So far, so good for the Carolina Hurricanes after the NHL’s All-Star break. Rookie forward Sebastian Aho scored the game-winning goal on the power play in the third period and the Canes beat the Edmonton Oilers 2-1 for their second-straight win coming off the break Friday night.
Starting goalie Cam Ward played a strong game for the Canes (23-20-7) tonight, stopping 24 of 25 Oilers’ (28-18-8) shots in his 20th win of the season. Ward and his defensemen were able to limit the NHL’s leading-scorer in Connor McDavid and the high-powered Oilers attack to one goal in an impressive combined effort for the veteran netminder and the players in front of him.
“When we had some breakdowns, my guys were for me in front of me,” Ward said. “Right at the end there, I think it was Jaccob [Slavin] who came up with a big block. Guys are sacrificing their bodies and trying to do what they can.”
The Canes struck first in this one on a pretty passing play, as defenseman Jaccob Slavin fed forward Elias Lindholm below the goal line, and he zipped a pass to forward Jordan Staal in front, who buried a shot for the 1-0 lead. He did not earn an assist on the goal, but Aho made perhaps the best play of the sequence, finding Slavin at the point through multiple defenders.
“That’s a good line right now for us,” head coach Bill Peters said. “They’re good in multiple areas; they’re hard to play against.”
A little more than halfway through the second, McDavid made an as-advertised play. He broke his stick, went to the bench for a new one, got a bit of speed to get a lead on the defense and roofed a backhander over Ward to tie the game at one.
The Canes got their first power play of the game early in the third, and capitalized on it. Defenseman Justin Faulk slid a pass over to Aho at the faceoff circle, and he rocketed a shot past Talbot for his fourth goal in two games to give the Canes a 2-1 lead. The goal was the Canes’ third power-play goal in two games after the break; the man advantage was a major issue during Carolina’s five-game skid before All-Star weekend.
“We’ve talked a lot about the power play and practiced it a lot,” Aho said. “I think it’s getting better all the time. We’re moving the puck faster and playing with a high pace.”
The third was by far the Canes’ best of the game. Against a very skilled offensive team in Edmonton, the Canes stuck to a defense-first, puck-possession style of game that allowed them to deny Oilers a chance to tie the game. This was most evident over the last few minutes, as the Canes were able to spend multiple shifts in the Oilers’ zone, making it difficult for them to set up a chance at a tying goal.
“We needed the points,” Staal said. “We got our legs going a little bit even in the second half of the second [period]. We had a great third playing in their end and doing the things we want to do to keep them in check.”
It will be a quick turnaround for the Canes after this one, as the team will head to Brooklyn tomorrow for a key divisional game against the New York Islanders.
Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin looks for an open pass to clear the puck. Slavin recorded one assist in the Hurricanes' 2-1 victory over the Oilers in PNC Arena on Friday.
