Recap: Canes Break Out Against Sabres Saturday

RALEIGH, NC. - The Carolina Hurricanes finally had the game they needed Saturday night, handling the Buffalo Sabres by a score of 6-2.

How It Happened
The Canes entered the contest in the midst of a frustrating skid, totaling just one win in their last six outings. The effort and output have been there, the results just had not.
That changed as they met the Sabres for the first time this season and it didn't take long for them to snap out of their funk.
Despite both Andrei Svechnikov and Jordan Martinook being out of the lineup due to injury, the Canes got their offense moving 2:16 into the first period. Sebastian Aho set up Teuvo Teravainen from behind the net for career goal number 101, establishing an early Canes lead.
The lead was nearly wiped out quickly though, as Buffalo's Victor Olofsson got one to go by Antti Raanta exactly two minutes later. The goal would not count though, a review-filled evening began with the effort being deemed a kicking motion, providing the Canes with an early break.
It was a break that the Hurricanes made good on, as they'd then double their lead to 2-0 later on in the frame thanks to Martin Necas. Buffalo would however get that one back, scoring with under a minute to go in the opening frame to make it a 2-1 game.

When play resumed after the intermission, it was all Hurricanes. Carolina would strike three times in the middle frame, coming off the stick's of Ian Cole, Vincent Trocheck and Nino Niederretier.

The Canes had taken complete control of the contest before their only sour swing of the frame, that being a five-minute major and game misconduct to Vincent Trocheck for checking Tage Thompson from behind. Buffalo would score early on their man advantage, but it would be their final time being Raanta on the evening.
The game continued to be in Carolina's favor for the rest of regulation, coming with further insurance on Teravainen's second of the night to close out the scoring at 6-2.
They Said It:
Rod Brind'Amour on the crew battling through a few injuries and a few guys playing through some things tonight:
"It's just nice that we got off that losing momentum that was kind of building. We can just put that behind us. It wasn't a great game, we all know that, but it was a good win. Like I said, with all the guys gutting it out tonight, that's what I'm taking from this game. Hopefully we can start a little fresher on Tuesday."
Vincent Trocheck on tonight's win giving players a sense of relief:
"Our confidence has been down, we were in a little bit of a skid, so to come in tonight, getting the win, seeing the guys having fun and putting the puck in the net, it's good for our confidence. We know what we're capable of in this room, we know we have a really good team and we need the wins to keep coming in. So to get one right before we head back on the road was nice."
Ian Cole on how it feels to break out of the rough patch:
"Another aspect of this is that yes, it was frustrating for us not to score, especially for our forwards and power play, but I will say, we did play well [during the skid]. We put together some games, we stuck to our game plan and I'm very proud of our team for not cheating for offense in those situations. We were still playing hard and did the right things. With that being said, being able to score goals - and I don't know if we played our best game, tonight, or even as well as we did against Ottawa, overall - but I will say that scoring goals is always a good thing and Antti played really well for us."
What's Next?:
The team has an off day Sunday and then will practice Monday before departing on a nine-day road trip to Canada.
Bonus Notes:
- Tonight was a sold out crowd at PNC Arena, with 18,680 coming to see the team's win. - With Andrei Svechnikov and Jordan Martinook out of the lineup, Derek Stepan was able to slot in tonight. He totaled two shots in 17:08 played. - Also making his return to the lineup tonight was Ethan Bear. He had missed six games due to COVID-19, but is now back in the mix after being one of seven defensemen for Carolina this evening. - Antti Raanta earned the win in net, advancing to 4-1-1 on the season. The netminder made 32 stops on 34 shots. - The team is now 16-6-1 on the season.