Carolina Hurricanes at Edmonton Oilers

Aho scores twice for Hurricanes in 3-1 victory over Oilers

The 24-year-old Finnish forward has 12 points in his last five games.

“He is a special player,” Carolina defenseman Jaccob Slavin said. “We’ve had him for a long time now and we know what he’s capable of and it’s good that everyone else is starting to realize that."

Nino Niederreiter also scored for the Hurricanes, who improved to 12-3-1 on the road, and Frederik Andersen made 22 saves.

“Every night he gives us a chance to win and that’s all you can ask from a goalie,” Aho said. “It was the same story tonight. He made huge saves here and there and it’s great to have him back there.”

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had the only goal for the Oilers, who have lost five straight after their hot start. Mikko Koskinen stopped 28 shots.

“Our sense of urgency has to go up. A good start buys us a slump and we have used our slump here,” Oilers captain Connor McDavid said. “It seems when you are slumping that things just don’t go your way and you have got to work extra hard to get out of it, that is just the way it is. We have to find a way to get one win and go from there.”

The Oilers allowed the first goal when Aho swatted in his own rebound on the power play 7:17 into the opening period.

The Hurricanes made it 2-0 just over six minutes into the second period when Niederreiter beat Oilers goalie Koskinen on a long shot to the blocker side.

Edmonton got back into the game midway through the middle frame as Nugent-Hopkins beat Andersen with a wrist shot on a partial breakaway for his first goal on home ice in 19 games.

But Carolina got an insurance goal with 2:44 left as Koskinen fumbled a puck behind the net and Aho stole it. It was Aho's 15th goal of the season and fifth goal in the last three games.

Game notes
Veteran defenseman Duncan Keith remains out for the Oilers, though he is skating and could be back next game. Also out for Edmonton were Mike Smith (lower body), Slater Koekkoek (lower body) and Kris Russell (upper body). … Absent for the Hurricanes was Jordan Martinook (ankle), while Tony DeAngelo and Brett Pesce remained out on COVID-19 protocol. … The game marked the return of defenseman Ethan Bear to Edmonton after being traded in the offseason. … It was the 500th NHL game for Carolina's Vincent Trocheck.

UP NEXT

Hurricanes: At Vancouver on Sunday in the fourth game of a five-game trip.

Oilers: Host Toronto on Tuesday in the fifth game of a six-game homestand.

CAR leads series 1-0