RALEIGH, North Carolina (AP) Jeff Skinner had a hat trick, and then he didn’t. He still did it all to help the Carolina Hurricanes earn a victory they hope will mean even more in the spring.
Skinner had two goals and an assist and the Hurricanes beat the New York Rangers 3-2 on Friday night.
Skinner originally had his fifth career hat trick – and a shower of souvenir hats on the ice – before the third goal was awarded to Bryan Bickell on a scoring change.
”I told Bicksie he owes everyone in the building their hats back,” Skinner quipped.
Still, his 16th career three-point night – in his debut wearing the ”A” as an alternate captain – helped the Hurricanes win their home opener.
”He’s got the ability to make things happen in tight spaces,” Carolina coach Bill Peters said. ”He’s got real good edge control. And he’s dangerous. He’s a goal-scorer. There’s not a lot of them anymore, and he’s a pure scorer, one of those guys that can just hang in the weeds a little bit and all of a sudden he gets the puck at the right time and the right spot, and it’s in the net.”
Victor Rask had two assists, giving him points in all seven games, and Cam Ward made 28 saves – stopping Mats Zuccarello with about 5 seconds left – to help Carolina snap a two-game losing streak.
In Newark, Artem Anisimov scored on a rebound at 1:15 of overtime as Chicago rallied to hand New Jersey its first home loss, 3-2.
Marian Hossa tied the game with a power-play goal with 2:11 left in regulation after the Blackhawks pulled goaltender Corey Crawford for a sixth skater.
Artemi Panarin, who took the shot on Anisimov’s game winner, also scored for Chicago. Crawford was outstanding in making 30 saves.
In Vancouver, Connor McDavid scored on a breakaway in the second period and Cam Talbot made 26 saves for his 13th career shutout to lead the Edmonton Oilers to their fifth straight win, 2-0 over the Vancouver Canucks.
Milan Lucic added an empty-netter to help Western Conference-leading Edmonton, off to its best start since 1985, improve to 7-1-0.
Talbot, who has started all eight games this season, recorded his second shutout in three games.
In other games, Columbus won 4-0 at Anaheim, Winnipeg won 1-0 at Colorado, and Calgary won 5-2 against the visiting Ottawa.
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