The Carolina Hurricanes secured their third consecutive win with a 6-3 victory over the Buffalo Sabres at Lenovo Center on Saturday. Four players recorded multiple points in the game, marking the team’s tenth win of the season.
Andrei Svechnikov initiated the scoring five minutes into the first period by forcing a turnover and assisting Sebastian Aho, who scored past Buffalo goaltender Alex Lyon. The Sabres tied it before intermission, but Carolina responded with two goals in the second period. Svechnikov broke the tie with a power-play goal, and Jesperi Kotkaniemi extended the lead after an assist from Joel Nystrom, who earned his first NHL point.
Early in the third period, Eric Robinson scored on a breakaway to give Carolina a three-goal advantage. The Sabres reduced that lead to one with more than half of the final period remaining. However, late empty-net goals from Seth Jarvis and Charles Alexis Legault—who also registered his first NHL goal—secured the Hurricanes’ win.
Goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov made 19 saves on 22 shots to improve his record to 2-0-0 this season.
Svechnikov has now scored four goals and six points in his last six games after not recording any points in his first eight appearances this season. With Aho’s early goal, Carolina leads all teams with eight goals scored within the opening five minutes of games this year.
Nikolaj Ehlers reached a career milestone by recording his 300th assist during Svechnikov’s second-period goal, becoming only the second Danish player in NHL history to achieve that mark. Defenseman K’Andre Miller also reached 100 career assists during that play.
Rookie defensemen Joel Nystrom and Charles Alexis Legault each tallied their first NHL points on Saturday—the first time two Hurricanes teammates have done so in one game since December 2021. Forwards Eric Robinson and William Carrier returned from injury reserve; Robinson contributed what proved to be the game-winning goal while Carrier led or co-led in hits during their return to action.
Head coach Rod Brind’Amour commented on closing out Buffalo’s late push: “I thought it was a solid first two periods, we were really playing well. We didn’t really give up a ton, and then their talent [came through] eventually. It was kind of like you were waiting for it to happen. They’re down a few, they can just start winging it, and I think that’s when they get real dangerous as you see. There’s some really high-end players over there. But I did like our last couple of shifts, I thought that was good shutdown [play], and obviously great play by Jarvy to seal it.”
Legault reflected on scoring his inaugural NHL goal: “Feels great. You dream of scoring one since being a kid, so being able to get one tonight was a great feeling.”
Nystrom described earning his first point: “I saw I got a little bit of space there, so I tried to beat my forward. I saw KK coming from the blue line, and then he did a really good shot, so I have to thank him too.”
Brind’Amour also spoke about rookie contributions: “We don’t judge their games based on that, but those are nice little bonuses for them. Both guys have been solid, right? Like I’ve said, we’ve asked a lot of them, throwing them in there for so many minutes against top, top-end players, and I think all three of them – Nikishin’s in the same boat for me – they’re all new to the league, and they’re hanging in there.”
Svechnikov addressed overcoming early-season struggles: “Sometimes when it doesn’t go your way, there’s lots of negativity, but you’ve got to stay positive and sometimes maybe don’t care. Because I know what kind of player I am and what I can do; just waiting for that moment.”
Carolina will travel next to face Toronto at Scotiabank Arena before returning home for Veterans Day against Washington.
