RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — Sean Walker scored twice and the Carolina Hurricanes held off the Minnesota Wild 4-3 on Thursday night at Lenovo Center in a physical contest that saw 45
combined penalty minutes.
Walker netted the game-winner at 16:51 of the first period, assisted by Seth Jarvis and Kyle
Miller, helping Carolina improve their home record. Jordan Blake also had a strong night
with a goal and two assists, earning second star honors.
The back-and-forth opening period featured five goals, with Matt Boldy putting Minnesota
up first before Carolina responded with three straight scores. Andrei Svechnikov and
Nikolaj Ehlers also tallied for the Hurricanes.
Tensions boiled over midway through the first when Jordan Staal received a match penalty
for instigating a fight with Rem Pitlick, who was ejected from the game. The incident
resulted in 22 combined penalty minutes.
Boldy’s power-play goal early in the second period, his second of the night, cut Carolina’s
lead to 4-3, but Frederik Andersen shut the door the rest of the way. The Danish netminder
stopped 20 of 23 shots to earn the victory.
Minnesota outshot Carolina 23-27 but couldn’t solve Andersen when it mattered most,
dropping their seventh road game of the season before 18,299 fans.