Raleigh, NC -- Teuvo Teravainen had a goal and an assist, as the Carolina Hurricanes (33-10-7, 73pts) defeated the Detroit Red Wings (17-26-9, 43pts) 3-1 on Thursday night.
Brady Skjei and Warren Foegele each scored for the Canes. Sebastian Aho had two assists, and James Reimer made 16 saves.
Jakub Vrana scored the Red Wings' only goal.
In only his second game back from a concussion, Teuvo Teravainen took home first-star honors.
It was a welcome sight for Hurricanes fans, and the Canes head coach, Rod Brind'Amour, talked about how Teravainen was eager to get back to playing hockey.
"When the puck drops, game time, he's as competitive as anybody," Brind'Amour said after the win. "He's a gamer. It's important for him to get in our lineup, [and] get games under his belt."
While Teravainen was playing his second game after recovering from a concussion, Brady Skjei was playing his first.
The 27-year-old Minnesota native suffered a concussion on April 20th against Tampa Bay. On Thursday night, he got back on the ice, and opened the scoring in the second period.
Off an intelligent feed from Sebastian Aho, Skjei tallied his third goal of the year and his second in his last three games.
"After the first period, I started feeling good," Skjei said. "I thought I didn't play that well in the first. But then, I thought I turned it around in the second. Obviously, the goal helps."
Skjei also addressed how his recent concussion impacted him off the ice.
"Concussions are definitely a scary thing. It's just a weird thing because your body feels fine; you feel like you're physically all there, but the biggest part of your body, your brain, is what you have to let heal."
Almost ten minutes later, at 13:29, Warren Foegele got his 10th goal of the season to put the Canes ahead 2-0. Foegele worked hard near the goalline to work himself free and slam the puck past Jonathan Bernier.
At 17:31, Jakub Vrana got Detroit's only goal off a spectacular individual effort. The 25-year-old Czech, recently traded from the Capitals, created a turnover in the Canes zone and beat Reimer on a quickly developing breakaway. It was his 17th goal of the season.
Teravainen capped things off at 9:48 of the 3rd as he beat Bernier on the short side for his 3rd goal of the season. With the two points, Teravainen passed 300 points for his NHL career.
"I think I got a little [bit] more of the puck today, so that's always good," Teravainen said following the game. "It's always nice [to hit] a milestone. Hopefully, I get a couple more."
James Reimer (15-5-2, .906 SV%, 2.66 GAA) made 16 saves on 17 shots faced. It was his first win since April 1st.
Carolina retains sole possession of 1st place in the Central Division standings. Florida and Tampa Bay also won on Thursday, meaning that Carolina maintains a two and three-point edge on each, respectively. The Canes have two games-in-hand against Florida and none with regard to Tampa Bay. All three teams have qualified for the playoffs.
Housekeeping
Andrei Svechnikov and Brett Pesce each recorded one assist for the Canes.
Brock McGinn (upper body), Jordan Martinook (lower body), Jesper Fast (lower body), and Petr Mrazek (lower body) did not dress for the game.
Jonathan Bernier (9-10-1, .912 SV%, 3.03 GAA) took the loss for the Red Wings. Bernier made 29 saves on 32 shots faced.
Up Next
Carolina: The Hurricanes face the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday night at 7:00 ET.
Detroit: The Red Wings travel to Tampa Bay to take on the Lightning on Saturday afternoon at 3:00 ET.
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