Recap: Canes Return To Win Column On Whalers Night

RALEIGH, N.C. - A trio of early tallies led the Carolina Hurricanes to a 5-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday.

GAME SUMMARY | BOX SCORE | UPCOMING HOME GAMES

Playing their first home game in 19 days, the fireworks started right off the opening face-off as Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Dylan Cozens dropped the gloves. In an effort to fire up his team amid their recent struggles, Kotkaniemi's impromptu scrap worked to perfection, instigating a trio of tallies just 3:32 apart shortly thereafter.

Jordan Staal got the scoring started, Sebastian Aho gave his team some insurance, and Mikko Rantanen concluded the stint with a seeing-eye power-play snipe, firmly planting Carolina in the driver's seat early.

A defensive zone error by Carolina in the final minute of the opening frame allowed Buffalo to get on the board, but the home team was able to counter in the second period. Taylor Hall's first goal as a Hurricane extended the advantage to 4-1, reestablishing his team's three-goal lead as the contest moved to the finish.

The two sides each found the back of the net once in the third period - Carolina's courtesy of an empty net goal from Seth Jarvis - rounding out the contest's scoring.

A solid defensive showing in front of Pyotr Kochetkov required him to make just 14 stops, providing an easy path to his 21st victory of the campaign.

Stats & Standouts

• Canes alternate captain Jordan Martinook skated in his 700th career game on Thursday, marking the occasion with an assist on Jordan Staal's opening tally.
• After struggling in the opening 20 minutes against Toronto and Montreal, the Canes raced out of the gates on Thursday with their first three-goal first period since Oct. 31, when they netted four in the opening frame en route to an 8-2 win over Boston.
• Carolina's triple came in just 9:41 after puck drop, the fastest three goals the team has scored from the start of a game since April 10, 2022 (9:30).
• Mikko Rantanen's goal marked his 248th career power-play point, tying Olli Jokinen for eighth-most by a Finnish-born player. Adding an assist on Sebastian Aho's goal, Rantanen recorded his first multi-point performance with the Hurricanes.
• Taylor Hall's first goal with the club helped him become the 11th Carolina skater to hit 10 goals in 2024-25. No other club has more players with 10+ goals scored this season.
• The Canes are now 6-0-3 when wearing Whalers uniforms.

They Said It...

Rod Brind'Amour on Mikko Rantanen and Taylor Hall each finding the scoresheet on Thursday...

"When you're settling in and there's so much expected, the only way you really feel like you're doing stuff is if you're contributing that way. They both did tonight in a win, so hopefully that will ease their minds a little bit so they can just free up and go play."

Jesperi Kotkaniemi on dropping the gloves right after puck drop...

"Oh I don't know. Just a quick decision I guess. I think we need(ed) a little energy there, and I rarely start the game so I thought I might do something there. But we got a little energy from that, got a good start for the game and it felt good winning it."

Mikko Rantanen on Kotkaniemi's fight and what went well for the team in the first period...

"Good job by KK to start the game and bury the guy there, so that gave us a lot of energy. The building was rocking after that for a while. It makes the game a lot easier when you score the first goal, and if you can get three in the first, it's easier to play with the lead than always chasing the games, which we've been doing lately. So we've got to take a recipe out of that and try to repeat it."

Taylor Hall on getting more comfortable with his new team on home ice...

"I think six of my first eight (games) have been on the road, so it's nice to be home and feel the energy. How this group plays on home ice is a really nice way to kind of get acclimated to the hockey and the pace and pressure that we play with."

Taylor Hall on the excitement of Whalers Night...

"It was great. The energy in this crowd is always there, it's always fun. No matter what night of the week it is we're playing, I've been a visitor here many times and kind of felt, not just the hockey, but the crowd and everything is tough. It's overwhelming as a visiting player. Wearing the headbands in warmup, that was a fun little touch. I think the guys had a lot of fun with that. And just seeing all the jerseys in the crowd - we were at lunch today and there was a woman that came to the game from Connecticut, so there's a lot of Whalers fans that have turned into Hurricanes fans, and it made for a fun night."

What's Next?

The Canes are scheduled to practice on Friday before hosting Edmonton and Calgary in a weekend back-to-back.

Next Game: Saturday, March 1 vs. Edmonton | 7:00 p.m. | Tickets | Parking | Upcoming Theme Nights