RALEIGH, N.C. - Sebastian Aho tallied his 17th career overtime goal 4:29 into the extra frame to lift the Carolina Hurricanes to a 4-3 victory over the Vancouver Canucks at Lenovo Center on Friday.
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Aside from Max Sasson capitalizing on a turnover to put Vancouver ahead at 2:45, Carolina enjoyed a mostly bright start to Friday's tilt. Andrei Svechnikov's first of two on the night tied the game 1:35 after Sasson's strike, and his second - a one-timer from the right circle just seconds into a power play - gave the Canes a 2-1 lead just 54 seconds later. But puck management issues bit Carolina once more before the end of the frame, with a giveaway allowing Elias Pettersson to send the teams to break tied at two.
More misfortune ensued to open the second stanza, as an early power play bid gave Vancouver its second lead of the night - one they would carry into the third despite Carolina holding an 18-8 shot advantage in the middle frame alone.
With injuries to its forward corps mounting - Seth Jarvis and Jesperi Kotkaniemi had both left the contest with upper- and lower-body concerns, respectively - the comeback trail seemed an uphill climb for Carolina as the puck dropped for the closing 20 minutes. But 6:26 later, the resilient group delivered the tying tally as Taylor Hall finished off a slick passing play with Svechnikov and Shayne Gostisbehere to ultimately force overtime.
The extra frame opened with nearly four minutes of puck control - but just one shot - for Vancouver. But as play shifted to the Canes' offensive zone in the final minute, a run of faceoff wins allowed Carolina to gain momentum. The last of those victorious draws saw Aho play a give-and-go with Gostisbehere before slipping past Pettersson and wiring home a bar-down beauty to wrap up both points for the hosts.
Making his third start of the season, Pyotr Kochetkov stopped 14 of 17 shots to move to 3-0-0 on the year.
