For the second time this week, the Buffalo Sabres and Carolina Hurricanes squared off on the ice. The blue and gold got the best of the Hurricanes on Tuesday night, but Thursday saw Carolina getting the last laugh by way of a 5-3 final.
The Sabres got off to a scorching start with two goals to open the contest.
In a span of just about two-and-a-half minutes, both Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch potted spectacular goals against Hurricanes goalie Antti Raanta.
The goals were Thompson's team-leading 32nd and Tuch's 10th of the season, respectively. Both also came with great passing assistance from Jeff Skinner, who grabbed primary assists on both scoring plays.
Carolina cut their deficit in half five minutes into the middle stanza. Star winger Sebastian Aho beat Craig Anderson for his 32nd goal of the season to make it a 2-1 contest.
The Sabres had a quick response, though, and scored 30 seconds later to increase their lead back to a pair. After some nifty work along the wall to win a puck battle, Casey Mittelstadt found Victor Olofsson deep in the Hurricanes zone. Olofsson's 10th goal in 18 games came on the backhand to make it 3-1.
Carolina got back within striking distance before the period's end, though. A giveaway in the Sabres' own end led to a goal from winger Teuvo Teravainen, and, once again, the Hurricanes got to within a goal.
Carolina added three more goals in the final period of regulation to take the game over. Captain Jordan Staal evened the score 3-3 and also chipped in an empty-net goal, while sandwiched between Staal's multi-goal effort was Aho, who also nabbed his second goal of the night as the game-winning tally.
The win punched the Hurricanes' ticket to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the fourth-straight season.
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GAME RECAP:
Scoring Summary:
First Period:
BUF: 3:49 - Tage Thompson (32) (Jeff Skinner, Alex Tuch); 6:25 - Alex Tuch (10) (Jeff Skinner, Tage Thompson)
CAR: NONE
Second Period:
BUF: 5:29 - Victor Olofsson (17) (Casey Mittelstadt, Mattias Samuelsson)
CAR: 4:59 - Sebastian Aho (32) (Andrei Svechnikov, Seth Jarvis); 16:32 - Teuvo Teravainen (19) (Unassisted)
Third Period:
BUF: NONE
CAR: 5:12 - Jordan Staal (9) (Brett Pesce, Jesper Fast); 11:39 - Sebastian Aho (33) (Andrei Svechnikov, Seth Jarvis); 19:05 - Jordan Staal (10) ENG (Unassisted)
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Penalty Summary:
First Period:
BUF: 7:38 - Rasmus Asplund (High sticking - 2 min.); 10:49 - Rasmus Dahlin (Hooking - 2 min.)
CAR: 15:10 - Max Domi (Roughing - 2 min.)
Second Period:
BUF: NONE
CAR: 13:16 - Martin Necas (Hooking - 2 min.)
Third Period:
BUF: NONE
CAR: 7:23 - Ian Cole (Hooking - 2 min.)
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Losi and Gangi Three Stars of the Game:
1.) Jordan Staal - CAR
2.) Sebastian Aho - CAR
3.) Andrei Svechnikov - CAR
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What's next:
The Sabres head to the Sunshine State to visit Sam Reinhart and the Florida Panthers on Friday night at FLA Live Arena. Faceoff is set for 7 p.m. ET with pregame coverage on WGR with Mike Schopp and the Bulldog starting at 6 p.m. ET.
