Derek Stepan nailed it.
“What you’ve seen the few games is what you’re going to get the rest of the way,” the Carolina Hurricanes forward said Thursday morning. “Always at this time of the year it switches over and it becomes a grind type mindset.”
Hours later, the Hurricanes and Dallas Stars hooked up in one of those tight, grinding game at PNC Arena. It went to a shootout, the Stars winning 4-3 as goalie Scott Wedgewood made his Stars debut a memorable one.
Nino Niederreiter had a pair of goals for the Canes (42-15-7) and Roope Hintz two for the Stars (36-24-3). While outshot 47-15 by Carolina, the Stars made the most of their opportunities as Wedgewood, in his first start for Dallas after being traded by Arizona, made enough timely stops to keep it close and then win it.
Wedgewood stop one-timers by Sebastian Aho and then Martin Necas late in the overtime. The Canes’ Teuvo Teravainen was called for tripping but Carolina killed off the final 34 seconds to get to the shootout.
Tyler Seguin and Jason Robertson scored against Frederik Andersen in the shootout for Dallas while Wedgewood turned back Vincent Trocheck, Andrei Svechnikov and Tony DeAngelo.
Niederreiter’s second goal, with 9:36 left in regulation, pushed the Canes into a 3-2 lead. Niederreiter tipped a pass from Brady Skjei past goalie Scott Wedgewood -- the second time Skjei and Niederreiter teamed up in the game for a score.
But Hintz answered quickly, just as he did earlier in the third.
The Canes took a 2-1 lead early in the third on a Trochek power-play goal, not long after the Canes killed off an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against Trocheck late in the second.
Hintz tied it a minute later for the Stars, on an open shot from the slot, his 27th goal of the season. His 28th then came 59 seconds after the Canes took the 3-2 lead.
The Stars’ Michael Raffl was awarded a penalty shot when the Canes’ Tony DeAngelo was called for hooking Raffl with 5:51 left in regulation. But goalie Frederik Andersen snuffed out Raffl’s backhand attempt with a diving save.
The game was the first for Max Domi in a Canes uniform after his trade Monday from Columbus. The forward was in the starting lineup and playing on a line with Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Stepan -- both former teammates.
It was scoreless after the first period and 1-1 after two. The Canes outshot the Stars 18-4 in the first and had a 34-9 edge after two but Wedgewood was doggedly making the stops in net.
Canes winger Nino Niederreiter beat Wedgewood on a shot from the slot in the second that had Wedgewood partially screened by teammate Esa Lindell.
After relying heavily on Westwood, the Stars scored 30 seconds into the second. Canes defenseman Ian Cole tried to get a stick on a Jamie Benn pass but knocked the puck past Andersen.
Things heated up a few minutes later.
Canes defenseman Brett Pesce took an elbow to the head from Vladislav Namestnikov along the boards in the Dallas zone. In a blink of the eye, Pesce had dropped the gloves and was pummeling Namestnikov, a trade-deadline pickup by the Stars.
Pesce was given two minutes for instigating, five for fighting and 10 for misconduct. That ended the second period for Pesce, who headed to the locker room.
Pesce missed a tying goal by Niederreiter. Skjei picked off a pass along the left boards and found Niederreiter open between the circles for the shot and his 18th goal of the season.
Domi was brought in to add some more skill and snarl to the lineup.
“Obviously he’s a very talented player to begin with,” Stepan said. “I think with Max he brings a component that’s grit and compete, but what I like is his compete,” Stepan said. “I think that’s something that will mesh well with our group. I think that’s a big thing for him fitting in. I think he’ll jump right in the stream with us with his compete level.”
With Domi added to the lineup and forward Jordan Martinook soon to return from injury, Brind’Amour will have some lineup decisions to make.
With 14 forwards available, provided they remain healthy, Brind’Amour could use a rotation plan to give some players a little rest. The remaining regular-season schedule is compressed.
Martinook, who has missed four games with a lower-body injury, took part in the morning skate Thursday.
