Entering Tuesday night on a two-game skid, the Carolina Hurricanes tried returning to the win column during the third game of their four-game journey. The group was victimized by David Pastrnak (hat trick, 2 assists) on Saturday night in a 5-1 loss to the Boston Bruins. Facing the Buffalo Sabres, the home team sought to play spoiler as the Canes try to lock in home ice.
Jordan Staal and Andrei Svechnikov returned to the lineup on Tuesday night after missing four and two games, respectively. Jesperi Kotkaniemi missed the game after tweaking something in Boston, and Justin Robidas was sent to Chicago to make room for the two returnees. Pyotr Kochetkov and James Reimer battled in the nets.
The first period came and went without a goal, but Kochetkov quickly established that he'd be very active. He made a huge stop early on Ryan McLeod's breakaway before almost getting caught later in the frame. Kochetkov came out to play the puck, but he missed. Fortunately, McLeod hit the side of the net. Neither team capitalized on abbreviated power plays as the deadlock persisted through 20.
The Sabres broke the tie almost immediately to open the second period, courtesy of their leading goal scorer. Tage Thompson carried the puck into the Canes' zone with speed, dragged it, and fired it under the blocker of Kochetkov to notch his 44th goal of the campaign. The defense gave him too much space to work, and Thompson made the Canes pay.
The Canes' power play failed to tie the game during their two chances in the second period. In fact, it made the deficit greater. Alex Tuch was sprung on a breakaway late in the period, finishing a chance between Kochetkov's pads while keeping Brent Burns off him to double Buffalo's advantage. Despite only allowing ten shots through two periods, the Canes found themselves in a hole.
The hole turned into a chasm less than two minutes into the third period. Taylor Hall misplayed a puck inside the Canes' blue line, allowing Jack Quinn to strip him and set up JJ Peterka for an easy 2-on-1 goal to extend the lead to three. Try as they might, the Canes couldn't buy a goal against Reimer. They hit the iron twice in the third, but didn't get the bounce as they were shut out, 3-0.
Clearly, the team's road performance in March was an anomaly. After winning four of their five games away from Raleigh last month, the Canes have fallen back into their losing ways on the road in April. Worse yet, all three losses have been to teams outside of the playoffs, and none have felt particularly close, though the loss in Detroit was only two goals.
The power play has also failed to carry the success it saw during the most recent homestand to the northeast. At one point, they scored in five straight games, including three times against the Capitals. In Buffalo, it was back to the same struggles we'd seen for most of 2025. On top of that, they allowed a short-handed goal, which felt like the difference in the game.
For what it's worth, I thought Pyotr Kochetkov played a better game than he has in the last few weeks. While he suffered another loss and allowed three goals, none of the goals were soft. He was let down by the group in front of him. It wasn't a clean game by any means, but it was better than he's looked in a minute. If his team had given him some goal support, it might've been a bigger confidence booster.
While it didn't yield anything offensively, it was good to see Jordan Staal and Andrei Svechnikov back in the lineup. I thought Svechnikov played a good game overall. He asserted himself physically, laying three hits, without taking any dumb penalties. The captain was back to doing his thing on the penalty kill, which was a perfect 2-for-2 on Tuesday.
If you take anything positive from Tuesday's action, it's that the Canes' lead for second place in the division remains at seven points. Their hopes of making a huge comeback for the division crown were dashed with Washington officially winning the Metropolitan, but New Jersey was trounced 7-2 by the Bruins, meaning the Canes are that much closer to ensuring Game 1 against the Devils is in Raleigh.
Up Next: The Carolina Hurricanes conclude their road trip on Thursday in the nation's capital against the Washington Capitals. Eight days ago, the two teams came to blows often in the third period, leading to this highly anticipated rematch. The Canes return to Raleigh this weekend, hosting the Rangers and the Maple Leafs in a back-to-back, finishing their home schedule for the regular season.