Justin Williams scored the winning goal in a shootout to lift the Carolina Hurricanes over the Vancouver Canucks 4-3 on Sunday afternoon.
Williams wristed a shot inside the post to the right of Thatcher Demko, giving the Hurricanes a 2-1 edge in the shootout. Carolina goalie James Reimer then used his left pad to stop Bo Horvat to clinch the win.
It was Williams’ second shootout winner in four games since returning to the Hurricanes following an extended off-season. Carolina, which is 3-1 since Williams’ return, got goals in regulation from Nino Niederreiter, Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov as Reimer made 32 saves.
Elias Pettersson scored twice, Tyler Myers added a goal and Oscar Fantenberg and J.T. Miller each had two assists for Vancouver, whose five-game winning streak was snapped. Demko made 29 saves.
Pettersson scored the only goal of the first period when he corralled a loose puck in the slot and lifted a shot past Reimer high into the net. The Hurricanes responded with an energetic start to the second period, tying the score on a spinning backhander by Niederreiter and taking the lead when Aho scored after Jaccob Slavin’s shot hit teammate Warren Foegele in front of the net.
The Canucks tied it at 2 before the second intermission by taking advantage when Slavin broke his stick while attempting to start a breakout from the Carolina zone. Vancouver eventually worked the puck to Oscar Fantenberg, who backhanded it to the front of the net where Myers knocked it into the open net.
Svechnikov put the Hurricanes back in front 5:23 into the third period when he raced past Quinn Hughes and lifted a shot over Demko’s right shoulder. Pettersson tied it at the 9:06 mark of the third period when he knocked a bad-angle shot off Reimer and into the net.
In overtime, Temko preserved the tie when he stopped Teravainen with the shaft of his stick after a cross-ice feed from Brett Pesce.