Aho has goal, assist for Hurricanes in victory against Panthers

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Sebastian Aho had a goal and an assist, and the Carolina Hurricanes extended their winning streak to five games with a 4-2 victory against the Florida Panthers at PNC Arena on Sunday.

Vincent Trocheck, Nino Niederreiter and Warren Foegele scored for the Hurricanes (17-6-1), who improved to 3-0-1 against the Panthers this season and 8-1-1 at home. James Reimer made 21 saves.
"Both teams were playing on top of each other, and I like the fact that we hung in there and didn't get frustrated," Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "We just kept playing and made some big plays when we had to."
Keith Yandle played his 1,000th NHL game for the Panthers (15-5-4), who had their five-game point streak end (3-0-2). Chris Driedger made 22 saves.
"Over the course of the season, there's a couple games that you know, whether it's fatigue or scheduling, it caught up to you," Florida coach Joel Quenneville said. "I'm not making excuses, but tonight we weren't great."
Trocheck scored eight seconds into a power play to give the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead at 15:55 of the first period. He took a pass from Andrei Svechnikov at the left post and swept the puck past Driedger for his fourth goal in the past five games.
Trocheck, who was traded from the Panthers to the Hurricanes on Feb. 24, 2020, has scored one goal in each of the four games against Florida this season.
"I think it's just luck of the draw on that one," Trocheck said. "Obviously, it's nice to get one against the former team. There's motivation every night, so I don't think it's any different."
Niederreiter made it 2-0 at 4:52 of the second period after Martin Necas carried the puck through the neutral zone and fed him for a wrist shot from the left face-off circle.

MacKenzie Weegar pulled Florida within 2-1 at 10:41 when he scored on a one-timer after Noel Acciari won a face-off to him.
Jonathan Huberdeau had a chance to tie the game with four seconds left in the period, but Reimer made the save with his right pad at the top of the crease.
Aho scored a shorthanded goal 38 seconds into the third period to extend Carolina's lead to 3-1. Jaccob Slavin started the play with a stretch pass to Jordan Martinook, who set up Aho for a wrist shot from the slot.
"Great heads-up play by [Slavin] and [Martinook] too; that was a nice pass on his backhand," Aho said. "It was a big goal."
Quenneville said he felt Reimer's save and Aho's goal changed the game.
"The big turn was we have it all alone with [Huberdeau] at the end of the second period, and then they score the [shorthanded goal] to start the third," Quenneville said. "That's a two-goal swing there."
Foegele gathered a loose puck at the red line and held off Alex Wennberg to score five-hole for a 4-1 lead at 3:41.

Mason Marchment got the Panthers within 4-2 when he scored into an open net at 9:09 off a pass from Huberdeau.
"I think [Quenneville] was trying in the third to get some offense going, and it worked out," Huberdeau said of playing with Marchment. "He's a smart player, and he obviously gets in the right spot. He can score some goals."
NOTES: Forward Aleksander Barkov had an assist on Marchment's goal to extend his point streak to a season-high six games (one goal, seven assists). … Yandle is the 352nd player and 116th defenseman to reach 1,000 NHL games. He has also played for the Phoenix/Arizona Coyotes and New York Rangers in 15 NHL seasons. … Brind'Amour said Teuvo Teravainen was scratched because of symptoms related to the recent concussion that caused him to miss seven games. Teravainen returned to play 14:30 in a 5-2 win against the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday. … Trocheck has four goals and two assists during a five-game point streak. … Necas has two goals and five assists during a four-game point streak. … Aho's shorthanded goal was his 10th in the NHL to tie Brind'Amour for third in Hurricanes/Hartford Whalers history (Eric Staal, 16; Dave Tippett, 11). … Carolina defenseman Jake Gardiner had two hits in 13:55 in his return after missing five games with an upper-body injury.