Svechnikov, Aho help Hurricanes hold off Coyotes

GLENDALE, Ariz. --Andrei Svechnikov and Sebastian Aho each had two goals and an assist for the Carolina Hurricanes in a 5-3 win against the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena on Thursday.

James Reimer made 30 saves, and Trevor van Riemsdyk had two assists for the Hurricanes (31-20-3), who are 4-2-0 in their past six games and moved into a tie with the Philadelphia Flyers for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
"That's what we have to do, score and help the team win games," Svechnikov said of playing alongside Aho and Teuvo Teravainen, who was restored to the top line after Carolina fell behind 2-0.
"Assistant coach Jeff Daniels] said, `We've got to do something there and put those guys back together,'" Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "It was a good call by him. That was the difference in the game. That line was pretty dynamic."
***[WATCH: [All Hurricanes vs. Coyotes highlights]*
Alex Goligoski had a goal and an assist, and Antti Raanta made 26 saves for the Coyotes (27-22-7), who are 1-4-2 in their past seven games and 2-6-3 in their past 11. It was Arizona's first regulation loss at home since Dec. 29 (5-0-3 previous eight).
"For a six- or seven-minute stretch (in the second period), we got soft. We just did dumb things and that's what upsets me," Arizona coach Rick Tocchet said. "It's just stupidity. We're not an overly tough team, I get that, but you've got to get through people and you've got to get on people (defensively)."
Svechnikov cut it to 2-1 at 5:06 of the second period when he tapped in the rebound of Haydn Fleury's shot off the post, and Jaccob Slavin scored with a one-timer off a pass by Ryan Dzingel from behind the net to tie it 2-2 at 9:00.
"Svech scored, and obviously that gives you a boost and that confidence and we just kept building on that," Aho said.
Svechnikov gave Carolina a 3-2 lead at 11:01 on a rebound in front.
"That's the game tonight. We just weren't tough in front of the net," Tocchet said. "[Raanta] has no chance on those goals. Guys are there, box them out. I just don't understand why we don't do that."

Aho, who has five goals during a four-game streak, extended the lead to 4-2 at 1:03 of the third period. After Raanta stopped Svechnikov on a breakaway, Svechnikov got his own rebound and passed to a trailing Aho for a one-timer from the slot.
"[Svechnikov] is awesome to play with; he's got speed, he's got skill, he can score goals," Aho said. "I kept trying to find him and we tried to play fast hockey and skate to a lot of chances."
Conor Garland scored for the third straight game to cut it to 4-3 at 3:27.
"We got off to a good start, but we had mental lapses," Garland said. "We made some mistakes, but we fought back and gave ourselves a chance. We've just got to convert them."
Raanta stopped Svechnikov on another breakaway at 7:00 to keep it a one-goal game, but Aho scored into an empty net with 34 seconds remaining for the 5-3 final.
"Yeah, almost," Svechnikov said of just missing his first NHL hat trick. "I had so many chances to score, but the most important thing is we won the game."

Goligoski, who was on the ice for Carolina's first four goals, put Arizona ahead 1-0 at 15:45 of the first when his shot deflected in off Aho's stick, and Christian Dvorak scored a power-play goal at 4:06 of the second to make it 2-0.

They said it

"The mindset for today, and probably for the rest of the season, was keep grinding. We're not going to win every game probably, but we have to do it right and we did it right today." -- Hurricanes forward Sebastian Aho
"It's a tough loss at this time of the year. A lot of guys tried tonight, we worked hard, but you can analyze it all you want, it's just not being tough enough. That's it." -- Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet

Need to know

Carolina is 10-1-2 in its past 13 games against Arizona, including 2-0-0 this season. … Teravainen had an assist and has nine points (two goals, seven assists) in his past eight games. … Garland has 10 points (five goals, five assists) in his past nine games. … Arizona went 1-1-2 on a four-game homestand. … Coyotes forward Phil Kessel played in his 830th consecutive game, tying Stars forward Andrew Cogliano for sixth in NHL history.

What's next

Hurricanes:At the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday (10 p.m. ET; ATTSN-RM, FS-CR, NHL.TV)
Coyotes:At the Boston Bruins on Saturday (3 p.m. ET; NESN, FS-A, FS-A PLUS, NHL.TV)