The Carolina Hurricanes were in desperate need of a victory on Thursday night, welcoming the Eastern Conference-worst Buffalo Sabres to Lenovo Center.
Carolina hadn’t won since February 8, when it overpowered the Utah Hockey Club in a 7-3 domination. The Canes then took two weeks off for the 4 Nations Face Off, but lost by multiple goals at the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens.
On Thursday, Carolina beat the Sabres 5-2 in a convincing victory. Let’s take a deeper dive into the Canes’ win – only their second in February.
Rantanen, Hall lead balanced offensive attack on Whalers Night
Many wondered when Mikko Rantanen, Carolina’s prized trade deadline acquisition, would score another goal. Rantanen is just simply too good to endure a prolonged scoring drought.
That question was answered Thursday night in Raleigh, with Rantanen scoring his 27th goal of the year, in the Canes’ 5-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres.
Carolina (34-21-4, 72 points) captain Jordan Staal opened the scoring, tipping in a shot just over six minutes in. After Canes superstar Sebastian Aho tallied his 21st goal of the season – just under two minutes later, Rantanen added the Canes third goal of the opening period.
Taylor Hall, Carolina’s other big-name trade acquisition, scored his first goal as a Cane – with four minutes remaining in the second period. Seth Jarvis scored Carolina’s final goal, adding an empty netter in garbage time during the third period.
Alex Tuch and JJ Peterka scored for Buffalo (24-28-5, 53 points), which is on track to miss the Stanley Cup Playoffs yet again.
When do the Canes play again?
Carolina hosts the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday, March 1 for a 7 p.m. faceoff. The Canes quickly turn around to host the Calgary Flames on Sunday, with a 5 p.m. start time from the Lenovo Center.
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