Carolina's 31st home victory ties 2005-06 team for most in a season
© Josh Lavallee / Carolina Hurricanes
RALEIGH, N.C. – Led by multi-point efforts from four different skaters, the Carolina Hurricanes completed a season sweep of the New York Rangers with a 7-3 victory on Saturday. With their 31st win at Lenovo Center, the Canes have tied the 2005-06 team for the most home victories in a season in franchise history.
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As it did on Thursday in Washington, Carolina jumped out to a 2-0 lead and, this time, carried that advantage into the first intermission. Jalen Chatfield‘s seventh of the season started the scoring as his wrister from range found the top corner on Igor Shesterkin at 9:02. In the waning minutes of the period, Carolina’s deadly duo of Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis teamed up again to double the lead, with the former finding the latter alone in the slot for a top-shelf finish at 17:46.
The Canes carried momentum into the second stanza and quickly capitalized through Jackson Blake, who tapped home a rebound at the side of the net 2:02 into the frame. Mark Jankowski made it 4-0 just over 10 minutes later, rifling a William Carrier feed into the near-side corner from the right circle.
New York foiled the shutout bid with a goal late in the middle frame, but Canes captain Jordan Staal was quick to respond 3:45 into the third with a fantastic solo scoring effort. Another pair of quick strikes brought the Rangers within a pair, but the Canes’ damage was done, and empty-netters from Jordan Martinook and Logan Stankoven sealed the win.
Pyotr Kochetkov returned to the win column with 28 saves on 31 shots in the Carolina cage.
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Can't leave Seth Jarvis open! pic.twitter.com/ASSwk05bD9
Rod Brind’Amour following the victory…
“That’s how it has to happen. Will [Carrier], for being out as long as he has, he was pretty impactful. You talk about the top guys, I thought that line was really good. Everyone had a hand in it.”
William Carrier on returning to the lineup…
“It feels good. It takes a little bit to get going, but I felt good… Everyone’s been going hard all year. The systems are all-in, and we knew that was a big game for them, so they’d be coming out jumping. I’m just trying to get my game going and obviously having different linemates is kind of tough. You’ve got to learn a little bit, but I’ll give myself a couple of games to get going here.”
Seth Jarvis after his line of himself, Sebastian Aho, and Jackson Blake combined for seven points…
“The bigger guys that we play against catch us a few times, but I think we do a good job of using our speed and outsmart them a little bit, winning puck battles with our sticks and feet. I think that’s what (Jackson Blake) does really well. That’s what (Sebastian Aho) does really well. I think that’s why our line’s having success.”
Sebastian Aho when asked if the team takes satisfaction from eliminating the Rangers from playoff contention…
“Nah. We’re just focused on ourselves. We obviously haven’t been able to win as of late, so it was good to get back on track, especially how we started the game. We kind of took over from there.”
Postgame Quotes: Rod Brind’Amour
The Canes are right back in action on Sunday against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
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