The Canes and goaltender Brandon Bussi agree on a 3-year contract extension.  We discuss that, the roster work still to do before the trade deadline and the incredible Olympic hockey quarterfinals.  Oh, and I also spent about 15 minutes on the phone with The Bus himself.  Enjoy!

Brandon Bussi made 16 saves, Andrei Svechnikov and Jordan Staal scored goals and the Canes extended their points streak to 10 straight in a 2-0 win at Madison Square Garden.  Andrei scored at 6:26 of the first period coming right off the bench to corral a loose puck at the blue line and beat Jonathan Quick for his 21st goal of the season.  Svech has 9 goals in his last 10 games.  Staal's 15th of the season, into an empty net, was his 5th in the last 7 games.  Nikolaj Ehlers' great defensive play to take the puck away from Vincent Trocheck created the chance and the Canes head into the Olympic Break with an 8 point lead over the Penguins in the Metropolitan Division.

Jordan Staal's game-winning goal, with just more than 5 minutes to play helped the Canes to a 4-3 win over Ottawa as they extend their points streak to 9 straight games (7-0-2).  Staal's 14th of the season was the 8th time that Staal has given Carolina the lead with a goal.  Seth Jarvis scored twice, Sebastian Aho added a goal and 2 assists, and Brandon Bussi won for the 22nd time in 26 NHL starts.  It was another game in which the Hurricanes weren't necessarily the better team, though Carolina definitely played well and with a lot of energy.  The Canes have just one more game -- Thursday at Madison Square Garden -- before the Olympic break.

Sebastian Aho's overtime goal, 1:25 into the 3-on-3 session, gave the Canes a 3-2 win over the Kings, extending their points streak to 8 straight games (6-0-2).  One night after leading 3-0 only to lose in overtime, Carolina led 2-0 with just over 7 minutes to play.  But, the Kings capitalized on a Hurricanes mistake 24 seconds later to cut the lead in half and drew even with 3:11 to play and we were headed beyond regulation for the 2nd straight night -- and the 3rd time in the last 5 games.  This time, however, Sebastian Aho did what he seemingly always does, he won the game, beating Anton Forsberg just inside the left post for his 19th goal of the season.  Brandon Bussi made 11 saves for his 21st win in 25 starts.  Jordan Staal and Alexander Nikishin also scored for the Canes who are 10-1-3 in their last 14 games.

How should the headline read?  The Canes blow a 3-0 lead and lose, 4-3, in overtime?  Or, the Canes stole a point in their OT loss in Washington?  Because both of those things are essentially true.  According to head coach Rod Brind'Amour his team was as bad as he can recall in a 60-minute game.  And, statistically speaking, he was not wrong.  Carolina was dominated in every area of the game -- other than goaltending -- in the loss.  Only Frederik Andersen, who made 38 saves on the night, drew praise from the head coach.  Andersen stopped 19 shots in the 1st period and another 19 the rest of the way as his team spent far too much time defending on the night.  Mark Jankowski, Sebastian Aho and Shayne Gostisbehere each scored in the loss.  

Brandon Bussi made 34 saves to win his 19th game of the season as the Hurricanes beat the Senators, 4-1.  Bussi's victory helps to continue a record breaking start to his career.  No NHL goalie has ever won 19 of his first 23 starts.  In Bussi's 23 starts he's allowed 4 or more goals just twice and 8 times -- including the last three -- he's allowed 1 or fewer goals.  Carolina wasn't very good in the win, but they managed to score 3 times in the first period as William Carrier, Seth Jarvis and Taylor Hall staked the Canes to the big lead.  Andrei Svechnikov's 18th of the season, on the power play, made it 4-0 early in the 2nd period.  

The Canes lost to the Chicago Blackhawks, 4-3, in a shootout on a night when the power play -- which had been excellent of late -- went 0 for 5 and conceded a shorthanded goal.  Joel Nystrom scored his first NHL goal and was joined on the scoresheet by Jordan Staal and Jackson Blake in the loss.  One thing Carolina did well on Thursday was bounce back.  They never led in the game, but each time Chicago scored the Canes seemed to get the game back even quickly.  Alexander Nikishin took part in his first NHL fight as Chicago's Oliver Moore challenged him after a clean hit on Rick Lardis in the second period.  Nikishin didn't appear interested in fighting, but ended the bout quickly as Moore was knocked to the ice in 3 punches.  Moore would have the last say, however, as it was his shootout conversion ended the game in the 6th round and gave Chicago the bonus point.

Brandon Bussi only had to make 17 saves.  But, you ask Buffalo's Tage Thompson if Carolina's goalie played well.  Thompson, a 25 goal scorer already this year, easily could have had a hat trick against the Canes were it not for Bussi.  One save was so amazing, the game broadcasters -- both local and national -- assumed that a goal had been scored.  It was THAT good.  Andrei Svechnikov scored for the 3rd straight game and Seth Jarvis' power play goal, 2 minutes into the 3rd period, was the game winner.  

What a 27 hours for the Canes!  One night after they tarred and feathered the Florida Panthers, 9-1, Carolina rode the goaltending of Frederik Andersen and an Andrei Svechnikov hat trick for a 4-1 win in Newark.  Andersen made 28 saves, with most of the toughest ones coming early as the Hurricanes struggled to get into the game after the emotions of Friday night's blowout.  But, Andersen kept them level and then Svechnikov scored twice in 58 seconds late in the 2nd to stake Carolina to the lead.  Timo Meier's power play goal cut the lead in half, but Jackson Blake's 15th of the year restored the 2-goal lead and Svechnikov completed the hat trick for the final margin.  

Nine goals.  Nine goals.  The Carolina Hurricanes hung 9 goals around Sergei Bobrovsky and the Florida Panthers.  Nikolaj Ehlers, who now has 11 goals in 18 career games against Florida, picked up his first hat trick with the Hurricanes (6th of his career), as Carolina scored 6 times in the 3rd period in the 9-1 win.  While nothing really can erase the sting of blowing a combined lead of 5-0 in the first two meetings between these two teams, Carolina extending the lead over and over and over again in the 3rd period will at least prove to themselves that they have put that part of their season behind them.  Taylor Hall scored twice, while Andrei Svechnikov, Eric Robinson, Mark Jankowski and Alexander Nikishin each added goals of their own.  Carolina now has an NHL-best 9 players with 10+ goals on the season.  Brandon Bussi made 15 saves for his 17th win of the year.  The Canes were 4 for 5 on the power play and a perfect 5 for 5 on the penalty kill.