2024-25 Regular Season, Game 45 Preview: Hurricanes at Buffalo Sabres

The Carolina Hurricanes honored one of the best on Sunday night, retiring Eric Staal's jersey before hosting the Anaheim Ducks to conclude a three-game homestand. The Canes outplayed the Ducks through two periods but found themselves on the wrong side of a 1-0 game thanks to a Jansen Harkins goal in the first period and an outstanding performance from Lukas Dostal in the net. Cutter Gauthier made it 2-0 early in the third, putting the Canes in a deep hole. The power play helped get them on the board. After Sebastian Aho had a goal wiped out for goalie interference, he set up Andrei Svechnikov 23 seconds later to get the Canes on the board for real. In the final minute, Seth Jarvis found the equalizer. With Pyotr Kochetkov on the bench, Jarvis spun and lifted a shot past Dostal to tie the game and send it to overtime. Unfortunately, the Canes couldn't finish the job. Gauthier got around the edge and slid a shot past Kochetkov to steal the second point in a 3-2 loss for the home team. Svechnikov's goal extended his point streak to five games, and Martin Necas recorded two assists to hit 50 points. 

The Opponent: Buffalo Sabres (16-22-5, 37 Points- 8th in the Atlantic Division)

To put it nicely, it has been a challenging season for the Buffalo Sabres in Lindy Ruff's return behind the bench. The Sabres own the worst record in the Eastern Conference, sitting seven points behind the closest teams in the Atlantic Division. Their month-long 13-game losing streak might have a little to do with it. During their streak, the Sabres went 0-10-3, were outscored 54-28, and killed less than 70% of their penalties. The playoff drought appears certain to continue despite a good offense. They feature five players with 30+ points, led by Tage Thompson's 19 goals and 34 points. Jason Zucker has reclaimed his scoring touch, sitting tied with Alex Tuch and Rasmus Dahlin with 31 points. The problem has been their goaltending. Uka-Pekka Luukkonen has taken a step back and Devon Levi struggled mightily when he was in. They're one of the worst in the league in goals allowed per game and save percentage, putting them in a hole that would take a lot of work to get out from. 

Last Season's Meetings: The Hurricanes took two of the three games last season against the Sabres, going 2-0-1 to earn five of six points. In early November, the two sides alternated goals through 60 minutes, scoring two goals apiece before hitting overtime. Sebastian Aho found Martin Necas as he beat Owen Power to the net, redirecting a pass into the top of the net to help the Canes win, 3-2. Less than a month later, the Canes dominated the Sabres in Raleigh. Behind two goals from Aho, the Canes worked ahead 5-0 through two periods before closing the deal in a 6-2 win. Six Hurricanes had multi-point performances in the victory. Buffalo's lone win of the season series came in late February in New York. Once again, they alternated goals by the end of regulation. With no resolution in overtime, Casey Mittelstadt scored in the fourth round of the shootout to win the game. 

Stories of the Night

1. Which Buffalo Team Shows Up?

While the Sabres have grossly underperformed this season, they aren't without immense talent amongst their skaters. After dropping 13 in a row, the Sabres rebounded with consecutive 7-1 and 6-2 win over the Islanders and the Blackhawks, respectively. They're 5-3-1 in their last nine as the roller coaster ride continues. This team can score goals, but they also allow a lot of shot, which could benefit the Hurricanes. It will be dependent on which version of their starting goalie shows up, between Luukkonen and Reimer. This uncertainty makes this game a big question mark.

2. Keep Building from the Homestand

The Hurricanes are playing some of their best hockey since Thanksgiving after a 2-0-1 homestand. It's the first time they've won consecutive games since mid-December, improving to 5-2-2 over their last nine. Their issues have largely been on the road. The Canes are 4-9-2 away from Raleigh since their 5-1-0 road trip during the State Fair in October. If they can find a way to turn their road struggles around, they'll be a far more dangerous team. 

3. Value the Light Week

After a grueling start to January, the Canes are getting a slight reprieve this week. Tonight's game comes after two days off and after returning home to face Vegas on Friday, they'll have a rare weekend off. While it shouldn't be an excuse to take either game this week lightly, the Canes need to use this week to recover as much as they can before picking things up with a back-to-back to start next week. Neither game will be a breeze, but the time at home with a road game in between could be big for the group moving forward.