2025-26 Regular Season, Game 22 Preview: Carolina Hurricanes at Buffalo Sabres

Last Game: The Carolina Hurricanes escaped danger on Friday night, keeping their point streak rolling. Jordan Staal got the team off to a quick start, scoring 16 seconds into the contest after making a beautiful move to the inside and snapping it top shelf on Eric Comrie. The Jets' response was quick and twice as deadly. Josh Morrissey found a soft spot after a tough line change by the Canes, scoring on the ensuing 3-on-1. Then, their power play took advantage of a miscue in the neutral zone by Mike Reilly. The defender put an attempted pass of Gabriel Vilardi's shin, allowing it to spring the Jets on a 2-on-1, which Vilardi finished. The Canes got it back in the second, courtesy of the captain. Staal redirected a pass in the high slot from the returning Jalen Chatfield to tie it up. While short-handed, the Canes regained the lead. K'Andre Miller broke up a pass at the line, sending Aho off for a breakaway. While Comrie denied him, Winnipeg-born Seth Jarvis cleaned up the rebound for his second short-handed tally of the season. Early in the third, the Canes' power play joined the fun. Nikolaj Ehlers, in his first game back in Winnipeg, made a sensational seam pass to set up an Andrei Svechnikov one-timer to double the lead. The Jets got it back 54 seconds later after Vilardi's pass hit Chatfield's skate and found the back of the net. This is where the scoring ended. Brandon Bussi, making a surprise start, locked it down in the third, finishing with 24 stops. Aho and Miller joined Staal with multi-point nights in a 4-3 victory for the Canes, moving them to 2-0-1 on the trip.

Injury Report

Jesperi Kotkaniemi: He's not playing today, but maybe on Wednesday?

Jaccob Slavin: He's also not playing, but I genuinely have no clue when he will again.

The Opponent: Buffalo Sabres (8-9-4, 20 Points; 8th in the Atlantic Division)

Last Meeting: The Sabres were in Raleigh on November 8th as the Canes began their first back-to-back of the season. Sebastian Aho and Owen Power traded tallies before the halfway point in the 1st period. Aho's tally came courtesy of an incredible individual effort by Andrei Svechnikov. He carried the puck through the neutral zone and made a defender miss. All Aho had to do was finish the pass. Power got it back after a defensive breakdown left him all alone in the slot. Svechnikov kept his game rolling in the 2nd, burying a one-timer on the power play to restore the Canes' lead. The lead was doubled after Joel Nystrom recorded his first NHL point, setting up Jesperi Kotkaniemi for a blast off the post and past Alex Lyon. Kotkaniemi had a beautiful assist in the 3rd, setting up Eric Robinson, who buried a breakaway chance and helped Charles Alexis Legault earn his first point with the secondary helper. Up 4-1, the Canes were in control, but Alex Tuch and Tage Thompson quickly made things a little tense, scoring 3:26 apart to cut the deficit to one. Seth Jarvis scored into the empty net, and Legault did the same for his first NHL goal, helping the Canes win, 6-3, at home.

Since We Last Met: While the Sabres currently sit in the basement of the Atlantic Division and the Eastern Conference, the insane amount of parity around the league and the sheer number of overtime games have them just six points back of the division lead. It truly has been an insane season at the quarter mark. The Sabres enter the night with wins in three of their last four. After a 1-3-0 road trip, winning in their final stop in Detroit, the Sabres have a lopsided win over the Oilers, a lopsided loss to the Flames, and a holy BTA win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday. Buffalo beat Chicago, 9-3, getting multi-point efforts from nine players, led by four assists from Alex Tuch. Tuch and Tage Thompson, who had a goal and an assist on Friday, each have 20 points to lead the team. They still aren't very good defensively, though they're the best penalty-killing team in the NHL. Like the Canes, they've been employing a three-goalie rotation recently, so it's anyone's guess who'll be in the net on Sunday. The team will have Rasmus Dahlin and Jason Zucker back in the lineup, neither of whom played in Raleigh.

Stories to Watch

1. Is Nikishin back in the lineup?

I've made my feelings known about the decision to scratch Alexander Nikishin over Mike Reilly with Jalen Chatfield returning. It was a bad decision, and it cost them a goal in Winnipeg. While it might be tempting to keep things the same after a win, doing so would be tantamount to negligence from the head coach. I want to see Nikishin flying around the ice, laying hits, and putting up points. I want him on the power play, too, but we can't always get what we want. He deserves to be in the lineup. End of story.

2. How does the Canes' goalie rotation adjust?

Based on the head coach's words before Friday's game, Pyotr Kochetkov would've started in Winnipeg if he were 100%. He wasn't, so Brandon Bussi started in his place. I half expected to see Bussi today before the little shakeup, which brings us to the issue of who gets the start. Skipping ahead to Wednesday, I want Kochetkov in the net against the Rangers. He has performed well against them in his career, including his shutout win at MSG in his season debut. Frederik Andersen has struggled, and I'm not sure what the fans' appetite to see him in the net is right now, not that I think the boss cares what the fans think on roster issues. This seems like an Andersen start to me. There's no reason to not give Bussi another start, and I don't want Kochetkov playing if it means he won't be on Wednesday against New York. Start Freddie and let whatever happens happen.