RALEIGH, N.C. - Nino Niederreiter’s second goal of the game 18 seconds into the third period was the tiebreaker, and the short-handed Carolina Hurricanes beat the Detroit Red Wings 5-3 Thursday night.
Tony DeAngelo and Jack Drury, who made his NHL debut, joined Niederreiter with first-period goals, and Vincent Trocheck added an empty-net score for the Hurricanes, who played with 16 skaters due to COVID protocols.
Frederik Andersen made 23 saves. Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Teuvo Teravainen and Martin Necas each had two assists for Carolina.
Sam Gagner, Dylan Larkin and Tyler Bertuzzi scored for the Red Wings. Former Carolina goalie Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 29 shots.
RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA - DECEMBER 16: Martin Necas #88 of the Carolina Hurricanes attempts a shot on Alex Nedeljkovic #39 of the Detroit Red Wings during the third period of the game at PNC Arena on December 16, 2021 in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Pho …
The NHL allowed the Hurricanes, who had a scheduled game Tuesday night at Minnesota postponed, to play with two fewer skaters than normal after calling up three players from the minor leagues under an emergency exemption.
Carolina was without team scoring leader Sebastian Aho, second-leading scorer Andrei Svechnikov, captain Jordan Staal, Ian Cole, Seth Jarvis and Steven Lorentz.
DeAngelo and Brett Pesce, both defensemen, were back on the ice for the Hurricanes after missing seven games because of COVID protocols.
The Red Wings have COVID cases, too. Robby Fabbri and Michael Rasmussen missed their first game of the season.
On Niederreiter’s tiebreaking goal, he collected the puck off the boards and buried a tough-angled shot past Nedeljkovic.
Drury knocked in a rebound of his own shot and the goal was the last of five scores in the first period, which ended with Carolina leading 3-2.
Drury became the 27th player in franchise history to score a goal in his first NHL game. He also joined his father, Jack Drury, as the third father-son duo to play for the organization. The elder Drury played for the Hartford Whalers 27 seasons ago.
The Hurricanes had averaged less than one first-period goal per game.
Nedeljkovic was one of last season’s finalists for the Calder Trophy, awarded to the league’s top rookie, when he played for the Hurricanes.
The contest marked the first of three Carolina home games in a four-day span.
HERE’S YOUR CHANCE
The Hurricanes were permitted to call up three players from their American Hockey League affiliate in Chicago. Aside from Drury, Andrew Poturalski played his in his third NHL game — and first since April 2017. It was the first Carolina game for Stefan Noesen.
Poturalski posted his first NHL point with the secondary assist on the game’s first goal.
The Hurricanes chartered a flight to bring back quarantined players from Vancouver and Minnesota. That trip finished during Thursday night’s game.
Getting the players home was "a little bit of a circus," Hurricanes president and general manager Don Waddell said before the game.
UP NEXT
Red Wings: Host the New Jersey Devils on Saturday.
Hurricanes: Host the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday.