate Nikolaj Ehlers, who had a goal and two assists. “And shooting the puck as well. For me it’s the same. When I shoot the puck, that’s when I’m at my best. When us three are able to have that shoot-first mentality, we’re a pretty fast line.”
Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour also praised Blake.
“‘(Blake) especially had a real solid game,” Brind’Amour said. “You don’t even have to know hockey. Just watch it; he stands out almost every shift.”
Logan Stankoven — Blake and Ehlers’ linemate on the Hurricanes’ second line — added an assist.
“As a line, us three are known for being pretty skilled, I would say,” Blake said. “When you’re not providing offense for the team, it’s kind of a mental struggle a little bit. Tonight was good for all of us to get rewarded.”
Rookie goaltender Brandon Bussi made 19 saves and won his sixth straight start.
Meanwhile, the slumping Sharks lost 4-1 to the host Dallas Stars on Friday night.
It was San Jose’s second consecutive loss and third in its last four games.
Collin Graf scored the Sharks’ only goal and Yaroslav Askarov made 20 saves.
“I mean, it can’t really get worse than the Washington game (a 7-1 loss on Wednesday), so I thought for the most part we battled with (the Stars), just a couple mistakes and didn’t get the result,” Graf said. “But a loss is a loss, and we got to get back in the win column.
“Obviously, things weren’t going our way the last game, and we weren’t generating a whole lot today,” he said, “so I think it’s just trying to get puck to the net and sometimes the bounces are with you.”
Jeff Skinner returned after missing 10 games with a lower-body injury.
“I feel fine. Obviously, we would like to have a better result, but I feel fine,” Skinner said. “It’s a good team, there’s not a lot of space, couldn’t really get to the inside much. They closed the lanes up and were blocking shots. I thought as the game went on, we got better. I thought we had some looks on the power play, we just couldn’t find it when we needed it.”
The game was tied 1-1 until the Stars scored three times in the last half of the third period.
“I thought we did some good stuff,” San Jose defenseman Timothy Liljegren said. “Obviously, it was a close game there until they scored their second. (I) thought we came out a little flat in the first, but came back in the second but, obviously, lost in the third. … It was for sure better, but I think it’s a process and we can still play a lot better.”
