Nikolaj Ehlers’ hat trick powered the Carolina Hurricanes to a 6–4 road win over the Vancouver Canucks, capping a four‑goal second‑period surge and surviving a late push from the home side.
Ehlers’ hat trick and Canes’ second‑period burst
Ehlers scored three times, including two in the second period and an empty‑netter with 14 seconds left to seal it, giving him his seventh career hat trick. Carolina flipped a 2–1 deficit into a 5–2 lead in the middle frame with goals from Sean Walker, Ehlers, Sebastian Aho, then Ehlers again on the rush. Aho finished with a goal and an assist, while Andrei Svechnikov also posted a goal and assist after opening the scoring on a power play just 1:17 into the game.
Canucks’ early lead and late push
Vancouver actually led 2–1 after the first thanks to quick‑strike goals 44 seconds apart from Marco Rossi on the power play and Filip Hronek from the right circle. After falling behind 5–2, they clawed back with Brock Boeser’s goal in the final minute of the second and Nils HΓΆglander’s first of the season at 6:45 of the third to make it 5–4. Hronek finished with a goal and two assists, Rossi had a goal and assist, and Elias Pettersson recorded two helpers in the loss.
Goaltending, special teams and form
Carolina’s Brandon Bussi made 18 saves and did just enough behind a team that out‑shot Vancouver 33–22 and went 1‑for‑3 on the power play. Kevin Lankinen was pulled after allowing four goals on 22 shots for the Canucks, with Nikita Tolopilo stopping 9 of 10 in relief. The win pushed the Hurricanes to 39–16–6 and means they’ve now gone 11–1–2 in their last 14, while the Canucks fell to 18–36–7 with six straight losses and just two wins in their past 23 games.