Carolina Hurricanes clinch NHL playoff berth as top line explodes in win over Red Wings

The hottest line in the NHL struck again Thursday, righting the ship for a Carolina Hurricanes team that is playing more and more like a Stanley Cup title contender with each passing day since the trade deadline.

Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis had three points each, linemate Jake Guentzel had a pair and fellow newcomer Evgeny Kuznetsov added another assist as the Canes exploded for four goals in the second period and ran off with a 4-0 win over the Detroit Red Wings, who themselves are in the thick of the Eastern Conference Wild Card race.

Carolina, meanwhile, clinched a playoff berth with its win, becoming the third team in the NHL to do so.

“It’s kind of unfortunate that gets overlooked a little,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “You forget how hard that is to accomplish, and to do it with however many games left ... I didn’t even think about it, because it’s been a foregone conclusion, but that’s impressive, and these guys deserve credit for that.”

And the Hurricanes have, in large part, Aho, Guentzel and Jarvis to thank for it. Since acquiring the shifty winger from Pittsburgh — and Kuznetzov from Washington — the Canes are 9-2-1. Their 19 points are the most in the NHL in that span, and in the 10 games since Guentzel joined the lineup, his line with Aho and Jarvis has accounted for 17 goals and 22 assists — 39 points.

“You put three quality, quality players together that think the game the right way, you have the chance to see what we’re seeing right now,” Brind’Amour said. “You hope it continues, but it’s been definitely a good start for those guys.”

The Canes were dominant in the first period, but could not finish, posting a 15-3 advantage in shots.

“The first period was great,” Brind’Amour said. “We didn’t get rewarded, but I thought it set the tone. I think we were able to carry it over a little bit and then get rewarded in the second.”

Indeed, the floodgates opened in the second period. Aho opened the scoring at 4:42, and 57 seconds later, on a power play Guentzel drew, Jarvis scored on assists from Aho and Guentzel to put Carolina ahead 2-0.

Martin Necas scored on a feed from Kuznetzov later in the period, and defenseman Brady Skjei netted his 13th of the season from Aho and Jarvis at 16:23 of the second to finish the second-period flurry and salt the game away.

Beyond all of the goal scoring of the past few weeks, the Hurricanes’ most valuable post-deadline addition may indeed be someone who’s been on the team for a few years — goaltender Frederik Andersen.

Andersen turned back all 24 shots he faced Thursday to post a shutout — his second in two weeks — to run his season record to 11-1. Since returning from a 40-plus-game absence due to blood clotting issues, Andersen is a sparking 7-0 with two shutouts, allowing just eight goals, and never more than two in a single game.

“He came back after that long layoff, and you certainly weren’t going to overwork him,” Brind’Amour said. “I think he’s even still getting into a rhythm to catch up, but he’s done everything you could ask. We’ve had a lot of games, so even though we’ve been rotating, he’s still getting a couple starts a week.”

The Hurricanes are off Friday, and will be back on the road Saturday night in Montreal before enjoying their first break of more than one day between games in nearly a month.

This story was originally published March 28, 2024 at 10:29 PM.