BUFFALO — Sebastian Aho extended his goal streak to six games for the Carolina Hurricanes in their seventh straight win, 5-1 against the Buffalo Sabers at KeyBank Center on Wednesday.
“If I can score and help the team win that way, it’s nice,” said Aho, who has nine goals during his streak. “And it’s always nice to score, don’t get me wrong, I’d rather take this win streak over a goal streak. But yeah, obviously you try to produce in every game and obviously I play big minutes, so that’s my job as well.”
Video: CAR@BUF: Aho jams home a backdoor pass for a PPG
Stefan Noesen had a goal and an assist, and Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Jalen Chatfield each had two assists for the Hurricanes (34-9-8), who are 9-0-1 in their past 10 games. Antti Raanta made 29 saves,
It was Carolina’s last game until Feb. 11 against the New York Rangers.
“A little bit of everything, I think that’s the key,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “I think every game there’s kind of a little something here or there; we’ve played pretty consistently, our guys work really hard and that’s the cornerstone of our group. I think contributions up and down the lineup. … It’s been impressive to keep winning despite some guys that we had out.”
Alex Tuch scored, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 29 saves for the Sabers (26-20-4), who had their seven-game point streak end (5-0-2). It was their last game until Feb. 11 against the Calgary Flames.
“We fought it,” Buffalo coach Don Granato said. “It was the first time in a while I’ve seen our guys carry frustration and start to play with frustration, which hasn’t happened in quite some time for us, which then complicates matters even more. Never got in a rhythm and obviously We played a very good hockey team and a capable hockey team.
“They were in a rhythm coming out of last night (a 5-4 overtime win against the Los Angeles Kings). But it didn’t matter who we played tonight. That result was going to be not a favorable one for lots of the reasons that were well within our control. It’s unfortunate, but it happened.”
Video: CAR@BUF: Noesen puts home Necas’ pass to double lead
Sabers forward Tage Thompson did not play in the third period because of an upper-body injury. Granato did not have an update after the game and said Thompson’s status for the 2023 Honda NHL All-Star Weekend on Friday and Saturday in Sunrise, Florida, has yet to be determined.
“No decision,” Granato said. “But obviously that’s kind of the decision, we’ll see where we’re at here. … Didn’t finish the game, so we’ll see. I don’t even want to read into it.”
Aho gave Carolina a 1-0 lead at 2:35 of the first period on the power play, taking a cross-ice pass from Teuvo Teravainen on the backdoor at the right of the net.
“The puck finds the back of the net right now,” Aho said. “Obviously, like today, it was an unreal pass by Teuvo. I basically just tapped it in, so a lot of goals, linemates and power-play units get those chances and just try to score every game.”
Noesen made it 2-0 at 10:05 on a tap-in at the left post off a 3-on-1, and Brent Burns pushed it to 3-0 at 12:47, scoring off a short pass from Kotkaniemi at the bottom of the right circle. Burns extended his point streak to seven games (four goals, four assists).
It was Burns’ 10th goal of the season.
“A tremendous human being and teammate, and a great player,” Brind’Amour said of Burns. “So, you’re checking every box possible. I joked about it, but I wished we would’ve got him 10 years ago cause he’s a lifer. You don’t let these kind of guys go away. Really, really happy to have him.”
Video: CAR@BUF: Burns adds to lead in 1st period
Tuch cut it to 3-1 at 14:45, scoring off the bar from the right circle.
Derek Stepan made it 4-1 at 10:30 of the third period before Jordan Martinook scored short-handed into an empty net at 18:19 for the 5-1 final.
“They came at us with a lot of energy,” Tuch said. “They kept it simple; they were flipping pucks out, keeping us on our heels. We weren’t able to sustain their pressure and we collapsed early on. When you go down 3-0 against a team like that, it’s going to be impossible to come back, honestly. We dug ourselves a hole, didn’t get out of it.”
NOTES: Aho’s goal streak is the third-longest in Carolina Hurricanes/Hartford Whalers history after Pierre Larouche (9 games in 1981-82 with Hartford) and Ray Ferraro (7 games in 1988-89 with Hartford). … Burns is the seventh defenseman age 37 or older in NHL history with a point streak of at least seven games. … Martin Necas got his 100th NHL assist on Noesen’s goal. … The Hurricanes’ 10-game point streak is their second double-digit streak of the season (17 games from Nov. 25-Jan. 1). It’s the second time in Carolina/Hartford history the team has had multiple such streaks, also doing so in 2005-06. … Sabers forward Jeff Skinner played his 900th NHL game. He’s the first player from the 2010 NHL Draft to reach the milestone. … Tuch has 10 points (four goals, six assists) in his past nine games.
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