Recap: Aho Nets OT Dagger As Canes Down Pens

RALEIGH, N.C. - Sebastian Aho scored on a rebound 1:30 into overtime to cap off a three-point performance (1G, 2A) and help the Carolina Hurricanes complete a 4-3 comeback victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins in front of Lenovo Center's 88th straight capacity crowd on Sunday.

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With Carolina carrying the majority of play in overtime, a Dmitry Orlov shot from the left circle ricocheted to Aho in the slot for a tidy tap-in, marking his third point of the night and the 600th of his NHL career.

Pittsburgh raced out to a 2-0 lead through 20 minutes, capitalizing twice in a span of 1:21 in the first period. But after Carolina's offense sputtered on Saturday, the hosts responded to the early deficit on Sunday with three goals in the second period, taking a 3-2 lead into the final frame of regulation.

Seth Jarvis - who also notched three points (2G, 1A) in the contest - kicked off the comeback with a one-timer teed up by Aho during a 2-on-1 rush at 4:15 of the frame. Eight minutes later, Carolina tied the game at two as Aho cued Jalen Chatfield's laser from the top of the circles.

Jarvis then bookended the frame with his second of the night, collecting an Andrei Svechnikov pass in the slot and deftly deking past Alex Nedeljkovic for the go-ahead goal, though Pittsburgh went on to tie the game once more in the third to force overtime.

Dustin Tokarski earned his third win in four starts with the Canes, turning aside 16 of 19 shots.

Stats & Standouts

• With three points tonight, Sebastian Aho joined Ron Francis and Eric Staal as just the third player in franchise history to reach the 600-point milestone with the club. Aho did so in 638 games - 26 fewer than Staal, whose number is set to be retired to the Lenovo Center rafters in one week.
• Already the club's all-time leader in game-winning goals, Aho's 59th career GWG also helped the team move to 11-1-2 during games in which he has scored this season.
• Speaking of milestones, Seth Jarvis logged his 100th career assist with a secondary helper on Jalen Chatfield's tying tally in the second period. Drafted 13th overall in 2020, Jarvis is the third member of his draft class to log 100 assists, joining Ottawa's Tim Stutzle (3rd overall) and Detroit's Lucas Raymond (4th overall).
• Jarvis' three-point performance was his third of the season and the ninth of his career. Only Martin Necas (4) has recorded more this season, and Jarvis owns the fifth-most by a Hurricanes player age 23 or younger.
• Sunday's win marked the third multi-goal comeback victory of the season for Carolina, having previously erased two-goal deficits en route to wins against Edmonton (Oct. 22) and Dallas (Nov. 25). Only four teams - Seattle (5), Vegas (4), Anaheim (4) and Colorado (4) - have recorded more come-from-behind victories this season.

They Said It...

Rod Brind'Amour describing the win...

"I give the guys a ton of credit because of the way things went (last) night. We made a bad decision on (Pittsburgh's) first goal and gave up an odd-man rush. They made a good play on the second one. You just have to tip your cap. That was a world-class play by [Erik] Karlsson. He made a good play and we had to move on. I thought after that we settled down and got to our game, especially in the second period. They made another good play for a goal [in the third] but I thought we stuck with it. I think we got what we deserved tonight."

Seth Jarvis following the final horn...

"We found our game. After the start, we really didn't veer off of it. We had a couple of tough bounces but that's going to happen. I liked how we stuck with it and no one really got flustered. It always kind of felt like we were going to get back in the game and have a chance. We waited for our opportunities and made the most of them."

Rod Brind'Amour on Sebastian Aho, who got on the ice seven seconds into overtime and didn't come off until the game was over...

"He was having a great game. A lot of times you can read the body language and he didn't want to come off [the ice]. You can tell when a guy's had enough and he just wanted to keep going. I thought he was maybe the best player on the ice tonight."

Seth Jarvis discussing the penalty kill, which had another perfect night...

"(Tim Gleason) calls it the 'give a .' It just means caring a little bit more than them and outworking them. That's what most of my game is based off of. I know what it feels like to be on the other side when a penalty kill is all over you, forechecking and making it hard to get out of your zone. To do that to them was big for our momentum, especially in the second when Fishy and I got it rolling for a bit. It's always good to make it tough on a power play, especially like that one."

What's Next?

The Canes are set to travel to Tampa on Monday ahead of Tuesday's make-up clash against the Lightning.

Next Game: Tuesday, Jan. 5 at Tampa Bay | 7:00 p.m.

Next Home Game: Thursday, Jan. 7 vs. Toronto | 7:30 pm | Tickets | Parking | Upcoming Theme Nights