The Carolina Hurricanes took a dominating 5-1 victory over the Buffalo Sabers on Wednesday, Feb. 1. The win sends the team into the NHL All-Star Break with seven straight wins in their pocket.
While the Canes (34-9-8) extended their point streak to ten games, Buffalo (26-20-4) lost back-to-back games for the first time since Jan. 17. Carolina took all the momentum from the start, completely owning the Buffalo defense with three quick goals in the first period.
Once again, center Sebastian Aho clearly showed his play-making and goal-scoring abilities with a quick shot to make the score 1-0 in favor of Carolina three minutes in. The score, which was off of a Canes power play, extended Aho’s goal streak to six games. He wasn’t the only Canes player to extend a streak, however, as defenseman Brent Burns followed in teammate right wing Stefan Noesen’s footsteps to swiftly make the score 3-0. Burns has also scored in the past seven games for the Canes.
Goaltender Antti Raanta played aggressively in all 60 minutes of the game, finishing with an astounding .967 save percentage. When Buffalo’s offense woke up in the third period, Raanta was moving nonstop, making some ridiculous saves in order to keep the Canes ahead.
While Buffalo right wing Alex Tuch did score at the end of the first period, it would take another 36 minutes for the score to change. The second frame was filled with neither team being super physical, and with the goalies on both sides of the ice making some important saves. The Canes finished the second period leading 29-17 in shots on goal.
A detrimental blow to the Buffalo offense was the lack of right wing Tage Thompson during the third period. While Thompson played during the first and second periods, he did not return to the ice during the third.
The Canes took advantage of this loss though, as they came back and scored two more goals during the third frame. Carolina center Derek Stepan broke the scoring drought and put the Canes up 4-1. Left wing Jordan Martinook put the finishing touches on the 5-1 rout by scoring on an empty net with about two minutes left in the game.
While the Canes take a nine-day break, right wing Andrei Svechnikov will be traveling to south Florida for the NHL All-Star Game. The 22 year-old will compete in the skills competition on Friday night and play for the Metropolitan Division team on Saturday.
It was also a special night for center Seth Jarvis, as he rang in his 21st birthday with a Canes win. Jarvis has 24 points this season, which includes eight goals and 16 assists.
The Canes will take on the New York Rangers in Raleigh on Saturday, Feb. 11 after the All-Star break.
