Martin Necas breaks scoring drought as Hurricanes top Kraken

Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com.

As Martin Necas skated back toward the Carolina Hurricanes bench, he mockingly brushed something off his back.

This slump had ended.

"It was just the feeling at the moment," he said of his reaction.

Necas scored with 9:38 remaining to give the Hurricanes their first lead of the game in a 3-2 win over the Seattle Kraken on Sunday night.

"I was trying to not count the games I haven’t scored," Necas said. "Through my career, I never really waited that long for a goal."

Necas had gone 18 games without a goal, last scoring Jan. 15. He found the puck as it bounced near a cluster of players, falling away from the crease as he fired a shot for his ninth goal of the season.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

Carolina Hurricanes' Martin Necas (88) celebrates his goal as he skates past the Seattle Kraken bench during the third period of an NHL hockey game in Raleigh, N.C., Sunday, March 6, 2022. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker)

"I just saw guys celebrating," Necas said. "I actually didn’t see the puck go in the net."

By ending the longest scoring drought of an NHL career that has spanned parts of five seasons, he’s now tied for the team lead with five game-winning goals.

"If you’re going to come out of it, that’s the kind of goal you want to get," Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said.

Nino Niederreiter and Tevuo Teravainen scored second-period goals on power plays for the Hurricanes, who stretched their home-ice points streak to 11 games. Antti Raanta made 28 saves.

The Necas goal was the biggest because of who scored it.

"We need everybody scoring and feeling good," Teravainen said.

Alex Wennberg and Calle Jarnkrok scored for Seattle, which