Hurricanes strike quickly, roll past reeling Kings

Carolina defenseman Dougie Hamilton scored two goals as the Hurricanes won their ninth game in 11 outings by routing the visiting Los Angeles Kings 6-1 on Tuesday night at Raleigh, N.C. Sebastian Aho, Micheal Ferland, Jaccob Slavin and Teuvo Teravainen also scored for the Hurricanes.

Teravainen also provided three assists, while Jordan Staal assisted three times and Hamilton had one assist. Carolina goalie Petr Mrazek stopped 22 shots, blanking the Kings until the final eight minutes. Dustin Brown scored for Los Angeles on an unassisted goal.

The game was played with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman in attendance. Kings goalie Jonathan Quick allowed six goals on the first 19 Carolina shots and faced 20 shots total in the first two periods as the Kings lost their ninth game in a row. Jack Campbell played the third period in net for Los Angeles.

The Hurricanes ended up with 34 shots. If there was a downside for the Hurricanes, it was that defenseman Justin Faulk exited in the second period with an upper-body injury. Ferland also missed time with an upper-body ailment.

It was the first home game since before Christmas for Staal, a veteran center who had been out with a concussion. He returned to action for Saturday's victory at Dallas. He picked up an assist on Ferland's goal. The Kings, who wrapped up a four-game road trip, are 0-6-3 during their losing streak.

Hamilton scored the first and sixth goals for Carolina. Aho's goal was his 25th of the season, making it 2-0 barely 11 minutes into the game.

It was 3-0 just 25 seconds into the second period when Ferland converted on a deflection. A day earlier, Ferland had been the topic of trade speculation, but he stayed with the Hurricanes as they try to make a push toward the playoffs.

Slavin's power-play goal pushed it to a four-goal lead. Teravainen scored in a 40-second span of the second period. --Field Level Media