Noesen has goal, assist as Hurricanes rout Sabres 5-1
BUFFALO, NY (AP) — Stefan Noesen had a goal and an assist to lead the Carolina Hurricanes to a 5-1 win over the Buffalo Sabers on Wednesday night.
Sebastian Aho, Brent Burns, Derek Stepan and Jordan Martinook also scored for the Hurricanes, who have won seven straight games. Antti Raanta made 29 saves.
Alex Tuch scored the only goal for Buffalo. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 29 saves.
“We played pretty consistently,” said Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour. “Our boys work really hard and that’s the cornerstone of our group, contributions up and down the line-up.”
The Hurricanes completely dominated the Sabers from the start, took control of the game and took an early 3-0 lead.
“It felt like that was huge for us,” said Aho. “There was almost the game.”
Aho opened the scoring on the power play 2:35 into the game and completed a pass from Teuvo Teravainen through the crease for a tap-in. Aho extended his hot streak and has scored in six straight games.
Noesen had his own tap-in midway through the first half on a feed from Martin Necas.
Burns made it 3-0 with 7:13 in the first half, firing at an open net after a great setup by Jesperi Kotkaniemi.
Tuch brought the Sabers onto the board at 5:15 left in the first on a wrist shot from the right circle. It was his 24th goal of the season.
Towards the end of the second period, things just got worse for Buffalo. Sabers top scorer Tage Thompson left the game with an upper-body injury and did not return. Thompson had been trying to play through injury for the past few days and missed practice on Monday. Thompson has 34 goals and 68 points in 50 games. The injury jeopardizes his status for this weekend’s NHL All-Star Game.
“I never got into a rhythm and obviously we were playing against a very good hockey team and a capable hockey team,” said Sabers coach Don Granato. “It didn’t matter who we played against tonight. This outcome would not be a favorable one for many reasons well within our control.”
Buffalo beat Carolina 8-1 to open the third third but couldn’t get on the board before Stepan made it 4-1. Stepan scored his fifth goal of the season with a deke around Luukkonen at the top of the circle.
Martinook added an empty goal with 1:41 left.
SKINNER MILESTONE
Sabers forward Jeff Skinner played in his 900th career game. He is the 63rd active NHL player to have played 900 or more games. Skinner originally entered the league with Carolina after being picked seventh overall by the Hurricanes in 2010.
NEXT
Hurricanes: Travel home after the All-Star break to play the New York Rangers on Saturday, February 11th.
Sabers: After the All-Star break on Saturday, February 11, host the Calgary Flames before embarking on a three-game road trip across the country.
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