Red Wings 3, Hurricanes 2 (OT)
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Stephen Weiss scored his first goal as a member of the Detroit Red Wings with 1:47 left in overtime, allowing the Red Wings to defeat the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 on Friday night at PNC Arena.
The outcome spoiled the season opener for the Hurricanes, who had newcomers Radek Dvorak and Nathan Gerbe score goals and set them up in good position until the waning seconds of regulation.
Weiss, who joined the Red Wings as a free agent in the offseason, collected a rebound and pushed the puck past Carolina goaltender Cam Ward.
Henrik Zetterberg forced overtime by scoring with 16.4 seconds left in regulation on a wild scramble in front of the net after the Red Wings pulled goalie Jimmy Howard for an extra skater.
Howard stopped 23 shots. The Red Wings are 2-0.
Ward stopped 35 shots, another indication that he has worked back to form after an injury-shortened campaign last season.
Dvorak, taking only the third shot of the game for the Hurricanes, tipped in a pass from Jeff Skinner after Red Wings defenseman Kyle Quincey failed to recover in time.
Dvorak, a 36-year-old journeyman and the oldest player on the Carolina roster, signed with the Hurricanes earlier in the week after going through training camp on a tryout. Gerbe joined the team as a free agent, signing a one-year, two-way contract after playing the previous five seasons for the Buffalo Sabres.
Ward, who missed the final 27 games last season with a knee injury, denied all 17 shots through two periods, including Pavel Datsyuk's short-handed breakaway late in the second.
About 30 seconds later, Gerbe produced the power-play goal as the Hurricanes built a 2-0 advantage.
Detroit's Justin Abdelkader broke the shutout bid 42 seconds into the third period with a wrist shot.
The Red Wings picked up the pace in the third period, keeping the pressure on Ward with 17 shots.
The Hurricanes' franchise record is 8-19-7 in season openers. Since relocating to North Carolina, the Hurricanes are 4-8-4 in their first games.
Defenseman Justin Faulk assisted on both Carolina goals.
NOTES: The Red Wings went with the same lineup they used in Wednesday night's opening victory against Buffalo. ... RW Radek Dvorak, who played for seven other NHL teams previously, made his Hurricanes debut. C Elias Lindholm, C Nathan Gerbe, D Andrej Sekera and D Ron Hainsey also made Carolina debuts. ... Hurricanes D Tim Gleason was scratched after suffering a concussion during a preseason game. ...The Red Wings, who yielded only six first-period shots to Buffalo, gave up four shots in the first period to Carolina, which scored on one of those. ... Detroit and Carolina didn't meet during last season's shortened schedule. ... This marked the first time Carolina faced Detroit in a season opener. ... Detroit plays Saturday night at Boston. The Hurricanes stay home to take on Philadelphia on Sunday.
