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It’s been an eventful start to 2025 for the Carolina Hurricanes, who search for positive momentum to get themselves back to their consistent, early-season winning ways.
The Canes began their New Year with a 3-1 win on Thursday, January 2 at the reigning Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers. Carolina struggled two days later, getting shutout 4-0 by the Minnesota Wild at home, then rebounded on Sunday, Jan. 5 to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins – 4-3 – in overtime.
The Canes are still maintaining their position as a Top-3 team in the Eastern Conference’s Metropolitan Division, despite not winning consecutive games since December 15-17. Let’s take a deeper dive into Carolina’s 2025 start – and look ahead at their next game.
Canes beat Cats in Sunrise State, score two goals in third period
After ending 2024 with a shootout loss at the Columbus Blue Jackets – and playing .500 hockey in December, Carolina needed a big win to start 2025.
The Canes nabbed a 3-1 victory at the Florida Panthers on Thursday, Jan. 2.
Brent Burns opened the scoring for Carolina just 35 seconds into the game, putting an off-angle wrist shot past Sergei Bobrovsky. Anton Lundell evened the game for Florida in the second period, scoring two minutes in on a backhand.
Canes defenseman Jaccob Slavin opened the third period scoring, netting his second goal of the year on a slap shot, with 7:30 remaining in regulation. Martin Nečas scored his team-leading 15th goal on an empty-netter, closing the game out and sending the Panther faithful home with a loss.
Carolina loses a forgettable game to Minnesota in 2025 home opener
Every good team has a bad game. For the Canes, their bad game came on Saturday, Jan. 4 in a 4-0 loss to the Minnesota Wild at home.
Mats Zuccarello scored two goals to lead Minnesota, while Marco Rossi had four assists. Matt Boldy tallied his 14th on the season, while Joel Eriksson Ek registered goal number six.
Carolina goalie Pyotr Kochetkov struggled in net, allowing three goals on 26 shots. The Wild’s fourth goal came on an empty-netter.
Sebastian Aho earns 600th career NHL point, Canes down Pens in overtime
It’s always a good time when the 6-time, Stanley Cup-winning Pittsburgh Penguins come to Raleigh.
Carolina faced Pittsburgh on Sunday, January 5 and escaped with a 4-3 overtime victory. Aho netted his 13th goal of the season, which also happened to be his 600th career NHL point.
Aho positioned himself perfectly for the game-winner, collecting a rebound off a shot from teammate Dmitry Orlov. Aho quickly sent his shot past former Canes teammate Alex Nedejlkovic, scoring the game-winner and sending the Lenovo Center into a happy frenzy.
Carolina faced a 2-0 deficit after the first period, thanks to Penguin goals from Kevin Hayes and former Cane Michael Bunting. Carolina quickly stormed back with a 3-goal second period, thanks to two Seth Jarvis goals and a tally from Jalen Chatfield.
Erik Karlsson tied the game at 3-3 in the third period, but Aho’s heroics prevailed.
Who do the Canes play next?
Carolina faces the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday, Jan. 7 for a 7 p.m. face-off. The Canes then return home for a 3-game homestand against the Toronto Maple Leafs (Thursday), Vancouver Canucks (Friday) and Anaheim Ducks (Sunday).
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