DETROIT – Beating the Detroit Red Wings is nothing for the Carolina Hurricanes these days.
Defenseman Ron Hainsey's goal early in the third period broke a tie, and the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Detroit Red Wings 3-1 at Joe Louis Arena on Tuesday night.
Carolina won a second consecutive visit to Detroit after the Hartford Whalers/Hurricanes franchise had a 1-17-1 record at Joe Louis Arena since 1990.
Center Victor Rask and center Eric Staal also scored for Carolina. Goaltender Cam Ward made 25 saves.
"Right from the get go we came to play tonight," Ward said. "I particularly liked the way we tracked them defensively."
Defenseman Jakub Kindl scored for Detroit. Goalie Petr Mrazek stopped 18 shots.
"I think it was not a lot happening, chances-wise. I think it was a really tight game, both teams played strong in front of their goalie," Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg said.
The Hurricanes beat the Red Wings 5-3 in Detroit on Oct. 16.
"We've skated pretty well against them this year. Obviously, three of our nine games have been against them early," Hainsey said.
The Hurricanes lost against Detroit 4-3 on Oct. 10, at the PNC Arena, despite a 47-19 shots advantage.
Hainsey gave the Hurricanes a 2-1 lead 4:35 into the third period. His one-time slap shot from just inside the blue line at the left point beat Mrazek, who was screened. The play was the result of Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall's pass along the boards that didn't connect with forward Tomas Jurco.
"They tried to make a tight little passing play and it got away from the winger along the boards," Hainsey said. "... I was just coming off the bench. Got a lot on it (the shot) ... got it by him."
Said Detroit coach Jeff Blashill: "That was a turnover. It was a handle-able puck, we didn't handle it and it was kind of a seeing-eye shot."
Ward stopped left winger Drew Miller cutting in off the right wing on a shorthanded rush with 2:43 left to preserve the one-goal lead for Carolina, and Staal scored into an empty net with 30 seconds remaining.
"They had good pressure in the third period but we got through it ... We played hard," Hurricanes coach Bill Peters said.
Rask took advantage of a miscue by Mrazek to open the scoring with 7:34 left in the second period. Rask, at the top of the left circle, knocked down Mrazek's attempted clearing pass, picked it up, skated past the goalie and put the puck into the empty net for his third goal.
"It shouldn't happen. I had that bounce from me and went in the net. That was a mistake," Mrazek said.
Kindl tied it at 1 with 2:16 left in the second period. His wrist shot from the right point deflected in off the skate of Carolina center Jay McClement. It was Kindl's first goal.
"It's not bad, it's not great either. We know we have more in here, and we need more. We need more out of everybody," Kronwall said. "I've got to be better and we've all got to be better as a team. There's too many turnovers."
Mrazek made consecutive big saves with a little more than seven minutes left in the first period. He stopped McClement's backhand shot from the inside edge of the left circle through a screen and left winger Nathan Gerbe's rebound attempt.
Red Wings defenseman Alexey Marchenko lifted Eric Staal's stick to break up the play on an attempted breakaway with seconds left in the first period.
NOTES: Detroit was without C Pavel Datsyuk (ankle), RW Johan Franzen (concussion-like symptoms), C Brad Richards (back), D Kyle Quincey (concussion protocol) and D Mike Green (upper body) because of injuries. ... Carolina was without D James Wisniewski (knee). ... F Tomas Jurco replaced F Landon Ferraro, who was a healthy scratch, in the Detroit lineup. ... Hurricanes rookie D Noah Hanifin was a healthy scratch because coach Bill Peters is "giving him a breather." He was replaced by D Michal Jordan. ... Peters and Detroit coach Jeff Blashill were Red Wings assistants in 2011-12 on current Toronto Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock's staff.