The Carolina Hurricanes dominated the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday night, 9-2 as they completed their last game before traveling to Finland for the two games against the Kraken.
Jordan Martinook and Andrei Svechnikov each had two goals and Sebastian Aho had a goal and two assists to lead the home team.
Pyotr Kochetkov made 18 saves on the 20 shots he faced to improve his record to 11-1-0 for the season.
The Hurricanes started the game off with a flash as they jumped to a 4-0 lead in the opening period.
Seth Jarvis rifled in a goal just a minute and change into the period and Jackson Blake chipped in a shot about two minutes later to make it 2-0.
Martinook then scored two goals in a row, one off a beautiful no-look pass by Jesperi Kotkaniemi. The fourth line center had another solid game with two assists and he went 10 for 14 in the faceoff circle at 71%.
In the second period, the Canes added three more goals and were up 7-0 before the Hawks put up any resistance.
Svechnikov chipped in his first of the game followed by Aho, who made a perfect shot. Next came a long blast by Alexander Nikishin that deflected in the net for his first goal of the season. Nikishin played 20 plus minutes for his first game of the season and chipped in with an assist and was +3.
The Hurricanes took their “foot off the gas” a bit in the third as Chicago scored twice, but then Gostisbehere and Svechnikov each scored to wrap things up.
The team is scheduled to leave on Sunday and will next play on Thursday at noon.
Game Summary – https://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20262027/GS020271.HTM
Event Summary – https://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20262027/ES020271.HTM
Interviews – https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/ayqet931r4my3t7byklqm/AF71cT4I5jg058ccah-XAws?rlkey=1fosbtadfzfggnuw3flvq5ysv&st=vnzj2rce&e=1&dl=0
