In Raleigh, the Hurricanes fell behind early on Thursday night, 2-0, to the Buffalo Sabres.
The Canes responded with Sebastian Aho and Jordan Staal each hitting for a double in a 5-3 win.
“You hope when you have that kind of time and opportunity it’s going to go in. I’m glad I got if off quick,” Staal said. “We hadn’t fully played and committed to our game, but that third period was exactly how we wanted it to look.”
The victory clinched a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for Carolina who improved to 46-17-8.
“It’s a huge accomplishment,” Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “We grinded all year. We know there’s bigger and better things we want to accomplish, but you have to get there first. I give these guys a ton of credit. They play their butts off every night. It doesn’t always work out, but they’re a pretty committed group.”
Antti Raanta made 18 saves in the ticket-punching win.
“That’s what we wanted to accomplish since Day One of four years ago,” Brind’Amour said. “It wasn’t just to have a good team here and there, it was to be good for a long time and give this area a team to be proud of.
“I can remember four years ago when we got in, it felt awesome. But now the fact that we’re just expected to do this, that’s a huge shift in how we all perceive us.”
Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch scored in the first period to give the Sabres the 2-0 lead.
Aho got the Canes on the board when he made the 2-1, but Victor Olofsson hit for a goal to restore the two-goal advantage for the Sabres at 3-1.
Carolina’s Teuvo Teravainen got that goal back to get the Canes within one at 3-2.
The Sabres dropped to 26-35-11.
“We got one of their best games effort-wise, and it’s a game our guys can actually learn from,” Buffalo coach Don Granato said. “The nice thing with us is we’re watching our guys get better every day. The mistakes right now are experience.”
Staal tied the game, 3-3, then added an empty-net goal for the 5-3 final.
Aho’s second goal gave the Hurricanes the lead, 4-3.
“We’re very proud that we’re heading to the playoffs, but at the same time, just put your head down and go to work,” Aho said. “We still have (11) games, and we want to do it our way and keep building toward the playoffs.”
Craig Anderson made 27 saves. in the Buffalo loss.
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