"Party Like it's 2006": 2025-26 Regular Season, Game 50: Carolina Hurricanes vs. Buffalo Sabres

The Carolina Hurricanes haven't fared well in matinee games this season, losing a pair in November to Boston and Buffalo. The good news? Both of those were on the road. Today's matinee takes place at the Lenovo Center, meaning the team should be ready to give the fans a show in Raleigh. Both teams have playing exceptional hockey right now, which feels like a long-time coming for the Buffalo Sabres. They've been on fire since early December. The Canes have been a little more sporadic, but they've responded well to being shut out last Tuesday. With a chance to take the season series against the Sabres, the team turned to Brandon Bussi to continue his magnificent season and put the Sabres in their place. 

Scoring Summary

1st Period

BUF (1:33)- Rasmus Dahlin (7) (Jack Quinn (17) & Jason Zucker (14))

CAR (7:04)- Andrei Svechnikov (17) (Sebastian Aho (34) & Sean Walker (10))

2nd Period

None

3rd Period

CAR (2:10-PP)- Seth Jarvis (22) (Andrei Svechnikov (25) & Sebastian Aho (35))

My Thoughts

Brandon Bussi probably has a case to be the team's MVP to this point in the season. He's a difference maker every time he is in the net, earning his 18th win in 22 starts in today's victory. However, today felt a little different. His afternoon didn't start well, allowing a goal on the first shot of the game just 93 seconds in. Little did we know that it would be the only goal the Sabres would score this afternoon. It certainly wasn't for a lack of chances. Bussi played out of his mind for the remainder of the game. He didn't face much rubber through two periods, which is becoming a theme for the group. However, when his team needed it the most, Bussi was there to back them up, getting the job done once more.

One of the big stories of the afternoon was Bussi's brilliance on chances from Tage Thompson. The Sabres' leading scorer accounted for 1/3 of their 18 shots today, and most of them were very dangerous. His best chance was on the power play. After the Canes failed to clear the puck, the Sabres had a 2-on-0 against Bussi. Thompson passed it, but he got it right back with space to shoot. Bussi attacked and flashed the leather to rob him, though the TNT team thought it was in the net, flashing the "Goal" graphic and everything. Instead, it was in Bussi's mitt to keep it tied. He made a few more stops on Thompson in the final few minutes, fighting to prevent the Sabres from tying it. Thompson is going to the Olympics next month, but he might be thinking about this one for a while.

Another big battle came from the Top 2 pick of the 2018 Draft, Rasmus Dahlin and Andrei Svechnikov. I don't know if the two of them genuinely don't like each other, but they had some issues with one another today. There were seven minor penalties taken in this game. These two combined to take five of them. They had matching roughing minors midway through the second, while Svechnikov's two other penalties, also roughing penalties, came on plays against Dahlin. It's also ironic that they were responsible for the two goals in the first period, too. Dahlin was a menace all afternoon. He was also responsible for knocking Eric Robinson out of the game in the first period.

In January, we've seen the trio of Svechnikov, Sebastian Aho, and Seth Jarvis go crazy. While they haven't been playing together the entire month, they've all found ways to contribute offensively. Today, Aho and Svechnikov had multi-point games, the third straight for both, and Jarvis scored the game-winning goal on the power play with help from his linemates. Since the start of the month, only Nikita Kucherov (19) has more points than Aho (17), and his 14 assists are the most in the league. He surpassed 50 points on Saturday, putting him better than a point-per-game pace. Svechnikov isn't far behind Aho in January, sitting tied for fifth in goals (7) and points (15). After not scoring in his first eight games, Svechnikov has silenced everyone and turned in an incredible season through 50 games. Jarvis was hurt to begin the month, but he has eight points in eight games since returning. He continues down the road to his third-straight 30-goal campaign. Most importantly, he scored the goal to net his squad a pair of points.

First Star of the Game: Brandon Bussi

This feels like Brandon Bussi's to lose after another brilliant performance. His status as the first star of the contest was pretty much cemented with his save on Thompson during the penalty kill, but he only improved his case from there. Bussi became the first goalie to win 18 games in 22 starts, adding to his incredible season.

Next Up: The Canes have four games left in January and seven before the pause for the Winter Games. They return to action on Thursday night when they host the Blackhawks. They take a trip to Ottawa on Saturday before enjoying a prolonged break. They won't take the ice again until next Thursday night against the Utah Mammoth.