Canes Corner

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.  

The Canes scored 3 times in the 1st period, but like the night before in Florida, they could not hold the 3-goal lead.  Pyotr Kochetkov was great over the first two periods, but he wasn't in the 3rd and the Hurricanes weren't good enough to carry him through it like he'd done for them most nights.  

The Canes had a 3-0 lead with 10 minutes to play and a 2-goal advantage with under 2 1/2 minutes left.  But, the Panthers taught Carolina a lesson about playoff hockey in December, rallying with Sam Bennett and Sam Reinhart goals to force overtime.  They would eventually win the game in a shootout.  Jordan Staal scored his 10th goal of the season and Sebastian Aho had 2 goals for the second straight game as the Hurricanes built that 3-goal lead.  But, Brad Marchand went into his bag of tricks, whacking Brandon Bussi in the jewels before scoring over top of him for a 3-1 score with just under 10 minutes remaining.  The Hurricanes gave up an astounding 24 high danger chances to the Panthers in the loss.  Bussi did make 38 saves, but his 9 game winning streak came to an end.  

Sebastian Aho had his first 2-goal, 3-point night of the season, Pyotr Kochetkov stopped 25 shots -- 14 in the 3rd period -- and Jaccob Slavin looked like his old self as the Canes beat the Predators, 4-1 in Nashville.  Carolina sweeps the 2-game season series having won the first one earlier this month in Raleigh.  Aho's 10th goal, on the power play, early in the 3rd period doubled the lead to 2-0.  Then he set up Seth Jarvis for his 19th of the year to make it 3-0, before icing the game with an empty net goal with 45 seconds left in the 3rd.  Jackson Blake was stellar again.  He had the game's first goal, in the 1st period, banging home a rebound of Logan Stankoven's shot.  And, Blake also had the primary assist on Aho's power play goal.  The Canes have won 5 straight and lead the Metro by 5 points.

For the third straight game the Hurricanes won in the shootout.  Brandon Bussi was the story -- again.  He's now 11-1-0 on the season.  William Carrier and Taylor Hall each scored goals for the Canes and Andrei Svechnikov recorded the game deciding goal in the shootout.  It's the first time in franchise history that they've won three straight games via the shootout.  

Jackson Blake notched his first career shootout goal, a game-decider, as the Hurricanes beat the Flyers, 4-3.  The Canes spotted Philly a 2-0 lead after 1, but goals by Nikalaj Ehlers and Alexander Nikishin brought Carolina level.  Seth Jarvis' breakaway goal in the 3rd gave them the lead.  Eventually the game went into overtime and then the shootout.  Pyotr Kochetkov would stop all 4 tries including a poke check off the stick of Bobby Brink before Blake's forehand-backhand-forehand move beat Samuel Ersson for the game winner.  Kochetkov is now 5-1-0 on the season and 6-1-0 in his career against the Flyers.