Hurricanes beat Kraken 4-1 in Helsinki as Sebastian Aho scores twice

HELSINKI (AP) — Sebastian Aho scored twice in front of the home crowd and the Carolina Hurricanes opened the NHL’s Global Series in the Finnish capital with a 4-1 victory over the Seattle Kraken on Thursday.

Left winger Taylor Hall celebrated his 1,000th NHL game in the reigning Stanley Cup champions’ victorious return to Helsinki’s Veikkaus Arena after 16 years.

Carolina’s Brandon Bussi stopped 12 shots.

Nikolaj Ehlers had a goal and an assist, and Aho’s fellow Finn, defenseman Juuso Välimäki, also scored for the Hurricanes (15-3-2) who have won seven of their last eight games.

Logan Stankoven had two assists to extend his point streak to six and Jackson Blake got one to improve his career-high point streak to 10.

The dominant Hurricanes jumped to a 2-0 with the goals coming just 1:06 apart in the opening period.

Ehlers put them 1-0 up with 8:16 remaining with a wrist shot from the blue line. Home crowd hero Aho doubled the advantage on a power play moments later after he was fed at the side of the net by Blake. He made it 4-0 on a one-timer from the slot in the final period.

The Finnish scoring leader for the Hurricanes has three goals and seven points in the last three games. With his 321st career goal, Aho tied Olli Jokinen for the fourth place among Finnish players in NHL history.

Frederick Gaudreau scored the lone goal for Seattle (9-7-1) and Philipp Grubauer finished with 26 saves.

LIGHTNING 3, BLUE JACKETS 1

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Brandon Hagel had two goals and an assist and Tampa Bay beat Columbus for its second victory in two nights and fifth in their last six games.

Jake Guentzel scored in his 700th NHL game and added an assist, and Nikita Kucherov had two assists a night after having a natural hat trick in an 8-3 victory in Buffalo.

Dennis Hildeby stopped 28 shots for Tampa Bay, and joined Sean Burke as the only goalies in Lightning history with at least one standings point in each of their first five starts with the team.

The Blue Jackets have lost three straight. Matthew Knies scored his first goal since opening night, ending a 15-game drought. Jet Greaves stopped 25 shots for Columbus.

Hagel gave Tampa Bay the lead at 2:57 of the first period. Kucherov’s assist was his 16th against Columbus since Feb. 10, 2024, and extended his points streak against the Blue Jackets to eight games.

DEVILS 5, CAPITALS 2

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Vladislav Kolyachonok scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period and Connor Hellebuyck made 26 saves as New Jersey beat Washington in the first of a two-game set.

Kolyachonok’s shot trickled past Capitals goaltender Logan Thompson at 6:27. It was the first game in a Devils uniform for the 25-year-old defenseman, who signed in July as a free agent. He was in the lineup in place of the injured Johnathan Kovacevic.

Evan Rodrigues, Lenni Hameenaho, Stefan Noesen and Jack Hughes also scored for the Devils, who have won seven straight home games. Hellebuyck returned to the ice after the Devils held him out of Tuesday’s loss at Winnipeg, the team that traded him to New Jersey last month.

Hellebuyck was booed by Jets fans and said incidents involving his family had prompted his demand to be traded. He has won his first six starts with New Jersey.

The Devils are 12-3-0 in their last 15 games and 9-2-0 overall at Prudential Center.

WILD 5, MAPLE LEAFS 2

TORONTO (AP) — Matt Boldy completed his second hat trick of the season and the sixth of his career early in the third period and Minnesota sent Toronto to a fifth straight regulation home loss.

Boldy’s third goal of the night came after Maple Leafs winger William Nylander and defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson got their wires crossed off the rush to open a clear lane for the Wild winger.

Michael McCarron and Danila Yurov, into an empty net, also scored for Minnesota (14-3-4), which got 26 saves from Jesper Wallstedt. Kirill Kaprizov had three assists, and Yurov added an assist for a two-point night.

The Maple Leafs (8-11-2) have lost the first of five contests of what has turned into a disastrous six-game homestand to move to 1-7-0 over their last eight.

The Wild improved to 8-0-2 over their last 10 since last losing in regulation to the Calgary Flames on Oct. 22.

CANADIENS 5, BRUINS 2

BOSTON (AP) — Josh Anderson and Jake Evans each had a goal and an assist as Montreal leapfrogged Boston Bruins in the Atlantic Division standings with a win.

Now 9-0-3 in its past 12 games, Montreal came in trailing Boston by one point for the top spot in the division. Kirby Dach, Cole Caufield and Phillip Danault also scored for the Canadiens, who improved to 10–0–2 when leading after two periods. Jacob Fowler had 30 saves.

Boston’s seven-game winning streak on home ice was snapped. Jeremy Swayman was pulled after allowing four goals on 17 shots and was replaced by Michael DiPietro, who made 13 saves.

Casey Mittelstadt scored both of Boston’s goals and the Bruins outshot Montreal, 32-30.

PANTHERS 5, RED WINGS 4

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Anton Lundell scored his second goal of the night with 2:40 left to cap a rally from three goals down, and Florida pulled off its biggest comeback of the season to beat Detroit.

Detroit led 4-1 with less than 30 seconds left in the second period, but from there, it was all Florida. Lars Eller, Gustav Forsling and Sam Reinhart also scored for the Panthers, and Carter Verhaeghe had three assists.

Andreas Englund got his first goal in more than two years, Marco Kasper also had his first of the season, and Lucas Raymond and J.T. Compher also scored for Detroit. Moritz Seider had two assists, but the Red Wings lost their fifth straight.

Reinhart’s goal was 3:52 into the game — his 200th with the Panthers — and gave Florida a 1-0 lead, but Detroit scored the next four.

It was only the third instance of a 4-0 run in a game by Detroit this season, and it still wasn’t enough.

SENATORS 4, AVALANCHE 3, OT

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Shane Pinto celebrated his 26th birthday by scoring his second goal of the game 2:08 into overtime and Ottawa beat Colorado after the Avalanche lost superstars Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar to injuries.

MacKinnon and Makar left in the second period because of lower-body injuries. MacKinnon left with just over eight minutes remaining after a check from Artem Zub in the hip area and was seen grabbing his right side. Makar was injured moments earlier.

Tim Stutzle and Drake Batherson also scored for the Senators (12-6-2). Linus Ullmark returned to the lineup for the first time since Oct. 21 and made 26 saves.

Arturi Lehkonen, Parker Kelly and Gabriel Landeskog scored for the Avalanche (11-6-3). Scott Wedgewood stopped 22 shots.

The Senators tied it with 3:56 remaining in regulation when Batherson snagged a loose puck in the crease and buried his 10th of the season.

In OT, Pinto intercepted a pass in Colorado’s zone and fired in a wrist shot.

BLACKHAWKS 3, SABRES 2, OT

CHICAGO (AP) — Ryan Donato scored on a wrist shot from between the circles at 3:12 of overtime and Chicago beat Buffalo to end a six-game losing streak.

Donato scored after the Blackhawks failed to capitalize on a late power play that extended into overtime after Buffalo’s Rasmus Dahlin was sent off for hooking with 1:38 left.

Frank Nazar scored twice in regulation for struggling Chicago, connecting on a first-period power play and tying it on a tip at 8:22 of the third.

Spencer Knight stopped 21 shots to help Chicago rebound from a 9-2 loss at Carolina on Saturday night in its previous game.

Owen Power and Tage Thompson had first-period goals for Buffalo in the opener of a six-game trip. Alex Lyon stopped 22 shots in his first game of the season after injuring his left shoulder in the preseason.

The Sabres have lost three straight. On Wednesday night at home, they fell 8-3 to Tampa Bay.

JETS 8, STARS 3

DALLAS (AP) — Mark Scheifele had two goals and an assist, and Dawson Mercer had his second consecutive two-goal game as Winnipeg rode a five-goal second period and scored the final six goals to rally past Dallas.

Kyle Connor and Gabriel Vilardi had a goal and two assists each, Dylan Samberg had a goal and an assist and Cole Koepke also scored as the Jets won their fifth consecutive game. Stuart Skinner made 30 saves.

Arttu Hyry, Roope Hintz and David Perron scored for the Stars. Jake Oettinger, who went in with the NHL’s fourth-best goals-against average at 1.99, allowed a season-high six goals on 27 shots and was pulled a minute into the third period. Casey DeSmith gave up two goals, within 15 seconds, on two shots.

The Stars allowed eight goals for the first time in a decade. The last time was an 8-2 loss at Winnipeg on Nov. 8, 2016.

Perron gave Dallas a 3-2 lead midway through the second period with his first goal since the 38-year-old was signed as a free agent on Oct. 15. A three-goal Jets surge closed the period, beginning with a goal at 13:55 by Mercer, acquired on Oct. 25 from New Jersey in the Connor Hellebuyck trade, and capped by Mercer’s score with 7.3 seconds left.

Scheifele has four goals and four assists in the last four games.

BLUES 1, MAMMOTH 0, SO

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Connor McMichael beat Karel Vejmelka with a snap shot to the top left corner in the eighth round of a shootout to give St. Louis a victory over Utah.

Joel Hofer made 29 saves for the Blues through overtime, and Vejmelka stopped 22 shots, with both getting their second shutout of the season and 10th overall.

After Vincent Trocheck scored for Utah and Jake Neighbours countered for St. Louis in the first round of the tiebreaker, the next five shooters for each team failed. In the seventh round, Michael Carcone finally connected for Utah and Jimmy Snuggerud kept it alive for St. Louis.

In the eighth round, Utah’s Barrett Hayton lifted a shot over the net before McMichael put it away.

In overtime, St. Louis’ Philip Broberg fired a shot off that crossbar at 2:42 that was initially called a goal before being waved off after a review. Snuggerud hit the right post early in the extra session.

St. Louis has win two in a row after losing three straight.

ISLANDERS 5, KINGS 2

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Brayden Schenn had a goal and two assists, Victor Eklund scored for the fourth straight game, and New York Islanders a four-game losing streak with a victory over Los Angeles.

Matthew Schaefer scored in his 100th NHL game, Simon Holmstrom had a goal and an assist, Bo Horvat scored a late empty-netter, and the Islanders picked up at least a point for the third straight game. Ilya Sorokin made 26 saves.

Trevor Moore and Quinton Byfield scored, and Kevin Fiala had an assist in his season debut as the Kings lost their third straight game. Playing in his 500th career game, Darcy Kuemper made 16 saves.

Schaefer and Eklund, two of the Islanders’ young cornerstones, came up with key contributions while each picking up a point for the fourth straight game.

Schaefer had a power-play goal to put New York back up 2-1 midway through the first period, his 29th career goal and 77th point at the century mark of games played. Schaefer moved up to fourth in career points by a teenage defenseman, behind Hall of Famers Phil Housley (132) and Ray Bourque (79) and Buffalo Sabres star Rasmus Dahlin (84).

The Associated Press