Hurricanes, Kraken eye Global Series finale after ‘amazing open practice’

HELSINKI -- Early on in the Carolina Hurricanes practice Friday at Veikkaus Arena, forward Seth Jarvis made a sweet move on a drive toward the net and scored a pretty goal. 

He wheeled away from the net and blew a series of kisses to the crowd, which was comprised mostly of children on hand to watch the 2026 NHL Global Series open practices. The kids oohed and aahed and clapped.

“Obviously, growing up in this country, there’s not many chances like this where you get to see NHL games or players or practices or anything,” said Finnish defenseman Juuso Valimaki, who plays for the Hurricanes. “I think it’s amazing that was the case today. There were a lot of kids and a lot of people (who) showed up. Thank you to all of them.”

There was a lot of fun Friday, including appearances by each team’s mascot. Stormy of Hurricanes and Buoy of the Kraken had the crowd going with their antics throughout the afternoon.

But there was also work going on for each team. 

The Carolina Hurricanes were happy with their 4-1 win on Thursday that was led by Finnish forward Sebastian Aho’s two goals and one from Valimaki. But they say they will have to be better when the teams meet in the rematch in the second and final game of the Global Series on Saturday (1 p.m. ET; HHN, Prime Video, CARNHL, KONG, KING, NHLN, SN1).

“They’re going to come out fired up and they’re going to want to play up to the level that we were able to show yesterday,” Hurricanes forward Taylor Hall said of the Kraken. “I think it was a really good game for us. There’s not a lot that we want to do a lot better, but it’s going to be hard. I think the atmosphere will be good again, and we want to make it happy plane ride home.”

Carolina outshot Seattle 30-13 and had 47 more shots attempts (84-37) in the game Thursday. The Kraken had one shot on goal in the third period and scored on it to avoid being shut out.

Despite the dominance, the Hurricanes (15-3-2) may make changes Saturday. 

Center and captain Jordan Staal could play. The 38-year-old, who won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the Hurricanes’ run to the 2026 Stanley Cup has missed the past 14 games with a calf injury. He has taken part in the two practices here and played on special teams Friday, suggesting he is ready to return.  

“We’ll see how he feels tomorrow,” coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “We brought him over here with the intention to maybe getting him in a game. He didn’t want to come all the way over here and not play. But there’s also no rush. Rushing a guy back, we don’t need to do that either. 

“So, we’ll find out probably tomorrow after he gets through the morning, and hopefully he does play.”

Goalie Pyotr Kochetkov, who backed up Brandon Bussi on Thursday, and defenseman Alexander Nikishin, a scratch Thursday, could also play.

The Kraken (9-7-1) may make a change at forward, possibly inserting rookie Jagger Firkus, who would be making his NHL debut.

Seattle knows its issues are more systematic. 

A mindset change and compete level elevation are needed.

“I think we didn't get to our game,” said Seattle forward Matty Beniers. “They play hard and they play fast and they have the ability to throw teams off their game. For us, we need to impose our game onto them and not react to them. 

“We'll have success if we do that. I think they're obviously a really good team, Stanley Cup champions last year. But I really do believe in this group, in our group, and I think we are a really good team when we play the way we know we can.”

Beniers says the Kraken need to be stronger at each blue line and can’t make bad turnovers. The more they can force the Hurricanes to navigate out of their own end, the better off they will be.

“For us, I think that we didn't play to our capability in terms of our structure and our detail, and that was probably the most disappointing thing for me,” Seattle coach Lane Lambert said. “We had some areas that we covered and we're looking forward to being better in those areas tomorrow. There's a battle level, a compete level, and a speed with which you must play against this hockey team.”

All of that will play out Saturday before the teams head back to North America.

Friday was mostly about entertaining the fans who showed up, many of the young ones harboring dreams of being in the position the players from these two teams find themselves here.

“Growing up, my parents took me to every one of these types of events that they could and got me as close to the action as possible and gave me a taste, gave me the thought that it’s possible, and that’s all you’re looking to do,”: Hall said. “Over here, these games are not just about us playing and getting two points and all the cliches. It’s about growing the game and making sure that these kids, boys and girls, are dreaming for the stars.”