Gästebuch » The teams’ final meeting will be on March 28

RALEIGH Adidas Derek Ryan Jersey , N.C. — Petr Mrazek has been the next-guy-up in net for the Carolina Hurricanes.If he gets the call for Thursday night’s game at PNC Arena, he should be familiar with the opposition. That’s because the Detroit Red Wings will be the visitors. Mrazek played the past four seasons with Detroit.Article continues below ...Mrazek is coming off a 23-save shutout of the Arizona Coyotes on Sunday, a much-needed confidence boost for him and the Hurricanes.“The key was playing good in the defensive zone, good penalty kill,” Mrazek said. “I did see the puck really well, that was the key.”It was Mrazek’s first shutout since last February for the Red Wings.For the Hurricanes, the result was only the second victory in an eight-game stretch (2-4-2).“You have to keep playing Adidas James Neal Jersey ,” Mrazek said of the team’s quest to break into more consistency.The goalie position has been rotating among three players to some degree. Since Sunday, Scott Darling was sent back to Charlotte of the American Hockey League. Curtis McElhinney had held the top goaltending duties for a few weeks until an injury.So Mrazek’s timing for a solid outing came at a good time.“Petr was really good, so that’s the way you want to do it,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said.Deetroit needs to get moving in the right direction as well after Tuesday night’s 3-2 loss to Philadelphia.The Red Wings are winless in their last four games (0-3-1) and the frustration is mounting. They’ve scored a total of nine goals in those games.“The last couple of games we’ve been struggling a bit,” Detroit defenseman Dennis Cholowski said.The Red Wings seem stuck in a rut too often.“Not enough guys,” Detroit defenseman Niklas Kronwell said of uneven production. “We can’t be waiting for somebody else to do it. We have to all look ourselves in the mirror and see what we can do better.”The offense needed to break into a better groove in order for the Red Wings to be rewarded more often. They weren’t able to take advantage of Philadelphia goalie Carter Hart, who was making his NHL debut this week.“More pucks to the net Adidas Austin Czarnik Jersey , more traffic,” Kronwell said. “Quite a few areas we need to clean up.”The Red Wings might have questions at goalie after Jimmy Howard was scratched Tuesday night when he developed a back ailment during pregame warmups.The Hurricanes won in October in Detroit before the Red Wings prevailed in last month’s rematch in Raleigh.For Carolina, this is the middle game of a five-game homestand.The Hurricanes were awarded an unexpected day off from practice last weekend in an effort to rejuvenate the team. It appeared to work, at least based on short-term returns.“We needed a mental break, the game of hockey is a grind and it’s tough,” Brind’Amour said.Thursday night’s game marks the end of a three-game road swing for the Red Wings. But still they’re amidst a stretch of six road outings and just one home game covering a two-week span. DALLAS (AP) — Jamie Benn kept up his scoring binge and helped the Dallas Stars get another win.Benn scored his fifth goal in six games, and the Stars beat the Edmonton Oilers 4-1 on Monday night.“Jamie Benn has been phenomenal all year Adidas Elias Lindholm Jersey ,” Stars coach Jim Montgomery said. “It’s getting close to 10 games now that he’s winning so many battles. When your best players are your hardest workers you start to see the team build.”Jason Dickinson, Brett Ritchie and Esa Lindell also scored in the Stars’ third straight win. Mattias Janmark had two assists and Anton Khudobin stopped 28 shots.Jujhar Khaira spoiled Khudobin’s shutout bid with 5:24 left in the third and Mikko Koskinen finished with 21 saves as the Oilers snapped a three-game win streak. Edmonton’s streak started with a 1-0 overtime win at home over Dallas last Tuesday.Ritchie returned to the lineup after missing five games as a healthy scratch. He assisted on Dickinson’s first-period goal and then scored his first of the season at 1:51 of the third period for a 2-0 lead.“We talked to (Ritchie) about his puck possession needs to be better,” Montgomery said, “and the first goal of the game he wins a forecheck, moves it, protects it, which ended up being the goal.”Ritchie said he learned during his hiatus from the ice.“There’s a lot you can learn Adidas Tyler Graovac Jersey , a lot you can work on to make sure you’re ready,” he said. “It was just a matter of me getting my legs under me early and just getting back in the flow.”Edmonton coach Ken Hitchcock said Ritchie’s goal was a difference maker.“When they got their second goal, that took some wind out of our sails. We played a hell of a hockey game for almost 40 minutes. And no reward for it. You’re not going to win scoring one goal on the road.”Benn scored his team-leading 12th goal on the power play at 7:24 of the third, tipping a pass from Gavin Bayreuther past Koskinen to push the lead to 3-0. The Stars were 1 for 2 on the power play after going 2 for 29 with a man advantage over the previous 10 games.Montgomery said the Dallas power play helped even while coming up empty on a second-period advantage.“I thought we were kind of flat until we got that power play. The power play gave us a lot of momentum.”Lindell capped the scoring with an unassisted, short-handed, empty-net goal with 2:14 left by sending the puck the length of the ice with the Oilers skating 6-on-4.The Stars’ first goal came at 10:59 of the opening period. Ritchie dug the puck out of the left corner to Janmark in the left faceoff circle. Janmark passed across to Dickinson at the right of the net for an easy snap shot into the open right side of the net for his fifth.Each team had a good scoring chance in the second period, but neither scored. Khudobin stopped a wrist shot by Jesse Puljujarvi Adidas Noah Hanifin Jersey , who then took the rebound and hit the crossbar. On a 2-on-1 during the period’s only power play, Dallas’ Tyler Seguin kept the puck but hit the crossbar behind Koskinen.At 1:51 of the third period, Janmark passed from the slot across to Ritchie to the left of the net. Ritchie scored his first goal of the season by fitting the puck between Koskinen and the left goalpost.NOTES: Edmonton C Connor McDavid and C Ryan Spooner missed the game because of illness. Stars coach Jim Montgomery said McDavid’s absence helped Dallas. “We never had to be aware of him on the ice.” … Hitchcock returned to Dallas for the first time since coaching the Stars last season. The Edmonton native took over the Oilers on Nov. 20. … The Stars are 8-0-1 vs. Pacific Division this season, including 1-0-1 vs. the Oilers. … The teams’ final meeting will be on March 28 at Edmonton.UP NEXTOilers: At St. Louis on Wednesday night in the second game of a two-game trip.Stars: Host San Jose on Friday night to complete a two-game homestand.