Stankoven's natural hat trick powers Hurricanes past Canucks
The rookie forward scored three straight goals and Carolina won its third straight game at home.
RALEIGH — Logan Stankoven recorded a natural hat trick for his first career three-goal game to lead the Carolina Hurricanes to a 7-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night at Lenovo Center.
Stankoven scored twice in the second period and once more in the third, extending Carolina's lead from 4-1 to 7-1. His goals came short-handed, on a power play and at even strength, giving him 100 career points.
He secured the hat trick with 8:24 remaining in the third period on a wrist shot from between the circles.
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Andrei Svechnikov scored two first-period power-play goals, while K'Andre Miller and Mark Jankowski also found the net for the Hurricanes, who have now won three straight games.
Sean Walker set a career high with four assists. Shayne Gostisbehere, Jackson Blake and Taylor Hall each added two assists, and goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov made 18 saves.
Jake DeBrusk scored both goals for the Canucks, who were beginning a six-game road trip. Elias Pettersson contributed two assists.
Vancouver goalie Kevin Lankinen stopped 12 of 16 shots through two periods before being replaced by Leevi Merilainen for the third. Merilainen made 14 saves.
Carolina, which had not led in either of its first two home games last week, scored three times in the opening 10 minutes. Miller gave the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead at 1:18 of the first period, scoring on a rebound from the left face-off circle.
Svechnikov then scored his two power-play goals less than two and a half minutes apart for a 3-0 lead. His first came at 7:11 when he jammed in a rebound below the left circle, and his second at 9:25 off a cross-ice pass from Blake.
Jankowski made it 4-0 at 3:20 of the second period, lifting a shot to the short side. DeBrusk cut the deficit to 4-1 at 4:03, roofing the puck over a sprawling Kochetkov.
Stankoven responded with a short-handed goal at 13:13 of the second, his first career goal while a man down. Walker slipped a pass through Vancouver defenseman Filip Hronek to Stankoven, who drove the net and scored top shelf.
He added a power-play goal with 58 seconds left in the period, roofing a shot off a no-look backhand pass from Hall. According to NHL.com, Stankoven became the fourth player in franchise history to score an even-strength, power-play and short-handed goal in a game.
DeBrusk scored his second goal from the bottom of the right circle for the 7-2 final at 13:04 of the third.
Up next: The Hurricanes head back on the road for a weekend back-to-back, playing in Chicago on Saturday and in Philadelphia on Sunday.
With files from Sportsnet, Yahoo Sports and Canes Country