North Raleigh Today

The Carolina Hurricanes earned a decisive 7-3 victory over the New York Rangers, completing a season sweep and tying a franchise record for home wins on Saturday. The win at Lenovo Center is the 31st home victory this season, equaling the benchmark achieved by the 2005-06 team.

The Hurricanes started strong with Jalen Chatfield scoring at 9:02 and Sebastian Aho assisting Seth Jarvis for the second goal at 17:46 of the first period. In the second period, Jackson Blake capitalized on a rebound, and Mark Jankowski added another, setting the score to 4-0. Although New York found the net later, Canes Captain Jordan Staal furthered the lead in the third period. Despite two quick goals from the Rangers, Jordan Martinook and Logan Stankoven ended the match with empty-net goals.

Goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov contributed significantly with 28 saves on 31 shots. The victory adds to the Canes' achievements as they now have the fifth-most wins in a season in franchise history, accumulating 47 victories.

In this match, Jordan Staal marked his 178th career goal with the team, tying him with Sylvain Turgeon for the 10th-most in franchise history. Seth Jarvis, matching Eric Staal's record at 25 home goals, tied for the seventh-most in a season in franchise history since relocation.

Jackson Blake scored his 17th goal of the season, equaling Seth Jarvis for the fifth-highest among Hurricanes rookies since relocation. Both Jarvis and Blake rank high among NHL rookies in their categories this season.

Mark Jankowski, with eight goals since joining the team, ties for the third-best through a player's first 16 games in team franchise history. Returning from an injury, William Carrier contributed an assist and four hits during his 10:48 on the ice.

Head coach Rod Brind'Amour commented after the game, "That's how it has to happen. Will [Carrier], for being out as long as he has, he was pretty impactful. You talk about the top guys, I thought that line was really good. Everyone had a hand in it."

Carrier expressed his thoughts on returning, stating, "It feels good. It takes a little bit to get going, but I felt good... Everyone's been going hard all year. The systems are all-in, and we knew that was a big game for them, so they'd be coming out jumping. I'm just trying to get my game going and obviously having different linemates is kind of tough. You've got to learn a little bit, but I'll give myself a couple of games to get going here."

Seth Jarvis highlighted the line's performance, saying, "The bigger guys that we play against catch us a few times, but I think we do a good job of using our speed and outsmart them a little bit, winning puck battles with our sticks and feet. I think that's what (Jackson Blake) does really well. That's what (Sebastian Aho) does really well. I think that's why our line's having success."

Sebastian Aho, commenting on eliminating the Rangers, remarked, "Nah. We're just focused on ourselves. We obviously haven't been able to win as of late, so it was good to get back on track, especially how we started the game. We kind of took over from there."

The Hurricanes will play against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday, continuing their momentum into the next game.