In Buffalo, the visiting Carolina Hurricanes extended their active win streak to seven on Wednesday night, in a 5-1 thumping of the Sabres.
Antti Raanta made 29 saves in the Carolina win.
“A little bit of everything, I think that’s the key,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “I think every game there’s kind of a little something here or there; we’ve played pretty consistently, our guys work really hard and that’s the cornerstone of our group. I think contributions up and down the lineup. … It’s been impressive to keep winning despite some guys that we had out.”
Sebastian Aho had goal in his sixth straight game for the Canes.
“If I can score and help the team win that way, it’s nice,” said Aho, who has nine goals during his streak. “And it’s always nice to score, don’t get me wrong, I’d rather take this win streak over a goal streak. But yeah, obviously you try to produce in every game and obviously I play big minutes, so that’s my job as well.”
The Hurricanes moved to 34-9-8.
Alex Tuch was the lone striker for the Sabres.
“We fought it,” Buffalo coach Don Granato said. “It was the first time in a while I’ve seen our guys carry frustration and start to play with frustration, which hasn’t happened in quite some time for us, which then complicates matters even more. Never got in a rhythm and obviously we played a very good hockey team and capable hockey team.
“They were in a rhythm coming out of last night (a 5-4 overtime win against the Los Angeles Kings). But it didn’t matter who we played tonight. That result was going to be not a favorable one for lots of the reasons that were well within our control. It’s unfortunate, but it happened.”
Buffalo had a seven-game point streak snapped in the loss, they dropped to 26-20-4.
The Hurricanes took a 3-0 lead in the first period on goals from Aho, Stefan Noesen , and Brent Burns.
“A tremendous human being and teammate, and a great player,” Brind’Amour said of Burns. “So, you’re checking every box possible. I joked about it, but I wished we would’ve got him 10 years ago cause he’s a lifer. You don’t let these kind of guys go away. Really, really happy to have him.”
Tuch broke the Canes run with a goal in the first to make it 3-1 coming out of the first period.
“They came at us with a lot of energy,” Tuch said. “They kept it simple; they were flipping pucks out, keeping us on our heels. We weren’t able to sustain their pressure and we collapsed early on. When you go down 3-0 against a team like that, it’s going to be impossible to come back, honestly. We dug ourselves a hole, didn’t get out of it.”
Carolina responded with goals from Derek Stepan midway through the third period, and an empty net strike from Jordan Martinook for the 5-1 final.
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Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 29 saves in the Buffalo loss.
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