~ AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker

~ By Pearl Allison Lo

AP photo: Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Cam Ward who pitched a shutout Tuesday night turns the puck away against the San Jose Sharks in Carolina

~ San Jose got a flat during the closest game of their road trip, as they fell to Carolina 1-0 Tuesday.

The Sharks continued their trend of three-game streaks with their wins coming to a halt. Any ideas of San Jose putting together another 6-0 road trip reminiscent of last season also fell by the wayside. San Jose was averaging three goals a game before the loss, as goalie Cam Ward gave the Hurricanes their first shutout of the season.

Opposing goalie Aaron Dell was stellar in net, as he made his second career and best start. Both career-highs, he stopped 32 of 33 shots. Pivotal was the second period, in which the Sharks were outshot 10-2. San Jose’s two shots marked a season-low for shots in a period.

Not surprisingly, both teams, which had one chance apiece, were scoreless on the power play. That was not for lack of trying, though, at least on the Sharks’ part. Tomas Hertl had three shots, and Marc-Edouard Vlasic had one, during the two-minute hooking penalty to Noah Hanifin in the first period.

Carolina dominated in the faceoff circle throughout the game. Their participating forwards all finished above 50%.

With the goalies being stingy, the Hurricanes were able to eek their goal out in the third. It began with Viktor Stalberg stealing the puck from Joonas Donskoi in Carolina’s end. Donskoi worked hard to get it back, which led to a feisty battle along the boards with multiple players involved. Then the shot by Donskoi went to Stalberg in a different way and the Hurricanes used their speed with an odd man rush. Joakim Nordstrom shot at Dell, his teammate picked up the rebound and made a short pass and Nordstrom picked the side for his first goal. Stalberg was credited with his first assist.   

Game notes: San Jose’s Melker Karlsson did not play and was replaced by Matt Nieto. Carolina’s Teuvo Teravainen’s six shots were a season-high. The Sharks will now face another one of their 2016 playoff opponents, in the form of the St. Louis Blues, Thursday at 5pm.