*Photo from the News and Observer*
The atmosphere was unmatched, and they put on a show. Martin Necas had a goal and two assists, Teuvo Teravainen had a two point game, and the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Washington Capitals with a 4-1 victory on Saturday night in Raleigh.
The NHL's Stadium Series hit North Carolina for the first time, playing at the home of NC State Football, right across from where the Hurricanes normally play. The Hurricanes took full advantage of their first outdoor game, winning their 3rd straight game to improve to 9-1-0 in their last 10.
NC State's marching band was in attendance, playing for the Hurricanes. NC State's mascots were in the building as well, and NC State Basketball legends David Thompson and Dereck Whittenburg introduced the Hurricanes as they started out of the tunnel towards the ice.
Asked about the experience of playing outdoors, Necas said after the game that "It was something that all of us will never forget, and obviously when you do win it feels much better. Every second of it was time you enjoy. You try to focus on the game, but you still feel the fans and the energy. It was my first outdoor game and it was unbelievable."
The Hurricanes arrived to the game in old time golf attire, while some players even brought golf clubs with them. After the game, the Hurricanes typical Storm Surge celebration after a win involved players dropping their gloves and swinging at them with their sticks like they were golfing.
Jesperi Kotkaniemi provided the only goal of the first period, making it 1-0 Hurricanes on his 10th goal of the season, assisted by Necas and Teravainen. Paul Stastny then scored 5:47 into the second period, doubling the Carolina lead to 2-0. He scored his 7th goal of the season and got assists from Jordan Martinook and Jalen Chatfield.
On the power play 8:48 into the period, Necas got in on the goal scoring, making it 3-0 Hurricanes thanks to his 22nd goal of the season. After that, it was Teravainen's turn, scoring his 7th goal of the season to pad the Hurricanes lead to 4-0. Tom Wilson scored in the 3rd period for the Capitals to make it 4-1, but Carolina held on from there.
Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal said of the win that "In a game like this you want to get the crowd into it, you want to get your team into it and try to take the pressure off. Big start to the game and going into the second up one was a good feeling. I thought we poured it a lot in that second and controlled the game from there."
Getting the start in goal for the Hurricanes was Frederik Andersen, who played a strong game to get the outdoor win. Andersen stopped all but one of the 25 shots he saw, good for a .960 save percentage. His record improves to 13-4-0 with the win.
Starting for the Capitals opposite Andersen was Darcy Kuemper, who fell to 16-17-4 on the season with a loss. Kuemper made 31 saves out of the 35 shots on goal the Hurricanes had, recording a .886 save percentage.
Washington head coach Peter Laviolette said that "I thought we got through the first period OK. It still wasn't good. We didn't crank it up offensively like we would like to. But we got out of there. The second period is where it unraveled a little bit and we found ourselves just chasing them and chasing the game."
Both teams resume play on Tuesday night with home games. Andersen is lined up to start for the Hurricanes as they face the St. Louis Blues, while Kuemper is Washington's projected starter against the Detroit Red Wings.
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