LAS VEGAS (AP) Cam Ward earned his 300th career win when Phillip Di Giuseppe’s goal in the fifth round of a shootout lifted the Carolina Hurricanes to a 3-2 victory over Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday night.
Marcus Kruger and Trevor van Riemsdyk scored for the Hurricanes in regulation. Ward, who made 22 saves, became the 32nd goalie in NHL history to reach 300 wins.
Deryk Engelland and Reilly Smith scored in the second period for Vegas.
The expansion Golden Knights fell to 7-2 in games that have gone to overtime, while the Hurricanes improved to 4-7.
In his first game back after spending nearly two months on injured reserve, goalie Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 35 shots for Vegas.
Fleury hadn’t played since Oct. 13, when he sustained a concussion in the second period against Detroit. Though he finished the game, a 6-3 loss, he was placed on injured reserve the next day and missed the next 25 games.
The Golden Knights, however, flourished with Malcolm Subban, Oscar Dansk and Maxime Lagace filling the void and leading the fledgling franchise to a 16-8-1 mark without its top netminder.
Vegas is in second place in the Pacific Division with 40 points, three behind the Los Angeles Kings
Carolina opened the scoring when Vegas defenseman Brayden McNabb attempted to clear from behind the net. The puck bounced off the shaft of Kruger’s stick, then his knee and the bottom of Fleury’s skate. It was Kruger’s first goal of the season.
The Golden Knights tied it a minute into the second period when Engelland’s wrist shot from the right point beat Ward to the upper left corner.
The Hurricanes took a 2-1 lead when van Riemsdyk’s wrist shot made its way through traffic and past Fleury. It was van Riemsdyk’s first goal of the season.
Golden Knights defenseman Colin Miller sent a beautiful stretch pass through Carolina’s defense to Smith, who beat Ward to tie it 2-all at 12:48 of the second.
NOTES: It was the fifth stop on Carolina’s six-game road swing, the team’s longest of the season. The 11-day trip will end up spanning a total of 7,500 miles. … Carolina has outshot its opponent in 24 of 30 games. … Vegas came in ranked third in the NHL in goals per game with 3.48 and sixth in total goals with 101.
UP NEXT
Hurricanes: At the Buffalo Sabres on Friday.
Golden Knights: Host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday.
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For more AP NHL coverage: https://apnews.com/tag/NHLhockey
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