A large reason why Carolina was able to strike first and then double their lead was the play of Frederik Andersen, who stopped five high-danger chances during the first 20 minutes alone (
h/t NaturalStatTrick
). The trusty netminder continued to keep the potent Oilers offense at bay for as long as he could, however, Edmonton was able to capitalize on a Carolina line change during the second period.
Taking a 2-1 advantage into the third, the Canes had to work to get their insurance, killing off two power play chances for the league's top special teams unit, largely in part thanks to Andersen.
Eventually that insurance did come though and who was it? None other than Aho. A routine dump in was mishandled by Oilers netminder Mikko Koskinen and "Seabass" took advantage, pushing it home to give his team yet another two-goal margin.
When all was said and done, Andersen finished with 22 stops on 23 shots in net, moving his club to 19-6-1.
They Said It:
Sebastian Aho on the play of Frederik Andersen, who was fantastic throughout and held his team in the game until they were finally able to beat Koskinen:
"Every night he gives us a chance to win. That's all you can ask from a goalie. Same story tonight. He made huge saves here and there and it's great to have him back there."
Jaccob Slavin on how nice it is to have Sebastian Aho coming away as the big storyline, especially in a game that featured the NHL's top two scoring forwards:
"He's a special player. Obviously we've had him for a long time now and we know what he's capable of and it's good that everyone else is starting to get to know that. Maybe not so much for us as other teams try to bear down on him more, but it's super special. He's a great guy, a great teammate and it's super awesome to see the success that he's having."
Rod Brind'Amouron his team's bounce back after what he described was a "gross" hockey game Thursday in Calgary:
"Well, they were two different games. Tonight was a little bit more of an up-tempo game and that kind of allows for that. There was definitely more chances one way or another, especially in the second period, where it would have been nice to cash in, but it was nice to get that one in the third to give us a little bit of breathing room."
What's Next?:
The team flies to Vancouver post-game ahead of their meeting with the Canucks tomorrow night.
Bonus Notes:
- Tonight was Vincent Trocheck's 500th career NHL game. He became the 23rd player from the 2011 draft class to reach that mark.
- The win was the team's fourth in a row, their third time doing so already this season.
- Andersen and the Canes held Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, the league's top two scorers, to no points and just six shots on goal despite them playing a cumulative 44:57.
- Only two players in Whalers/Hurricanes history have had streaks of multipoint games longer than Sebastian Aho's current five. Kevin Dineen (1988-89) and Mike Rogers (1979-1980) both reached six games. (H/T #NHLStats)
- Sebastian Aho now has 16 points in nine career games against Edmonton and 12 points in his last five games.
