Recap: First-Period Frenzy Sparks Canes Past Sens

OTTAWA, Ont. - Nine skaters registered at least a point and Brandon Bussi turned in a 34-save effort as the Carolina Hurricanes thumped the Ottawa Senators 4-1 at Canadian Tire Centre on Saturday.

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Despite trailing 14-8 in shots through 20 minutes, the Canes made their chances count and held a 3-0 lead when the first buzzer sounded. William Carrier got the visitors off on the right foot with a tap-in of Mark Jankowski's centering feed on a rush chance, followed just 1:43 later by a Seth Jarvis laser from the right circle made possible by a perfect saucer setup from Alexander Nikishin.

Weathering a Senators storm late in the frame, Carolina landed one more counterpunch in the final two minutes, with Taylor Hall sending a seeing-eye shot underneath James Reimer to push the Canes' lead to three.

Amid a more back-and-forth middle frame, Andrei Svechnikov netted Carolina's fourth consecutive goal just before the midway point with the help of a friendly bounce, banking a pass off an Ottawa defenseman that snuck through Reimer. Shortly afterward, though, the Senators answered the onslaught with a Tim Stützle tally to break Bussi's shutout bid.

Down by three, Ottawa poured on the pressure in the third, firing 14 shots while limiting Carolina to a season-low-tying three. But Bussi and the Canes' defense held strong to see out the victory, with the first-year backstop picking up his 19th win in 23 starts.

Stats & Standouts

• Forward Seth Jarvis logged multiple points (1G, 1A) for the second time in his last five games. Since returning from injury on Jan. 5, Jarvis has points in seven of his 10 outings, registering two or more in three of those contests.
• Defenseman Jalen Chatfield also collected a pair of points (2A), his second multi-point performance of the season and one shy of his career-high mark of three, set in each of his last two campaigns.
• Goaltender Brandon Bussi picked up his first victory when facing 30+ shots, turning aside 34 of 35 Ottawa bids to post the second-highest single-game save total of his career.
• Forward Andrei Svechnikov notched his league-leading sixth goal since Jan. 16 (5 GP) to boost his total to 18 on the year — two shy of his sixth 20-goal campaign in eight NHL seasons.
• Forward Taylor Hall tallied his 12th of the season and now boasts points in back-to-back games. The 34-year-old has found the scoresheet in seven of his last 12 outings, producing 10 points in that span.
• Forward William Carrier opened the scoring with his sixth goal of the season in his 41st game, two more than he potted in 43 contests last season.
• With Saturday's outburst, the Hurricanes have now scored 56 goals in first periods this season, which is tied for third-most in the league at the time of publishing.

They Said It...

Rod Brind'Amour offering his overall thoughts on the game...

"That's tough... You get out to an early lead, and then it's just human nature a little bit to let off the gas, and we let off the whole rest of the night. But our goalie won us the game, so we'll take the two points and move on."

Taylor Hall on the contest...

"Bussi was really good. I don't think they had a lot of second-chance rebound opportunities, but he was really good on the first save... (Ottawa is) a good team, they've had some goaltending issues, but they carry play well, they play hard, they finish checks all night and they made it hard on us. I don't know if it's the schedule or whatever, but we didn't have that energy to match it. But some nights you need to get bailed out, some nights you win games that maybe you shouldn't, but I feel like it all evens out in the end."

Rod Brind'Amour on Brandon Bussi's continued progression in the Canes' crease...

"It's getting better and better, which is great. I think early, he was good, but now he seems to be settling in. That's two points that he got for our group; there wasn't much else going on there tonight. You need that. You need that when you don't have your best game, you need your goalie to come up big, and he did."

Brandon Bussi on the game and what's made his season special...

"I think it's just our group. [It] finds a way to keep plugging away, whether it's our best night or not. I thought our compete was really high... I think our D corps was really strong, battled really hard. The net-front battles are kind of where games are won and lost against them, and I thought that was a good effort."

Seth Jarvis on finishing strong through the five remaining games before the Olympic break...

"I think any time you win games, no matter how, it's big for the group. So just keep the positivity, keep the momentum going and carry it into next game."

What's Next After This Game?

• The Canes are scheduled to return to Raleigh immediately following the game, ahead of their longest non-Olympic stretch without games. They'll return to game action on Thursday against Utah for Whalers Night presented by Sandbagger.
• Next Game: Thursday, January 29 vs. Utah | 7:00 p.m. ET | FDSNSO | Whalers Night | Tickets | Parking