The Carolina Hurricanes welcomed the Buffalo Sabres to town on Saturday night, beginning their first back-to-back of the season. The group has won two in a row, earning a victory over the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night in an entertaining bout at the Lenovo Center. The teams traded goals in quick succession at different points, with the Canes emerging with the 4-3 victory.
Eric Robinson and William Carrier returned to the lineup after each leaving early against Colorado. Pyotr Kochetkov was in the net after earning a shutout victory in his season debut at Madison Square Garden. Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin announced on Friday that he'd be taking a leave of absence and returning to Sweden, taking a big piece out for Buffalo. Alex Lyon took the net for the Sabres.
The pace wasn't as fast as Thursday, but both teams found the back of the net in the first 10 minutes. The Canes struck first on a great individual effort from Andrei Svechnikov. He pushed his man off the puck in the defensive end, made a defender miss in the neutral zone, and set up Sebastian Aho on his wing to get things rolling. Owen Power got it back three minutes later for Buffalo, tying it after one.
While the first period didn't look great for either side, the Canes took control in the second. On the power play, Svechnikov buried a one-timer from the near dot past Lyon, putting the Canes back in front. Later in the frame, Joel Nystrom picked up his first NHL point by circling the net and hitting Jesperi Kotkaniemi for a one-timer off the post, putting his team up 3-1 after 40 minutes.
It looked like the Canes might run away with it when Eric Robinson scored 29 seconds into the third period. However, Alex Tuch and Tage Thompson scored soon after to pull the Sabres within a goal with plenty of time left. The Canes held firm, getting empty-net goals from Seth Jarvis and Charles Alexis Legault, the first of his career, to secure a 6-3 win on home ice for their 10th of the season.
Svechnikov and Kotkaniemi lead the offensive charge
If there are two players more discussed by this fanbase, it's Andrei Svechnikov and Jesperi Kotkaniemi. Both were excellent tonight. Svechnikov has hit his stride in November. All six of his points have come in the last six games, with two of them coming tonight. His incredible effort got the Canes on the board in the first, and he got another on the power play against the league's best kill.
Kotkaniemi hadn't found the scoresheet since the Colorado game, going pointless in six games. He laid a big hit in the first period before finding the back of the net in the second to break his drought. Kotkaniemi added to it by setting up Eric Robinson in his return to open the third. For the Olympic hopeful, it was good to see him driving a productive line.
Milestones all around for the Hurricanes tonight
There were a lot of big moments for the Canes in this one. K'Andre Miller and Nikolaj Ehlers each added assists on Svechnikov's power-play strike. Along with extending his point streak to three games, Ehlers' assist was the 300th of his career. Miller also reached a round number, with his primary helper marking his 100th assist.
The rookie defensemen joined the fun, too, finding the scoresheet for the first time. It started with Joel Nystrom setting up Kotkaniemi in the second for his first NHL point. Then, Charles Alexis Legault joined his friend by recording the secondary assist on Robinson's goal. For good measure, Legault added his first goal into the empty net, becoming the third Hurricane to do so this season.
Additional Thoughts
Through two periods, Pyotr Kochetkov didn't face very much. Then, all of a sudden, the Sabres turned it on the third period. He could've been discouraged by the quick goals he allowed to make it 4-3, but Kochetkov was phenomenal down the stretch. The Tuch goal was tough, but he made up for it. He made a big stop on Ryan McLeod right after Thompson's goal and finished with 19 stops.
The Hurricanes' power play remains way too inconsistent for my liking, but they're trending in the right direction. With their conversion tonight, they've scored in three of the Canes' last six games, going 3-for-10 during that stretch. It's obviously still not good enough, but the results are good to see as several players have started to get rolling.
Up Next: The Carolina Hurricanes will be right back at it on Sunday, flying to Toronto to face the Maple Leafs for the first time this season. This trip will be a quick one as the Canes return for three straight at home next week. We'll get a postseason rematch on Tuesday with the Washington Capitals in town before they host a back-to-back on Friday and Saturday against Vancouver and Edmonton.