Hurricanes win big game against Sabres

The Carolina Hurricanes claimed an important home win against the second-placed Buffalo Sabres on Friday, ending 5-3.

Carolina has extended their lead in their division to 17 points, while New Jersey sits one point back.

The visiting Sabres opened strong, with Jacob Bryson scoring right at the start, after only 34 seconds, a goal assisted by Dylan Cozens.

The Hurricanes tied the game 1-1 in the first period when Sebastian Aho scored.

The Sabres' Victor Olofsson took the lead in the middle of the first period, assisted by Jack Quinn.

The Hurricanes tied the game 2-2 with another goal from Sebastian Aho halfway through the first, assisted by Martin Necas and Andrei Svechnikov.

The Hurricanes scored one goal in second period an held the lead 3-2 going in to the second break.

Jesperi Kotkaniemi increased the lead to 4-2 in the middle of the third period, assisted by Martin Necas.

Sebastian Aho increased the lead to 5-2 eight minutes later.

The Sabres narrowed the gap to 5-3 with one second remaining of the third after a goal from Rasmus Dahlin, assisted by JJ Peterka and Jack Quinn.

The game saw two teams in great shape up against each other. The second-placed Hurricanes claimed a fourth consecutive win. Before the game, the Sabres had won their last three.

Carolina improves to 8–2–1, while Buffalo drops to 7–4–0.

This means Buffalo remains in second place.

Next up:

The Sabres play against Tampa Bay on Saturday at 5 p.m. at PNC Arena. The Hurricanes will face Toronto on Sunday at 7 p.m. at Amalie Arena.