Sebastian Aho scored the tiebreaking goal in the third period, and goalie Pyotr Kochetkov extended his hot start as the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Boston Bruins 2-1 on Tuesday night at Raleigh, N.C.
In a matchup of Eastern Conference division leaders, Jackson Blake also scored for the Hurricanes, who returned from a 3-1-1 road trip to play their first home game in two weeks.
Kochetkov made 14 saves to improve to 8-0-0, tying the best start to a season in franchise history. He matched the mark set five years ago by former teammate Frederik Andersen.
Pavel Zacha opened the scoring with a first-period power-play goal for Boston, which had won its previous two games and seven of its last eight. Jeremy Swayman stopped 28 shots.
A wild sequence preceded Aho’s goal. Boston’s Matthew Poitras had an open backhand shot bounce off the post before the Bruins retained possession.
The Hurricanes eventually freed the puck and transitioned to offense, with Aho poking it into the net from the crease with 9:41 remaining for his eighth goal.
Carolina killed off two power plays in the final five minutes.
Zacha scored 1:31 into the game, taking advantage of crisp puck movement to easily knock in Elias Lindholm’s pass on the power play.
Carolina threatened to halt some of Boston’s momentum a few minutes later, but Swayman thwarted Nikolaj Ehlers on a breakaway.
Blake scored with 52 seconds left in the opening period, converting in front of the net amid three Boston defenders. His point streak reached four games, with two goals and four assists during that span.
Neither team scored in the second period, though Carolina held an 8-2 edge in shots on goal. The Hurricanes ended the period with 12 seconds remaining on a 5-on-3 advantage, but they were unable to convert on the power play to start the third.
Carolina, the defending Stanley Cup champion, entered the game with 20 points. It was the first team in the NHL to reach that mark this season, a first in franchise history.
–Field Level Media
