Recap: 'Opportunistic' Canes Outlast Senators

RALEIGH, N.C. - Three points from Sebastian Aho, two goals from Seth Jarvis and a late-game dagger from Jordan Staal lifted the Carolina Hurricanes to a 4-3 victory over the Ottawa Senators at Lenovo Center on Tuesday.

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A hot start for one of the league's hottest teams produced a quick lead for the Senators, but the Canes responded late in the frame as Aho's rebound bid ricocheted off an Ottawa body and past James Reimer. On the other side of the break, Jarvis then turned a tie game into a 3-1 Carolina lead, striking twice in a span of 3:02 with a pair of highlight-reel efforts.

After taking the lead, penalty trouble began to hurt the Hurricanes, and the Senators equalized with a power-play goal on either side of the second intermission. A stalemate ensued until 5:07 remained in the contest, when Nikolaj Ehlers forced a turnover during an Ottawa line change and sent Staal in alone with a perfect stretch pass. The Canes' captain made no mistake, ripping the game-winner past Reimer's glove on the breakaway.

As was the case throughout the affair, Brandon Bussi held down the fort for the remainder of regulation. Including a handful of huge saves in the waning moments, the first-year netminder posted 22 saves on 25 shots for his sixth straight victory between the pipes.

Stats & Standouts

• Forward Sebastian Aho scored for the third straight game to reach the 20-goal plateau for the 10th time in his career, surpassing Eric Staal (9) for the second-most 20-goal seasons in franchise history. Only Ron Francis (16) has more.
• Aho also became one of just four Finnish players in NHL history to record 10 seasons of 20 or more goals, joining Teemu Selanne (17), Jari Kurri (13) and Aleksander Barkov (10).
• Forward Seth Jarvis registered his team-leading fourth multi-goal game of the season. The 24-year-old paces Carolina with 25 goals on the year, which ranks fifth among NHLers age 24 and younger.
• Forward Jordan Staal bagged his second game-winning goal and 14th total tally of the season, surpassing last year's total in 22 fewer games. Eight of those 14 have been go-ahead goals, a total bested only by Seth Jarvis (10) among Hurricanes skaters.
• Goaltender Brandon Bussi turned aside 11 of 12 high-danger chances (per Natural Stat Trick), comprising half of his 22-save total.

They Said It...

Jordan Staal giving his assessment of the win...

"It was a grind. There was not a lot of room. They do a good job of staying on top of guys, not letting you break the puck out clean. They did a lot of forechecking. Our defense did a good job of continually breaking pucks out and getting them in their end. It was a tight game, and it just takes one little mistake, which we capitalized on. It was nice to get the win."

Rod Brind'Amour sharing his thoughts...

"That's not typically how that game goes for us. Give Ottawa a lot of credit. They were on their game, and it's kind of very similar to the one up there when we played them, to be honest. I like the word opportunistic. [We] cashed in on a couple of really nice plays, and obviously we had some big saves..."

Jordan Staal on yet another stellar night from Bussi...

"Not much more can be said about him. He's been so steady ever since he showed up here. He's steady, but also makes the big saves too in big moments. Tonight was no different. There were probably four or five that were huge... He's been unbelievable."

Rod Brind'Amour continuing on Brandon Bussi...

"All game, he made crucial saves at big times. The second period, especially. We started getting into a little bit of a track meet there. [We had] a couple of bad changes and all of a sudden, they had odd-man rushes and turned in four Grade A-chances in a 10-second span. It was just like boom, boom, boom, boom, over and over us making a poor decision. But that's what we need. That's what he's done pretty much every start for us."

Sebastian Aho on the team finding a way to win another tight game, after winning in overtime on Sunday....

"We'll take wins any way we can, right? That's what we're trying to do here: win hockey games, get some points and get to the playoffs. As of late, we've done a pretty good job on that."

Seth Jarvis setting the tone for the team's final pre-Winter Olympic break game on Thursday in New York...

"It's huge. You don't want to sit on a loss for three weeks. You don't want to sit on a bad game. Just coming in with the mindset of keeping this thing rolling, grinding one more out, and leaving it on the ice, and you've got three weeks to recoup."

What's Next After This Game?

• The Canes will not practice before flying to New York on Thursday. They'll compete in their final game before the Winter Olympics break on Thursday night against the Rangers.
• Next Game: Thursday, Feb. 5 @ NY Rangers | 7:00 p.m. ET | FDSNSO | Tickets | Parking
• Next Home Game: Thursday, Feb. 26 vs. Tampa Bay | 7:00 p.m. ET | FDSNSO | Tickets | Parking