Martin Necas scored 90 seconds into overtime to give the Carolina Hurricanes a 3-2 victory against the visiting Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night in Raleigh, N.C.
It was the second overtime winner at home this season for Necas. He tipped in the puck from near the crease after Buffalo controlled the puck for most of the first minute of the extra session.
Defensemen Tony DeAngelo and Brady Skjei scored the first two Hurricanes goals. Sebastian Aho had two assists, including one on the winning goal. Skjei also assisted on the OT goal.
Antti Raanta made 20 saves as the Hurricanes won for the fifth time in their last six games.
Buffalo’s goals came from Alex Tuch and Rasmus Dahlin. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 24 shots. The Sabres were aiming for their fourth win in five games.
Skjei’s second goal of the season gave the Hurricanes the lead with 12:06 remaining in the third period. He was set up by a pass across the slot from Aho.
But with Carolina’s Andrei Svechnikov in the penalty box, the Sabres tied it with Dahlin’s power-play goal less than 90 seconds later. Four consecutive penalties had been called on Buffalo before Svechnikov was detected for boarding.
The Hurricanes killed off a late Buffalo power play after Jordan Martinook went to the box for tripping.
Carolina appeared to be frustrated by the lack of strong chances generated during even-strength stretches.
DeAngelo scored first with an unassisted power-play score 12:43 into the first period. That gave the Hurricanes one power-play goal for the fifth straight game.
Tuch’s unassisted goal came off a Carolina turnover 3:51 into the second. He has scored three goals across the past two games.
The Hurricanes were playing a day after it was revealed that goalie Frederik Andersen would be out for an extended period because of a blood clotting issue.
–Field Level Media
