Hurricanes hang on to defeat the Edmonton Oilers

It was a game that was way too close for comfort in the end, but the Carolina Hurricanes shut it down to make it 5 straight victories for the hockey club. They not only take a massive lead over the New York Rangers who sit third in the division, but they push their lead at the top of the Eastern Conference to three points with a game in hand on the Florida Panthers.

This was a game in which the Hurricanes asked their Vezina candidate Frederik Andersen to stand on his head, and number 31 did everything the team needed him to. He was absolutely sensational for the Canes. 29 saves for the Danish shot-stopper saw him claim win number 29 on the year. Denying the high-octane Edmonton Oiler offense anything to get back into the game when the Canes took the early lead.

Shockingly, the Ahovainen combination would be the pair to break this game open again. Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen would once again lead the Hurricanes to victory, as they have done so many times before. How many times you might ask? Well, the Aho goal was the 171st time they’d combined on a goal, tying a franchise record. They need one more to break it, and I’m going to make a shocking prediction and say that won’t be too far in the future.

Carolina otherwise wasn’t too tasked. Edmonton thought they had gotten themselves into an early lead when the best player on planet earth walked through the Canes defense like a hot knife through butter, but it was offside and the Canes avoided that. The Canes would have their own goal disallowed in the 2nd period. On a night where we saw 2 calls challenged when we hadn’t seen that in a while, it was an unusual game but it’s 2 points for the Canes.

Question for Cardiac Cane readers: What are you taking away from this game?