About Last Night: Stay Hot, Aho

The Canes started a five-game road swing with a wild win in Edmonton Tuesday night, beating the Oilers in a game that saw Carolina blow a 3-0 lead before scoring three unanswered goals at the end to win 6-3.

Aho staying hot and hitting the century mark

How do you follow up a hat trick, and your first-career five-point performance? For Sebastian Aho Tuesday, he decided a modest two-goal outing would do the trick.

The young Hurricanes’ super star stayed hot in Edmonton, putting two goals past fellow Finn Mikko Koskinen to help lift the Canes past the Oilers. For Aho, it was the second time in his still budding NHL career that he has tallied five goals over a two-game stretch.

Aho’s first of the game opened up the scoring just over four minutes into competition. Aho skated around the back of the net and positioned himself perfectly on the far side of the crease to finish off a great pass from Teuvo Teravainen. The goal was a big one for Aho, as it was the 100th of his NHL career.

Aho wasn’t done scoring, as he gave the Canes a much-needed insurance goal in the third period to put Carolina up 5-3. This one came on the power play, as Aho was again positioned perfectly on the far side of the crease to receive a pass from Andrei Svechnikov and tally a goal.

With his two goals Tuesday night, as well as his hat trick against Minnesota Saturday, Aho has now cracked the NHL’s top-10 in goals scored this season. He sits at 18 goals on the year, putting him in a tie with Brad Marchand and Auston Matthews for seventh in the league.

Considering just how good he has been since joining the Canes, it’s hard to believe that Aho is still getting better. But, he already looks to be putting together his strongest campaign yet, and the goals keep coming from the highly skilled forward that is still somehow only 22-years old.

Homecoming Marty Party

It’s always special when a player gets to return to his hometown and play a game in front of family and friends. It’s even more special when that player can score a goal in that homecoming game. Even more special than that, is when that goal proves to be a third-period game winner.

Jordan Martinook did exactly that Tuesday night, scoring his second goal of the season to put the Canes up 4-3 midway through the final period. Martinook collected the puck in the slot and wristed home a great finish to put Carolina in front for good.

Martinook was born in Brandon, Manitoba, but played his junior hockey in Edmonton. His family was on hand to see his big goal. It was a cool scene for Martinook, who is still trying to find his footing after missing a big chunk of the season with an injury.

Dougie from deep

It’s been quite the season so far for Dougie Hamilton. The Canes defenseman scored Carolina’s sixth and final goal Tuesday night, his 11th of the season.

Those 11 goals are tied for the most among NHL defensemen, but his late tally against Edmonton was unlike any other he, or anyone else has scored this year. Hamilton caught the Oilers napping a bit, scoring on a shot from the red line (!) at center ice.

Hamilton, like most of this Canes team, is clearly having fun on the ice this year. He’s playing well, and doing a great job of becoming an important part of both the Canes’ offensive and defensive plans.

His goal against the Oilers was a clever, heads up moment that will surely be a goal Canes fans remember for the rest of this season.

Wrapping Up

Tuesday night marked the beginning of maybe the most grueling road trip on the Canes schedule. Including the win over Edmonton, the Hurricanes will play five games on the road over the course of 10 days.

All five of those games come in the western half of the continent, as Carolina will now head to Vancouver, back to Alberta to play the Flames, over to Winnipeg and then finally down to Colorado. The Canes were able to kick off the trip on the right foot with a win, but it’ll be important to carry on that momentum.

This is the Canes second trip out west this season, and the second time they have started out with a win. However, Carolina won’t want a repeat of that three-game trip to California, which ended with losses to the Sharks and the Ducks and kicked off a three-game losing streak.

Carolina will have the opportunity to build on its current three-game winning streak Thursday night, as the Canes take on the Canucks in Vancouver.