About Last Night: Refuse to Lose

Feb 1, 2023 - 5:00 PM

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Just four days removed from scoring two goals in the final two minutes to force overtime and eventually win against the San Jose Sharks, the Carolina Hurricanes did it again.

On Tuesday night in PNC Arena, the Hurricanes gave up four goals in the second period to fall down 4-1, heading into the final frame down three. But then Paul Stastny scored. And then Jordan Staal scored. And then Teuvo Teravainen scored. And then in overtime, Sebastian Aho scored.

And the Hurricanes won again, simply refusing to lose a hockey game as they climbed all the way back from a big deficit to extend their win streak to six games and point streak to nine games.

About last night:

Refuse to Lose

The Carolina Hurricanes looked absolutely lost after 40 minutes of hockey Tuesday night. Los Angeles was up 4-1, as a burst of three goals in less than four minutes in the back half of the second period turned a competitive game into a blowout.

But then the Hurricanes did a Hurricanes...again.

Paul Stastny, who has been playing some very good hockey as of late, gave the Canes exactly what they needed — an early goal in the period to inject some life into the hope of a comeback. Stastny got to a good spot and finished his chance well.

Then a little bit later, Jordan Staal did what he does best, fighting for space in front of the net before getting his stick to a very nice tip to redirect the puck in and cut the two-goal deficit to just one goal.

After that it was Teuvo Teravainen’s turn, as the Finnish forward unleashed an absolute rocket on the power play to tie things up.

Coming off the heels of the Sharks game (with just a win over the league’s best team in between), Tuesday’s rampant comeback is another great dose of what makes this team just so darn good.

The Canes’ roster is obviously talented. But as much as that, this team just doesn’t die. On the season as a whole, Carolina has lost just four games by more than two goals. That’s kind of insane for this point in the year.

The Hurricanes just don’t go down without a fight. Give all the credit to Rod Brind’Amour for that being true for years now.

It’s Sebastian Aho’s world, we’re all just living in it

While Teravainen was the Finn who forced overtime, it was Aho who was the Finn that ended it.

The Canes’ superstar center sniped home a power-play goal that sent the PNC Arena crowd home happy with a win, as he slotted a great pass from Brent Burns into the net.

The goal for Aho was his 22nd of the year, and boy has he caught fire lately. Aho has now scored a goal in five straight games, as he’s got eight points during that stretch. On Carolina’s nine-game point streak, Aho has 11 points and nine goals. In the month of January, Aho had 11 goals and six assists in 14 games.

And when he’s on the ice, he just has a commanding presence. His overtime winner was his second-best chance of overtime, and he just consistently makes things happen.

Power (!!!!) Play

The Canes’ struggles on the man advantage have been talked about and then talked about some more, but Tuesday night the power play was the reason why the Hurricanes won the game.

Teravainen’s game-tying goal and Aho’s game-winning goal came with an extra skater, as the Canes converted twice on the power play for just the 10th time this season.

The power play goals also marked the third game in a row where the Canes have scored with the extra man, just the second time this season Carolina has had back-to-back-to-back games with a power play tally.