Rachel Barkley
Did the Carolina Hurricanes leave a lucky horseshoe in Raleigh?
The 5-4 win over the Vancouver Canucks came on the heels of a 2-1 loss to the Seattle Kraken, and it was certainly not an easy deal, no matter what the distance in the standings would try to insinuate.
Andrei Svechnikov spent half the game with a nose plug after taking a puck to the face, while two goals against were off the sticks of the Hurricanes’ own defensemen, with another thanks to a rare five-on-three penalty kill, and yet another after Jaccob Slavin was caught without a stick.
Nonetheless, the Hurricanes still had some luck left.
Though they were down 2-1 at the end of the first period, they led for the rest of the game soon after the second frame opened.
Sebastian Aho scored Carolina’s fourth goal of the game, and with it, notched his eighth 60-point season, becoming the fourth Finnish player in NHL history to accomplish the feat.
Meanwhile, Nikolaj Ehlers came in clutch as he scored not only the game-winning goal, but also achieved his seventh career NHL hat trick.
Nonetheless, despite some issues in their game, the Hurricanes kept the pressure on the Canucks throughout the game, generating 12 high-danger scoring chances while only allowing three.
A Reunion One Year in the Making
This time last year, Logan Stankoven was a member of the Dallas Stars, preparing for a game in his home province of British Columbia as they were scheduled to battle the Canucks in the upcoming road trip. Meanwhile, approximately 500 family members and friends had tickets to support him from the stands.
Of course, that reunion did not materialize, as Stankoven was traded to the Hurricanes at the NHL Trade Deadline. Instead, his battalion watched him face the Winnipeg Jets from the sports bar across the street from Rogers Arena in Vancouver.
Wednesday, however, was a different story. The Canucks’ own arena loudly rang with chants of ‘Let’s Go Hurricanes’ as an estimated 150 came to cheer on Stankoven.
It may have taken a while for them to link up, but they certainly got one heck of a show.
