CALGARY — Sebastien Aho scored his second goal of the game 4:07 into overtime to lead the Carolina Hurricanes to a 2-1 win over the Calgary Flames on Thursday night.
Aho also scored in the first period for the Hurricanes (18-6-1) to extend his point streak to four games, while goalie Frederik Andersen stopped 26 shots to pick up the win.
Playing against his old team, defenceman Noah Hanifin scored the lone goal of the game for the Flames (15-6-6) and missed on a penalty-shot opportunity.
Calgary goalie Jacob Markstrom stopped 24 of 26 shots.
Heading into the game, the Hurricanes had allowed the fewest goals against (54) in the NHL, while the Flames were second (56).
Aho opened the scoring when he redirected a pass from Jaccob Slavin past Markstrom at 4:14 of the first period.
The Flames had a great chance to tie the game at 5:33 when Hanifin was awarded a penalty shot after being hooked from behind by Ian Cole while on a partial breakaway, but Andersen got his stick on the attempt and puck trickled wide.
The Flames had a couple more good chances late in the opening period while on the power play, but both Matthew Tkachuk chipped the puck just wide before crashing into the net, while Andersen stood his ground to stop a shot from the slot by Andrew Mangiapane.
The Flames tied the game on Hanifin’s second goal of the season when his shot from the point glanced off the stick of Carolina forward Jesper Fast and beat a stunned Andersen over his left shoulder.
Early in the third, Calgary forward Dillon Dube’s shot from the slot glanced off the post behind Andersen and was trickling across the goal-line Carolina forward Teuvo Teravainen reached back to pull it out before clearing it out of harm’s way.
Slavin also made a great play late in the game to prevent another goal. Calgary defenceman Rasmus Andersson tried to centre the puck from behind the net, but it hit Slavin in the leg and was heading into the net before the Carolina defenceman reached back to swat it away with his stick.
Notes: Although Carolina defencemen Brett Pesce and Tony DeAngelo were cleared to practise earlier this week after being in COVID-19 protocol, they didn’t make the trip up to Canada for the game against the Flames. … Pesce and DeAngelo will also miss Carolina’s next two road games against the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday and the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday. … Fellow Carolina defenceman Ethan Bear also missed Thursday’s game due to a non-COVID related illness.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 9, 2021.
Laurence Heinen, The Canadian Press
