Carolina Hurricanes, with Aho sidelined, can’t find way to beat Vancouver Canucks
The Carolina Hurricanes announced 30 minutes before game time Sunday that Sebastian Aho would not play against the Vancouver Canucks.
The Canes missed their best player.
The Canes arrived in Vancouver with three wins banked on its road trip, goalie Antti Raanta ready to take the net and plenty of momentum. But the Canucks, rejuvenated under new coach Bruce Boudreau, took a 2-1 victory at Rogers Arena as goalie Thatcher Demko earned his 12th win of the season with 28 saves.
The Canes said Aho was sidelined with an illness. No other information was provided before the game about the status of their star center, who leads the Canes with 15 goals and 32 points and had been on an offensive tear.
Martin Necas scored his seventh of the season at 2:32 of the third to pull the Canes within 2-1, Necas scoring on a two-on-one rush off a Seth Jarvis pass. The Canes had a chance to tie the score when Necas was tripped later in the third but couldn’t convert their first power play of the game -- against a team last in the NHL in penalty killing.
After beating the Edmonton Oilers 3-1 Saturday, with Aho scoring twice, the Hurricanes (19-7-1) tried to gut out a second victory in two nights. But Brock Boeser scored in the first period and Elias Petterrsson in the second as Vancouver (12-15-2) stayed in front in winning a fourth straight for Boudreau, named head coach Dec. 5.
The Canes chased the game the rest of the way and pressured Demko, a big goalie at 6-4 who has won his last four games, in the final 30 minutes. Raanta gave the Canes a chance with a quality start, making some tough stops among his 24 saves.
The Canes believed they had scored the game’s first goal when Jesper Fast knocked a loose puck past Demko in the first period. It was disallowed as Andrei Svechnikov was ruled to have hit the puck with a high stick before Fast converted.
The Canucks then scored first, with 1:31 left in the first. When the Canes failed to clear the puck from their zone, J.T. Miller set up Boeser for an open look in the slot for his seventh goal of what has been an uneven season.
Pettersson, who also has under-performed this season, scored after a Carolina turnover at the Canes’ blue line. The Canucks were quickly down the ice and Pettersson picked up his fifth of the season at 7:44 of the second.
With Aho out, Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour juggled his lines, having Jordan Staal center Nino Niederreiter and Teuvo Teravainen. Jesperi Kotkaniemi replaced Aho on the Canes’ top power-play unit.
The Canes have had three players in the COVID-19 protocol this season -- Ethan Bear, Brett Pesce and Tony DeAngelo, all right-shot defensemen. Bear has returned to the lineup but sat out against Calgary on Thursday with an illness.
With Aho a late scratch, the Canes had 11 forwards and seven defensemen in the lineup Sunday. Pesce and DeAngelo are out of COVID protocol and have been skating in Raleigh, and both could play Tuesday against the Minnesota Wild.
