The Hurricanes sent the Sabres to the shadow realm on Saturday with a resounding 6-2 win in PNC Arena.
Carolina (14-8-1) set the tone by scoring five unanswered goals in the first two periods, piling on the offense early and often. Though Buffalo (10-12-2) notched a couple goals in garbage time, the Canes handily took care of business.
“We got results,” said Rod Brind’Amour. “I think we played well. Very similar to a lot of other games. We were able to score and, for the most part, keep them off the score sheet. The overall game, I thought it was good. Very similar to how we’ve been playing.”
Sebastian Aho did Sebastian Aho against the Sabres. The centerpiece of the Canes attack entered the contest having quietly racked up a team-leading 20 points in 19 games, but showed out with a pair of goals to spark the whirlwind of offense.
The offense kept on buzzing with as the fourth line continued its recent tear. Stefan Noesen, Jack Drury and Martin Necas combined for four points. Carolina’s abundance of talent at forward resulted in Necas, one of the fastest and most explosive skaters in the NHL, slicing and dicing defenses alongside Noesen and Drury.
The unique abilities of this fourth line were on full display at the end of the second period when Necas excellently teed up Drury for his second goal in as many games.
“We got such a deep team,” Drury said. “It’s easy whoever you’re playing with. Getting to play with Noeser a lot. He’s a heck of a player. Whether it’s [Michael Bunting] or Nechy or whoever it is, it’s pretty easy to play with the guys we got.”
Drury’s recent succeed as part of that fourth line sees him starting to fully establish himself as an NHL mainstay. The 23-year-old center bounced between the main squad and the AHL last season, but is starting to blossom in 2023-24.
“You can tell Jack — he’s pushing the show he belongs all the time,” Brind’Amour said. “That’s what you love about him. He’s an NHLer, but he knows he’s ‘I got to keep proving myself.’ That’s how you got to be. He’s been good all year. It’s nice to see him finally getting rewarded for the effort.”
Speaking of prospects looking to make the jump to full-on NHL status, Pyotr Kochetkov quietly put together a solid night in net. He showed some room for improvement in the Carolina’s OT loss to the Islanders two nights prior, but made the saves the Canes expected him to while stepping in for a banged-up Antti Raanta.
“We were trying to give them a night off, but Rants wasn’t able to go,” Brind’Amour said. “You got to give him credit for answering that. He didn’t have a ton of work, but he was there. He made a few saves and allowed us to cruise.”
The Hurricanes batted 1.000 on special teams against Buffalo, converting both power play opportunities while killing all five penalties. After a disappointing showing on the PK against the Isles, the perfect result on special teams is exactly what the doctor ordered for a Canes squad about to embark on its longest road trip of the season.
Carolina travel north of the border to start its 12-day, six-game road stretch starting with a matchup against Winnipeg on Monday. As tempting as it is to hyperfixate on the length of travel and endurance they’ll need in the coming days, the Canes are focusing on taking things one day at a time.
“It’s a tough one,” Drury said. “I think it’s a great challenge. Before Christmas here we know how important it is to get some wins. Go day by day. Start to get ready for Winnipeg.”
Puck drops against the Jets at 7:30 p.m. ET