The Canes fell behind, 2-1, in the third period, but the Captain's line produced a pair of goals as Carolina rallied to beat Seattle, 3-2.  The win was the 4th straight for the Canes, who maintain a 4-point lead over the Islanders in the Metropolitan division.  Jaccob Slavin made his return to the lineup after missing the last 10 games.  In all, Slavin has played in just 6 of the Hurricanes' first 45 games.  Logan Stankoven's 1st period goal got the Hurricanes in front of the game.  The goal was his 10th of the season and 4th in as many games.  K'Andre Miller's steal inside the blue line started the play and then the brand new Hurricanes defender made a great pass to Stankoven in the slot.  Seattle's Matty Beniers would make a great move around Slavin for a first period tying goal.  Brandon Bussi turned the puck over leading to the Kraken's 3rd period goal that put them in front, 2-1.  But, Jordan Staal set up both 3rd period goals, the first from Jordan Martinook and the second was credited to Will Carrier as Slavin's shot hit Will on the way into the Seattle net.

Freddie Andersen made 11 saves in his first win since November 6 as the Hurricanes won their 3rd straight game, 5-2, over the Ducks.  Mark Jankowski scored in the 2nd period to tie the game at 1-1, but it was arguably the most important play of the entire night.  The Hurricanes were flat until jankowski's goal and then they took control of the game.  Logan Stankoven, Jalen Chatfield and Jackson Blake each scored and Taylor Hall -- who's patience created Stankoven's 3rd goal in as many games -- put one into the empty net for the final marker.  It wasn't pretty, but it was gritty and the Canes got what they deserved.

K'Andre Miller scored twice, Andrei Svechnikov and Nikolaj Ehlers combeind for 7 assists and Seth Jarvis made an energizing return to the lineup as the Canes blasted the Stars, 6-3.  Carolina celebrated Star Wars night in style.  Miller scored twice, the first time since opening night -- when he also bagged a brace -- that he found the back of the net.  Shayne Gostisbehere and Will Carrier also scored and Brandon Bussi won for the 15th time in 18 starts.  

Brandon Bussi stopped 28 shots and Taylor Hall had a goal and an assist as the Hurricanes snapped their 3-game losing streak with a 3-1 win over the Devils in Newark.  Nikolaj Ehlers scored in the opening minute as his slight deflection of a Sean Walker point shot led to a rebound and a Luke Hughes own goal.  Hughes would also give up the puck to Hall for his 7th goal of the year, a forechecking classic as Hall knocked the puck off Hughes' stick and it slid past Jake Allen into the net for a 2-1 lead in the 2nd period.  Hall added to his night forcing a turnover behind the New Jersey goal and getting the puck to Logan Stankoven in front for his 7th goal of the season -- and first in 11 games.  Best thing we saw, though, was Brandon Bussi bouncing back in a very solid, and quiet but stellar performance in the Carolina goal.  

For the 5th time in their last 8 games the Canes coughed up a multi-goal lead.  The Canes entered the 3rd period with a 3-1 lead, but Colorado scored twice in the first two minutes of the period and went on to win their 10th straight.  Carolina lost for the 3rd straight time.  Sebastian Aho, Nikolaj Ehlers and Andrei Svechnikov each scored -- the second straight game that's happened -- and Aho now has 16 points in his last 9 games -- but Svechnikov and Ehlers each committed 3rd period penalties that led to Colorado power play goals and ultimately equalled a Carolina loss.  Frederik Andersen made 29 saves in a very good performance between the pipes.

The Hurricanes lost the first game of 2026, a 7-5 gong show of a game against the Canadiens.  Carolina trailed 2-0 early, then fought back to take a 4-2 lead before giving up the next 4 goals through a series of turnovers and poor goaltending.  It was the first home loss for Brandon Bussi, the second straight loss for the Hurricanes, and it comes as the next game will be against the Colorado Avalanche.  Sebastian Aho had 2 goals and 3 assists on the night, his second career 5-point effort.  Andrei Svechnikov and Nikolaj Ehlers each had a goal and two assists and Alexander Nikishin had a goal and an assist.  But Bussi allowed 6 goals and made just 16 saves on the night.  Now we'll see how he reacts to his first poor NHL start.

Frederik Andersen was every bit as good as the team that played in front of him against the Penguins.  That's to say he was bad as Pittsburgh beat Carolina 5-1 to close out the 2025 portion of the schedule.  Andersen allowed 5 goals in the first two periods, and the Hurricanes couldn't muster a response until Mark Jankowski's second goal of the season late in the 2nd.  Andersen hasn't won a game since a 4-3 shootout win over the Wild on November 6, and in his 8-game losing streak (0-6-2) he carries a save percentage of .832.  What are Carolina's options in net after Brandon Bussi?  

Jackson Blake's first career overtime game-winner gave the Hurricanes a 3-2 win over the Rangers on Monday night.  Blake's goal came on the power play -- the second power play goal of the game -- and helped get Brandon Bussi his 13th win of the season.  Bussi, who wasn't the scheduled starter, but was pressed into action when Pyotr Kochetkov was placed on injured reserve after it was announced that he would undergo surgery on his hip and would likely miss the rest of the season.  Brandon made 18 saves on the night.  Sebastian Aho scored his 14th goal of the season, a 1st period power play goal that tied the score at 1.  Jordan Martinook's 6th of the year, with a little more than 10 minutes to play in the 3rd period helped get the game into OT.  The Hurricanes were also without Shayne Gostisbehere against New York as he missed the game with a lower body injury.

The Hurricanes played 60 minutes of excellent hockey in a 5-2 win over the Red Wings.  Andrei Svechnikov and Shayne Gostisbehere each had a goal and two assists and Brandon Bussi won for the 12th time in 14 starts.  Carolina dominated the first period in every measurable way other than the scoreboard.  Michael Rasmussen's 5th goal of the season gave Detroit a 1-0 lead as the Canes did everything but score on John Gibson in the 1st.  But Jackson Blake and Eric Robinson scored 1:15 apart in the early part of the 2nd to put the Hurricanes in front to stay.  Gostisbehere would make it 3-1 with a little more than 4 1/2 minutes left in the period and Svechnikov's 10th goal of the season -- and 3rd in as many games -- made it 4-2 with about 7 minutes to play.  Jordan Martinook scored into an empty net for the final margin.  

The Canes finished off a hat trick of blown leads as they closed out the pre-Christmas schedule with a 5-2 loss to the Panthers.  They led 3-0 with 10 minutes to play on Friday night in South Florida before losing in a shootout.  The next night in Tampa they scored 3 times in the 1st period only to give it all back in the 2nd en route to a 6-4 loss to the Lightning.  Tonight, they took a 2-0 lead into the 3rd period only to see the Panthers erase that in 7 minutes.  Florida scored three times in a 3:07 span and with 13 minutes remaining, it was 3-2 and the Canes flatlined.   Frederik Andersen lost his 7th straight start and hasn't allowed fewer than 3 goals since November 1st.  His save percentage is .869, .024 under the league average.