The Carolina Hurricanes put on an offensive masterclass in a Saturday night showdown against the visiting Buffalo Sabres. With two multi-goal periods, the Canes have started to find their flow as the season progresses.
Carolina (14-8-1) turned in one of its best all-around performances this season against Buffalo (10-12-2), scoring six goals and having six players tally multiple points. No player stood out more than center Sebastian Aho, who scored his seventh and eighth goals of the season against the Sabres but easily could have had more.
“He was good,” said head coach Rod Brind’Amour. “He was the difference. … He was really special tonight.”
Making his fourth-straight start, Canes goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov stopped 20 of 22 shots, a drastic improvement from the previous game where he gave up five goals on 16 shots. Getting a bounce-back performance was crucial for Kochetkov to set the tone for Carolina’s upcoming matchups and to regain his confidence after a dip in performance.
For the first half of the first period, both offenses were stymied by each team’s goaltenders. Halfway through the period, the Canes started to find their groove. After a quiet start to the game, the Canes scored two quick goals just a minute apart to close out the first period on a high note.
Corralling the puck out of the air, center Seth Jarvis drew a defender out towards the boards, leaving the puck and space for none other than Aho to rip a wrist shot past the goaltender’s glove.
Over the past two games, no line has looked better than the Noesen-Drury-Necas offensive line — and this was especially true in the Canes’ battle against Buffalo. With center Martin Necas getting bumped to the fourth line and bringing new life to that group, the Canes have four lines firing on all cylinders.
Taking the puck end-to-end, Necas flew into the offensive zone, wrapped around the net and found center Jack Drury, who fired a puck on net that was saved. But Drury stuck with the play and collected his rebound to score a goal for the second straight game and notch Carolina’s second goal of the night.
“You can tell Jack is pushing to show he belongs all the time,” Brind’Amour said. “That’s what we love about him; he’s an NHL-er, but he knows he’s gotta keep proving himself. That’s how you gotta be.”
Unlike the first frame, Canes fans didn’t have to wait long to hear the goal sirens in the second. After drawing an early penalty, Carolina got to the man-advantage and capitalized just one minute into the period.
Right wing Andrei Svechnikov found Aho in the slot by himself, setting the center up to slap home his first powerplay goal of the season and second of the game. This was the first of two assists for Svechnikov who, through 14 games back from injury, has posted 10 assists on the season.
The middle part of the second period saw the Canes killing multiple penalties and shutting the door on the Sabres, who tried to battle back into the game. Carolina went five-for-five on the penalty kill, including a kill on a controversial high-sticking penalty to Aho that clearly infuriated Brind’Amour.
The Canes’ next goal came with just under six minutes left in the second. On a flip pass from defenseman Jaccob Slavin, Necas settled the puck and, on a breakaway chance, faked a shot and passed it back to left wing Stefan Noesen for the finish. Necas’ elite skating ability creates open space for Drury and Noesen to thrive. On both of his linemates’ goals, Necas recorded the primary assist, and both plays resulted from him using his speed to create opportunities for his teammates.
“[Necas] makes it pretty easy,” Drury said. “I just try to get him the puck and get open.”
Down 4-0, frustration was quickly setting in for the Sabres, and Hurricanes left wing Michael Bunting continued to get under Buffalo’s skin. Bunting drew a roughing penalty in the middle of a scrum between the two teams and put the Canes on the power play for the second time of the night.
“You could see the frustration,” said Sabres head coach Don Granato. “There’s gonna be frustrating moments and frustrating things, but you can’t play frustrated.”
Twenty seconds into the power play, Carolina struck again. Svechnikov threaded a cross-ice pass to left wing Teuvo Teravainen, who scored from the back post. Tervaninen’s 11th goal of the season put the Canes up 5-0.
With two periods down and one to go, it looked likely that Kochetkov could leave with a shutout performance; however, Buffalo wasn’t leaving Raleigh with a goose egg on the scoresheet. In the first half of the third, the Sabres capitalized twice on turnovers and scored two goals on breakaway opportunities.
Centers Casey Mittelstadt and Tyson Jost scored the Sabres’ first and second goals respectively. Although Kochetkov didn’t get the shutout he wanted, he still put on a show, including a diving poke check save in the middle of the final period.
The Hurricanes’ sixth and final goal came from defenseman Brady Skjei, who sniped the back of the net off a shorthanded faceoff. This goal marks the sixth time this season four or more blueliners have earned a point in the same game, the most of any NHL team so far.
Defenseman Brent Burns recorded two assists on both power-play goals, giving him 600 career assists and making him the 17th defenseman in NHL history to do so. In the last nine games, Burns has recorded eight assists and showed that he still has some left in the tank despite the slow start.
As time winded down in the game, there was still a little bit of action left before the final bell rang. Drury dropped the gloves with Buffalo defenseman Connor Clifton to stand up for Necas, who got hit hard at the end of the game. Drury earned his second fighting major of the season and the second of his Hurricanes career. He is the only Hurricanes skater to have multiple fights this season.
After playing seven of their past eight games in front of the Caniac crowd, the Canes will be on the road for the next six games. Carolina’s next game will be Monday, Dec. 4 against Winnipeg. Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m.
