Hurricanes Roll Over Panthers

     The Florida Panthers were stampeded by the Carolina Hurricanes 6-3 at BB&T Center on Tuesday night. Panthers defenseman Keith Yandle was able to play in his 800th consecutive game. The Hurricanes entered the contest with the best record in the National Hockey League.
     In the first period, Carolina(4-0-0) took the lead at the 6:48 mark. Jack Gardiner released a soft shot from the blue line that got tapped by Brook McGinn. Jordan Staal put in a wrist shot from the low slot for his first goal of the season.
     The Canes expanded their lead to 2-0 at 11:04 left. Haydn Fleury fluttered the puck from the right point and it was deflected in by Teuvo Teravainen from the top of the crease past Sergei Bobrovsky. Nino Niederreiter was also credited with an assist on the play.
     The Hurricanes made it a three-goal margin during a 4-on-4 situation with 4:23 remaining in the first. Andrei Svechnikov raced in through the slot on a breakaway and his wrist shot was stopped. He cradled the rebound in the right circle, sent a cross-ice pass to the low slot and Dougie Hamilton put in a snap shot from close range for his second goal of the year.
     Florida(1-2-0) found themselves down 4-0 on a Carolina power-play goal with 1:46 left in the period. Svechnikov fired a shot from the right circle that touched Teravainen. Ryan Dzingel smacked the puck in from the crease area.
     Sam Montembeault replaced Bobrovsky in net for the Cats at the start of the second period. Carolina continued the onslaught at 1:31 to make it 5-0. Dzingel sent a diagonal pass from the left point to Martin Necas in the top right circle. He shot the puck and it was saved by Montembeault, but Dzingel hustled for the rebound and scored on a wrist shot from the low left circle for his second goal of the contest.
     The Panthers finally broke the shutout at the 3:51 mark. Alekander Barkov flicked a forehand shot from the slot area which former Panther James Reimer saved. MacKenzie Weegar roofed a shot from the blue paint for his first goal of the campaign.
     The Cats cut the deficit to 5-2 at 9:34 of the third period with a 4-on-3 power-play goal. Mike Hoffman fed a pass from the left point and Yandle nailed a one-time slap shot. Brett Connolly compiled the secondary assist on the play.
     Florida was desperate as they pulled their goalie for an extra attacker on the power play and it worked. Barkov sent a cross-ice pass from below the right circle across the crease. Jonathan Huberdeau found Evgenii Dadonov in the low slot, he buried a snap shot and the Panthers trailed 5-3 with 4:08 remaining in the third.
     The Hurricanes capped the contest with 1:19 left. Sebastian Aho went into the Panthers zone uncontested and put the puck into an empty net.