Hurricanes stomp out Flames 7-2

There is no other way to describe what the Canes did to the Flames than pure domination. Carolina skated circles around Calgary from minute one to minute 60. For the first 15 minutes, the Flames failed to record a shot while the Canes had already put up 13 on net.

With the win, the Hurricanes (39-19-6) moved within two points of the first-place New York Rangers in the Metropolitan division. Center Sebastian Aho did whatever he wanted on the ice against the Flames (31-28-5) recording threepoints in the afternoon. It was a complete performance from the team; 11 of 18 skaters took away at least one point from the game as the Hurricanes continued to roll, winning five of their last six.

“Overall solid game, you’re happy, especially [on a] back-to-back,” said head coach Rod Brind’Amour. “They had a back-to-back too and you could see it. They were a little sluggish I think if you ask them.”

No play showcased Aho’s creativity more than the game's first goal. After left wing Jordan Martinook carried the puck into the offensive zone and dumped the puck to Aho, the Finn faked a slap shot and then wired a pass back to Martinoook who tucked home his 11th goal of the season.

Despite it being only his second game with the team and his second NHL game in the past 50 days, center Evgeny Kuznetsov continued to look like his old self. The former Washinton Capital looked sharp, setting up his teammates throughout the game, and had a few close scoring chances including a shot that hit the post. 

“You can tell the talent that Kuznetsov has, it’s evident,” Brind’Amour said. “Glad he’s on our team, and it is always was like that when you play against him, but I think he just had a bit of energy too [it’s] showing.”

While Calgary struggled to generate any offense whatsoever, the Hurricanes notched their second goal of the game on a passing play between Aho and left wing Teuvo Teravainen. The Finnish connection went back and forth three times before Aho slotted the puck low to the glove side. 

By the end of the first period, the shots were 16-2 Carolina. The two-goal lead didn’t justify the difference in play between the teams as the Hurricanes could have easily had three or four. 

The second period is where the Canes stepped on Calgary’s throats and it took less than 20 seconds for them to put the game in a chokehold. Gaining the zone, center Seth Jarvis backhanded a puck back to defenseman Jalen Chatfield who one-timed a puck upper-ninety from his usual warmup spot.

Tightening their grip 58 seconds later, right wing Andrei Svechnikov went back and forth with Aho to extend the lead to four less than two minutes into the second period. Up until that point, the Flames were metaphorically taking a beating until, in his 300th NHL game, left wing Brendan Lemieux dropped the gloves behind the play where he pummeled Calgary defenseman Brayden Pachal. 

On their first dangerous scoring chance of the night, the Flames capitalized when they got on the counter-attack following a faceoff in their zone and left wing Dryden Hunt had some space on goaltender Frederik Andersen’s opposite side. 

After getting caught on the fast break for Calgary’s first goal, defenseman Brent Burns made up for it when later in the period he slapped a one-timer past Calgary goaltender Dan Vladar. On the goal defenseman Jaccob Slavin set up Burns and earned his 259th career point in the process. The assist makes him the defenseman with the most points in franchise history.

As the second period came to a close, the Canes forced a turnover and went four-on-two the other way where center Seth Jarvis ripped a shot high-blocker for his 20th of the season. It’s the first time in his three seasons he has hit the mark and every appearance he continues to improve his 200-foot game.

“I felt like we have been moving the puck pretty well,” Kuznetsov said. “Hockey is supposed to be fun, sometimes you have to dump the puck deep and work hard other times you got to make plays and play hockey.”

Vladar was given absolutely no help by the team in front of him as Calgary had given up 30 shots in only 40 minutes. The Flames refused to play tight at the blue line and were punished not just with goals, but many blocked shots that will leave bruises and give them something to think about.

Other than a complete whiff with the puck that gave the Flames their second goal in the third period, Andersen looked sharp as he made his second start since returning from a blood-clotting issue. He wasn’t forced to make a large number of saves but had some highlights including a behind-the-back stick save.

With the win sealed, the Hurricanes tallied one final goal when Teravainen received a puck off his skate that he volleyed out of mid-air to put the final nail in the coffin. 

Trailing the Rangers all season, the Canes will get another opportunity to close the gap, when they face them on Tuesday, March 12th at 7 p.m.