Those who stayed up late saw an amazing game.
Sebastian Aho scored in Overtime, and the Canes earned their fifth win on the six game State Fair Road trip as they defeated the Vancouver Canucks 4-3.
Once again, the Canes started the game on time. The Canes outshot the Canucks 13-4 in the first frame, continuing a trend on this road trip. It didn’t take long for the Canes to cash in on those shots, as William Carrier blazed a shot by Kevin Lankinen to give Carolina an early 1-0 lead.
The play was a little quirky in that Jack Drury looked like he was sending a pass over to Carrier but it was going to miss him. Jackson Blake, however, got in between the pair and redirected the puck right into a perfect spot for Carrier to go glove high on Lankinen. It sure looked like the Canes were off to a similar start like they had against Seattle.
The Canucks, though, are on a heater of their own and ramped up the speed as well. Just 1:37 after Carrier’s goal, Brock Boeser took advantage of a great pass from J.T. Miller, who got Canes’ starter Pyotr Kochetkov to commit to poking the puck away. Unfortunately for Kochetkov, Brent Burns was also trying to dislodge the puck which caused Kochetkov to lose his stick. It left him defenseless to the blazing shot of Boeser. Pyotr’s aggressiveness would be a factor for another goal later.
Pius Suter looked to have made it 2-1 Vancouver just a few minutes later in another harried moment for Kochetkov. Rod Brind’Amour called timeout, at first seemingly to try and settle his team down but it turned out it was to give his video review staff time to look for both goalie interference and offside. He ultimately challenged for offside and won, keeping it a 1-1 game, and as that stoppage happened around the 10 minute mark, there were soon two stoppages within about five minutes of each other.
The Canes settled down after that in the first, and while the Canes would soon come up empty on the only Power Play of the period, Martin Necas made a great move to go one-on-one against Lankinen and finished it, putting the Canes up 2-1.
It didn’t take long for the Canes to extend the lead in the second period. In what may be the highlight goal of the year, Jack Roslovic hammered home a shot off a beautiful pass from Brent Burns, after taking the pass off the rush of Andrei Svechnikov. Burns was able to get Lankinen to commit to him, and the net was wide open for Roslovic to finish the play.
From that point on in the period, though, the Canes owe their lead to Kochetkov. Carolina wasted :41 seconds of a 5-on-3 Power Play, and even worse managed to have the puck end up right into the stick of a waiting Pius Suter, fresh from the box. Pyotr stood tall and stoned Suter. He would go on to make 12 saves in the period, and while the Canucks out shot the Canes 12-10 in the second despite the 5-on-3, the second period ended with the Canes up 3-1.
The third period saw the effects of the road trip start to catch up to the Canes as Vancouver continued to dominate play. Eight minutes in, Quinn Hughes broke through Kochetkov’s hot streak for a goal from the near the blue line, a shot that Pytor likely wants back. The Canes would kill of a DOGPOG penalty, but would see their lead go away thanks to Pyotr’s aggressiveness biting him. Daniel Sprong..sprung..the zone after a save late in the third, and Pyotr tried to recreate his charging poke check to prevent the breakaway. Unfortunately the puck bounced right back to Sprong, and he was able to feed Suter who blazed it into the empty net.
The Canes held on for dear life to get it to overtime, including a couple of key saves from Kochetkov. Then, in overtime, the trio of Shayne Gostisbehere, Martin Necas, and Sebastian Aho teamed up to send the Canes home with the full two points.
SEABASS SAID, “LET’S GO HOME!” pic.twitter.com/Bx6NXFP9nU
— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) October 29, 2024
After Lankinen made several great saves throughout the night, he finally gave up a rebound that popped right onto Aho’s stick. He didn’t miss.
Necas led the team with two points on the night, and of the four goals, nine Canes managed to get a point. Despite the two goals he let up in the third, the Canes likely don’t get to Overtime without his strong play. He finished with 25 saves to the 28 for Lankinen.
The Canes will now travel back to Raleigh for what will likely be a loud welcome home on Thursday night against the Bruins.