The Carolina Hurricanes hosted the Utah Mammoth for their first meeting of the 2025-26 season on Thursday night (Jan. 29) at the Lenovo Center. It was their annual Whalers Night, as they wore the retro white Hartford Whalers jerseys. They were looking to win their second straight game while trying to push their point streak to six games. After being down 4-2, the Hurricanes scored three unanswered goals in 1:29 to win 5-4 in an epic comeback over the Mammoth. What stood out in the comeback win?
Takeaway #1: Svechnikov & Gostisbehere Multi-Goal Nights Carry the Hurricanes
In his first game returning from injury, defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere finished with two goals and three points on the night. One of those goals came on the power play, which saw the Hurricanes go 2-for-5. He had the primary assist on the Andrei Svechnikov power-play goal, after Svechnikov was the primary on the Gostisbehere man-advantage marker.
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Svechnikov also finished with two goals and three points. He is now up to 20 goals and 26 assists on the season, while giving himself eight goals and 10 points in his last seven games. Svechnikov is tapping into the old school power forward who’s laying big hits, setting up teammates, driving to the net and scoring goals. The duo of Gostisbehere and Svechnikov were the main reason why the Hurricanes were able to come back into the game.
Svechnikov made it 1-0 early in the first period, then Gostisbehere made it 2-2 in the second period. Later on in the game, Svechnikov made it 4-3 to draw the Hurricanes back to within one on the power play. That was followed up 32 seconds later when Gostisbehere tied the game 4-4. Their combined four goals and six points led the way to snatch the win from the jaws of defeat against the Mammoth.
Takeaway #2: Brandon Bussi Makes History, Again
It feels like every time the Hurricanes win, Brandon Bussi sets a new milestone in his Cinderella run. Following the 5-4 comeback victory, Bussi set the NHL record for the fewest games to reach 20 wins to begin a career. After stopping 21 of 25 shots, he is now 20-3-1 in 24 starts. He has been unreal for the Hurricanes, and the legacy only continues to grow for the 27-year-old. While it might not have been his best game, he has stolen a lot of games for the Hurricanes this season, picking the team up. This time, it was the team’s turn.
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The Hurricanes join the 1995 Dallas Stars and the Montreal Maroons to win a game after trailing by two goals in the final two minutes. If Bussi did not make key saves when he needed to, and the offense scoring three goals in 1:29, this game would have ended completely different. Bussi made the saves he needed to keep the Hurricanes in the game, and his teammates picked him up with clutch goals to win 5-4 instead of losing 4-2 or 4-3.
After the win, the Hurricanes move to 33-15-5 on the season. They are on a two-game winning streak and a six-game point streak, and have four more games before they head into the three-week Olympic break. Rod Brind’Amour’s side sits with 71 points after 53 games, giving them a commanding lead in the Metropolitan Division. What a perfect night to play Brass Bonanza after a comeback win like that on Thursday night.
