It was a special night in Raleigh on Thursday as the group returned to the organization's roots by donning the Hartford Whalers crest for Whalers Night. The Carolina Hurricanes haven't had much to celebrate since returning from the break. They dropped both games on the Canada trip, including Tuesday's 4-0 loss to the Canadiens. Thursday had turned into a must-win for the Canes.
Sporting a beautiful, festive, and new mask, Pyotr Kochetkov was between the pipes for the Canes. Once again, the lines looked different as Sebastian Aho and Mikko Rantanen were reunited along with Andrei Svechnikov. Ukka-Pekka Luukkonen took the start for the Sabres. He was excellent when the Canes visited Buffalo in January.
Almost immediately, Jesperi Kotkaniemi set the tone. It took four seconds for him to lose his gloves and fight Dylan Cozens, earning the decisive victory to get the crowd roaring. It paced an overwhelming start for the Hurricanes. After a failed power play, the captain was in the right place at the right time. Jordan Martinook's shot from the boards redirected off his skate and through Luukkonen's pads to break the ice.
Just under two minutes later, pressure along the boards forced Bowen Byram to turn the puck over to Mikko Rantanen. He wasted little time finding Sebastian Aho in front of the net for a goal to double the lead. In a shocking turn of events, Lindy Ruff made a goalie change, lifting Luukkonen for former Hurricane James Reimer.
It's probably not ideal to immediately take an offensive zone penalty when you have a new goalie in the net. That didn't stop the Sabres from doing it. The Canes' power play needed 37 seconds to strike as Rantanen took Andrei Svechnikov's feed and snapped it off the post and in to balloon the lead to three goals.
While the Canes had been all over the first period, the Sabres would earn a late power play and get on the board. Dmitry Orlov heeled an attempted clear right into Alex Tuch. Kochetkov kicked the first chance out, but Tuch followed up his shot and buried it. The Canes might've had a case for a goalie interference challenge, but they opted against it, settling for a 3-1 lead after 20 minutes.
The second period was a strong defensive effort from the Hurricanes. The penalty kill atoned for the allowed goal by coming up with two big stops midway through the frame before adding a fourth goal. Jack Roslovic made an unreal play to steal the puck from Reimer before dropping a pass behind his back to Taylor Hall for his first goal as a Hurricane.
With the lead back at three goals to start the third, the Sabres cut it to two early in the third. Svechnikov's lapse in judgment allowed Buffalo to capitalize on a 2-on-1 as Ryan McLeod sent it to JJ Peterka for a tap-in. Fortunately, the rest of the period was low-event. The two-goal lead stuck until the Sabres lifted Reimer. Seth Jarvis stripped Tage Thompson of the puck and carried it into the empty net to ice the game in a critical 5-2 victory for the Hurricanes.
There might not have been a better time for the Canes to have Whalers Night. Whenever you have gimmick nights like this, there's already a sense of excitement in the air that the team on the ice needs to match. Especially coming off the road after two very flat games, they needed to find something. That's exactly what they did on Thursday night.
It all started with Jesperi Kotkaniemi dropping the gloves. Maybe he took inspiration from the first 4 Nations game between the US and Canada, but it was a big moment nonetheless. The Canes responded by scoring three goals in the first ten minutes of the game, chasing the starting goalie after the second tally.
The big guys came to play. Mikko Rantanen finally put together his first multi-point effort. Sebastian Aho scored a goal. Andrei Svechnikov had an assist and six hits. Seth Jarvis was phenomenal on the penalty kill and had the empty-net goal to inch closer to 30. Jaccob Slavin and Brent Burns locked it down on the back end. This was the brand of Hurricanes hockey we know and love.
One win is a good place to start, but this needs to become the blueprint. Now is the time to start stringing these wins together. The Canes had a tough February. They can't afford to have March be the same way. It needs to be like this at home and on the road. They've got the first part of that down. It's the second part that concerns me.
Up Next: The homestand continues for the Carolina Hurricanes as the month changes to March. They'll play two more at the Lenovo Center this weekend, hosting the Oilers and the Flames on Saturday and Sunday. After a quick stop in Detroit next Tuesday, the Canes will play four more in front of the home crowd, beginning with the Boston Bruins on Thursday.