The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Seattle Kraken 5-1 on Saturday to sweep the NHL Global Series in Helsinki, Finland.
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Jordan Staal returned from injury as the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Seattle Kraken 5-1 on Saturday to sweep the NHL Global Series in Finland’s capital of Helsinki.
Carolina carried momentum after a 4-1 win on Thursday and extended its winning streak to four. The Hurricanes improved to a 16-3-2 record.
Andrei Svechnikov and Mark Jankowski each scored twice for Carolina, with Jackson Blake also adding a goal. Nikolaj Ehlers had three assists and Shayne Gostisbehere recorded two assists. Pyotr Kochetkov stopped 12 shots for his 12th win in 13 games.
Svechnikov scored on two power plays in the middle period, netting his first at 3-0 and adding another to make it 4-1. His second goal came 9:55 into the second period, and the Kraken pulled Joey Daccord after he allowed four goals on 14 shots. Philipp Grubauer made 22 saves in relief.
Matty Beniers scored for Seattle to make it 3-1, but the Kraken couldn’t complete a comeback.
Blake scored in the first period with a snap shot after Sebastian Aho sent him a backhand pass between his legs. Jankowski then doubled the lead with 2:30 left in the period, and added a second with 8:54 remaining in the final period by tapping in a pass from Taylor Hall.
Staal, Carolina’s captain, played his first game for the reigning champions after missing 14 games with a calf tear on Oct. 11. The 38-year-old skated on the third line with Seth Jarvis and Jordan Martinook and played 13:55.
Saturday’s game marked the 50th NHL contest played outside North America and the ninth in Helsinki, tying Prague, with only Stockholm having hosted more. The NHL will return to Europe next month for games in Germany between the Ottawa Senators and the Chicago Blackhawks in Düsseldorf on Dec. 18 and 20.
Up next, the Kraken host the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday, while the Hurricanes host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.
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