The Carolina Hurricanes secured a 3-2 overtime win against the New York Rangers at Lenovo Center on Monday, with Jackson Blake scoring his first career overtime goal. The victory marks the Hurricanes’ second consecutive win.
The game opened with both teams exchanging power-play goals. Sebastian Aho scored for Carolina in the first period to tie after Vladislav Gavrikov’s early goal for New York. In the second period, Igor Shesterkin made key saves for the Rangers, allowing Jonny Brodzinski to restore their lead with a tap-in following a favorable bounce.
Carolina tied the game in the third period when Jalen Chatfield’s shot deflected off Jordan Martinook’s skate and past Shesterkin, forcing overtime. In the extra frame, Carolina managed all four shots on goal. Three came during a power play drawn by Taylor Hall. With 13 seconds left, Blake redirected an Aho shot through Shesterkin’s legs to secure the win.
Goaltender Brandon Bussi improved his NHL record to 13-1-1 after making 17 saves on 19 shots. He has now won each of his first eight home appearances, becoming only the fifth goaltender in league history to do so.
Jackson Blake has now scored in two straight games and has four goals over his last six appearances. His season total of 12 goals is behind only Seth Jarvis (19) and Sebastian Aho (14) among teammates. Aho extended his point streak to three games and set a franchise milestone with his 72nd career power-play goal, moving past Kevin Dineen for fourth-most in team history.
Nikolaj Ehlers recorded two assists, matching teammates Jackson Blake and Logan Stankoven as well as K’Andre Miller for multi-point performances this season.
Bussi remains unbeaten in regulation over his last 12 starts (11-0-1), one short of Antti Raanta’s franchise record from 2022-23.
Carolina converted twice on the power play for just the third time this season and has now scored on the man advantage in 11 of its last 12 games.
Rod Brind’Amour shared his thoughts after the game: “It was a good game. I thought everybody played really well tonight. It was just one of those (games) where the bounces weren’t going our way, and then they finally did…”
Sebastian Aho discussed how persistence led to success: “We’ve been talking about it, and that’s kind of the key to our success in past years, too. Up or down, you just keep being relentless. You can’t tell if we’re up or down; we just keep coming. We’re a deep squad, we roll for four lines, and that’s kind of how we want to do it. The last couple of games we’ve been able to do that, whether we are up or down, we just kind of keep going.”
Aho also commented on recent improvements in special teams: “Obviously, you go through a bit of streaks, but the work never stops… If you score a few, it kind of starts clicking, and then you start feeling yourself a bit. You’re not necessarily forcing plays, and you’re making the right decisions. That’s kind of been the case as of late.”
On Bussi’s performance as goaltender: “He’s been great. He keeps giving us a chance to win hockey games. That’s all you can ask from a goalie. It’s been a great ride. I’ve seen it for a long time, but he’s kind of now taking that step. He’s been really calm and collected in the big moments.”
Following this result at Lenovo Center—a facility located in Raleigh with over 700,000 square feet that accommodates up to 20,000 people—the Hurricanes will travel to Pittsburgh for their next game against the Penguins before returning home later in the week [source]. The Lenovo Center hosts more than 150 events annually and contributes significantly to Raleigh’s local economy [source].
As part of their ongoing commitment since relocating from Hartford in 1997 [source], Carolina continues its tradition as a professional ice hockey team providing sports entertainment [source].
