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Raleigh, NC -- Andrei Svechnikov and Nino Niederreiter each scored twice, as the Carolina Hurricanes (36-10-7, 79pts) defeated the Chicago Blackhawks (22-25-6, 50pts) 6-3 on Monday night.

Martin Necas and Teuvo Teravainen also scored for Carolina.

Alex DeBrincat scored twice for Chicago; Mike Hardman also scored.

Things started well for the Blackhawks.

A shorthanded goal from Alex DeBrincat and an even-strength goal by Mike Hardman lifted the Blackhawks to a 2-0 lead going into the first intermission.

"We weren't great [in the first period], and we got stung," Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "I give the guys credit. It's never from a lack of effort. It's just sometimes we almost try to do too much. We get away from the game we need to play. We were able to get back in the second, and then the talent took over."

In the second period, the Canes pushed back.

Morgan Geekie tried a lacrosse move, failed, then made a slick cross-crease pass to Nino Niederreiter, who got the Canes on the board.

After a two-man advantage failed to convert in the middle of the period, Andrei Svechnikov scored off a set-play after a faceoff win.

Alternate captain Jaccob Slavin credited the comeback to the team's overall confidence.

"We do have a confident group. We know what we're capable of in there. We knew we weren't going to win the game in the second period, but we just had to battle our way back into it. In the third period, we got to [our game] a little bit more, and the skill kind of took over. You saw some of those nice goals that the Aho line had."

In the third, the Canes top line of Aho, Svechnikov, and Teravainen clicked into high gear.

Aho and Teravainen combined to spring Svechnikov for a breakaway. The Russian, in the clear, drew a penalty and still managed to score the go-ahead goal.

"[Teravainen] coming back makes that whole line go...You can see, [Svechnikov] is feeling it again," Brind'Amour said. "Hopefully, that continues. Obviously, when he's on, he's pretty unstoppable."

Teravainen put the Canes up by two minutes later, off a no-look pass from Aho.

"It wasn't a great game tonight; we got by with a lot of good efforts," Brind'Amour said. "The talent we have on the team kind of won us this game. It wasn't pretty."

DeBrincat pulled the Blackhawks within one at 11:52, and a tripping penalty added some late drama, but Martin Necas buried a shorthanded empty-net goal at 17:23 that put the game out of reach.

Niederreiter added another empty-netter to push his goal total to 20.

"[Brind'Amour] expects greatness from us, because he knows we have a great group of players in there," Slavin said of his head coach. "So, sometimes the words don't even need to be said. The guys in our locker room, our leadership group, we have a high standard for ourselves and the goals that we've set. We know we have what it takes in there."

Petr Mrazek (6-1-2, .934 SV%, 1.75 GAA) made 27 saves on 30 shots faced. This was his first start since a loss against Tampa Bay on April 19.

Housekeeping

Sebastian Aho, Vincent Trocheck, and Teuvo Teravainen each had two assists.

Morgan Geekie, Andrei Svechnikov, and Jaccob Slavin each recorded one assist for the Canes.

Patrick Kane had two assists; MacKenzie Entwistle and Ian Mitchell each added one assist for Chicago.

Brock McGinn (upper body), Jordan Martinook (lower body), Cedric Paquette (undisclosed), Jake Gardiner (healthy), and James Reimer (healthy) did not dress for the game.

Collin Delia (0-3-0, .881 SV%, 4.00 GAA) took the loss for Chicago. He made 22 saves on 26 shots faced.

The Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Vegas Golden Knights were all idle on Monday night.

Carolina's win moves them into a commanding position in the Central Division race. They are now four points ahead of Florida (with one game-in-hand) and six points ahead of Tampa Bay (The Lightning now have one game-in-hand on Carolina).

The Canes 'magic number' is three, meaning they only need to earn three more points to secure the Division title.

As for the President's Trophy race, Carolina is now five points ahead of Vegas. The Golden Knights have five games remaining to Carolina's three.

Both Tampa Bay and Vegas play tonight.

Up Next

Carolina: The Hurricanes take on the Chicago Blackhawks for the final time this year on Thursday night at 7:00 ET.

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