Sebastian Oh of the Carolina Hurricanes hit the 200 NHL goal milestone on Wednesday. In the 3-2 a.e.t. duel with the Dallas Stars, he was responsible for the 1-0 in the first round. However, the match winner for the guests from Raleigh at the American Airlines Center was with Martin Necas another striker. He sealed the win in the second minute of overtime with a wrist shot from the slot. It was the Hurricanes’ third straight win. At the same time, they extended their point streak to six games (5-0-1).
Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour was pleased with his team’s performance. “It was a solid performance. We played well especially in the first two thirds and should have been clearly ahead. In the last section we had luck on our side when Dallas hit the post. Neci (Necas – d. Red. ) then decided the game in extra time with a great move,” was his conclusion.
Aho’s anniversary goal came when Carolina was outnumbered. It was his third shorthander of the season and sixteenth of his NHL career. Its total yield places it in the same category Eric Steel in first place in the Hurricanes/Whalers franchise standings. With 22 points, the 25-year-old center is the sole leader.
Aho is now the tenth Finn to reach 200 goals in the league. With 41 points (18 goals, 23 assists) from 40 appearances so far, extrapolated over the full playing time, he is well on the way to reaching the 70-point bar for the third time in his career. In the team’s internal scorer ranking, he currently ranks second behind Necas, who has 42 points (19 goals, 23 assists) from 47 games.
After Aho’s lead, the Hurricanes conceded goals later in the first period from Wyatt Johnson and Jason Robertson trailing 1-2. To make matters worse, the goalkeeper was also injured Frederik Andersen, who did not return to the ice following the third break. His place between the posts occupied from then on Antti Raanta. He did an excellent job and kept the box clean. All in all, he made 15 saves in 41:34 minutes.
“It’s not easy for a goalie to make such a cold start. But he knows it’s part of his job. He did a really good job,” Brind’Amour praised the goalkeeper for his performance.
Raanta himself didn’t want to make a fuss regarding his performance. “You work every day in practice to be ready. At least I had the break to prepare myself mentally. In the game itself I tried to keep things simple, move normally and keep an eye on the puck . That worked really well. I’m even happier that we rewarded ourselves with the win,” he said.
The 2:2 equalization of the Hurricanes in the second half was due to Brent Burns. He put the disc in the net with a slap shot. It was the Blueliner’s eighth goal of the season. There were no more goals in the last third, so the decision had to be made in extra time. There, thanks to Necas, Carolina had the better end for herself. “I saw that there was some space for me and I pulled in. Luckily the puck went in,” said the scorer of the golden goal, describing his move with which he gave his team the extra point.
Video: CAR@DAL: Necas brings Hurricane’s win over Stars
Knocking out the stars in overtime wasn’t a completely new experience for Necas. He had already done that when they met on December 17 at Raleigh’s PNC Arena. At that time, the Hurricanes prevailed 5:4 aet once morest the opponent from Texas.
After a successful performance in Dallas, Carolina sits first in the Metropolitan Division with 68 points (30-9-8) from 47 games. The Hurricanes’ next opponents are the San Jose Sharks in front of their home crowd on Friday (7 pm ET; NHL.tv; Sat. 1 am CET).