Just over three minutes into the period, Tomas Fleischmann got the cats on the board after shoveling a good feed from Stephen Weiss past Cam Ward to put the Cats up 1-0. Wojtek Wolski also collected an assist on the play. With the 22nd goal of the season, Fleischmann is now tied with Kris Versteeg for the team lead.
At the 4:36 mark, a penalty was called on Keaton Ellerby for interfering with Jussi Jokinen, who was also penalized for embellishing the interference. The result was four-on-four hockey for the next two minutes.
At the 8:31 mark, Erik Gudbranson was called for tripping Brandon Sutter, giving the Hurricanes their first power play of the night. Florida kept the Canes on their heels by timely clearing the puck out, and even got a shorthanded opportunity on a rush by Sean Bergenheim and John Madden.
Jussi Jokinen had two good chances to score on Jose Theodore with four minutes remaining in the period, one a point blank shot, but Theodore was equal to the task, and for the time being retained his shutout bid.
With just under a minute left in the period, Eric Staal was called for tripping Sean Bergenheim, giving the Panthers their first power play of the night. After getting two quick shots, the Panthers allowed an odd man rush to the Canes, who were stymied by Theodore as the period ended.
Hits: Carolina, 18-16 (Andreas Nodl and Anthony Stewart led the Hurricanes with four each, Erik Gudbranson led the Cats with four)
Blocked Shots: Panthers, 6-5 (Keaton Ellerby had three for the Panthers)
Faceoffs: Panthers, 17-16 (Eric Staal went six-of-13 in the faceoff circle, Stephen Weiss won seven-of-13 for the Cats)
Shots on goal: Tied, 24-24 (Pat Dwyer had five shots for the Canes, Stephen Weiss had four for Florida)
Score: Panthers 1, Hurricanes 0