The Carolina Hurricanes hosted the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night as they looked to close out their two-game homestand. The Sabres had won just one game in their previous six and were on a two-game losing streak. They looked to snap that streak. Meanwhile, the Hurricanes were on a two-game winning streak and were winners of three of their previous four. Two teams are going in different directions and looked to add another win to their resume. As the final horn sounded, the Hurricanes defeated the Sabres 6-3.
Game Recap
The Hurricanes had most of the momentum to start the first period, and it showed when Sebastian Aho scored his fifth of the season on Alex Lyon. He got a great pass by Andrei Svechnikov, who broke into the zone, passing by a Sabres forward who was covering for a defenseman. Svechnikov put it right onto Aho’s tape and into the net, giving the Hurricanes an early 1-0 lead, five minutes into the game.
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The Sabres tied it up just over three minutes later after a turnover in the Hurricanes’ zone. Noah Östlund put pressure in the corner and forced it out to Owen Power, who was crashing the slot. Power did not waste any time and put a solid shot on the net, beating Pyotr Kochetkov. It tied the game 1-1, which was the score after the first 20 minutes. The Hurricanes outshot the Sabres 10-6 in the opening frame.
The second period saw the Hurricanes score two goals in the middle frame. Svechnikov, after getting an assist in the first period, made it a multipoint night after getting a brilliant pass from K’Andre Miller on the power play. The puck went right into the Russian forward’s wheelhouse, ripping it top shelf over Lyon’s left shoulder. Over seven minutes later, Jesperi Kotkaniemi got in on the scoring action with a one-timer of his own to beat Lyon off the post and into the net. His second of the season made it a 3-1 Hurricanes lead. Joel Nystrom tallied his first NHL point with the primary assist after putting on Kotkaniemi’s tape after a great pass from behind the Sabres’ goal.
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The third period saw five goals, three from the Hurricanes and two from the Sabres. Eric Robinson, in his first game back from injury, made it 4-1, 29 seconds into the period. A couple of goals from Alex Tuch and Tage Thompson saw the Sabres draw back to within one. It was a close one for a while as both sides were trying to find the next goal. After the Sabres pulled Lyon, the Hurricanes ended up scoring two empty net tallies, one by Seth Jarvis and the other by Charles Alexis Legault, to put the game away. Legault, after getting his first point earlier in the period on the Robinson goal, tallied his first NHL goal, which made it a 6-3 game.
The Hurricanes are now 10-4 and on a three-game winning streak. Their next game is on Sunday, Nov. 9, in Toronto against the Maple Leafs for the second half of a back-to-back. Regarding the Sabres, they’re on a three-game losing streak and face the Utah Mammoth on Wednesday, Nov. 12, in Salt Lake City. They fall to 5-6-4 on the season.
