Aho Goal Surge Powers ‘Canes’ Win Streak

Sebastian Aho may be the only player who isn’t looking forward to taking a break from the rigorous NHL schedule.

When you are on the kind of roll Aho is on you want to keep playing.

Aho extended his goal-scoring streak to six games to lead the Carolina Hurricanes to a 5-1 victory over the Buffalo Sabres. The Hurricanes have now won seven in a row.

No NHLer is hotter than Aho. Over the past 11 days, he has played six games and tallied nine goals. No assists. Just 23 shots and nine goals. That includes three power play goals and one shorthanded goal. Two of the goals were game-winners.

If you look at the whole month, Aho boasts 12 goals and six assists for 18 points in 15 games. The Hurricanes are 10-3-2 in those contests.

With this latest surge, Aho and the Hurricanes (34-9-8) now have the NHL’s second-best record. They are only seven points behind the Bruins (39-75-5). The Bruins are 7-2-1 in their last 10 and lost and watched their lead reduced.

The Hurricanes are far from content. They have won one or two playoff series in each of the past four seasons. But they want more. It’s been 17 years since they won the Stanley Cup.

Carolina GM Don Waddell is said to be aggressively looking at trade options in anticipation of the March 3 deadline. Although the Hurricanes boast an elite defensive corps, he wants to add a depth defenseman.

Waddell is also looking to add a forward to play in their top six. They recently lost Max Pacioretty to an achilles injury. The Hurricanes did engage with the Vancouver Canucks on Bo Horvat, but the Canucks wanted the earliest possible 2023 first round draft pick.

The Hurricanes are also said to be interested in Dylan Larkin if the Red Wings elect to trade him. Vladimir Tarasenko or Ryan O’Reilly are also a possibility.

🐻 Boston Bruins beat Toronto Maple Leafs 5-2 to end three-game losing streak headed into the All-Star break. It was a tight 3-2 game almost midway through the third period until Pavel Zacha scored a pair of goals just over three minutes apart to give the B's the 5-2 lead. Bruins' netminder and All-Star representative Linus Ullmark made 33 saves and heads into the All-Star weekend leading the NHL in wins (26), save percentage (.937), and goals against average (1.90).

📉 NHL TV viewership in the U.S. is down more than 20% compared to last season. The main reason for the drop is that both ESPN and TNT have doubled the number of games carried from last season, from 27 to 54. Bigger schedules typically hurt average viewership. And a number of fans cited their insights (more like frustrations) on twitter, including local blackouts, lack of staggered start times, digital board ads, and competing with the NFL on Sundays. It's not all bad news though: the Bruins-Pens Winter Classic averaged 1.78 million viewers, up 31% from last year's Blues-Wild on New Year’s Day in primetime. Plus, social media engagement around the NHL is up a staggering 224% year-over-year.

Sebastian Aho's 6-game goal-scoring streak ties Ray Shepherd for the longest such streak by a player wearing a Carolina Hurricanes jersey. But who holds the franchise's longest goal-scoring streak of all-time (remember the Canes were once based in Hartford 😉)?

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Pierre Larouche's 9-game goal-streak in the 1981-82 season as a member of the Hartford Whalers is the longest goal streak in Carolina Hurricanes franchise history.