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After losing their first two games at home, the Carolina Hurricanes went on the road Saturday to earn their first victory of the new season.
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Defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere’s power-play goal at 2:51 of overtime gave the Canes a 3-2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Sebastian Aho had two goals and an assist, and goalie Pyotr Kochetkov picked up his first victory in net since December 2025.
Carolina (1-1-1) was a 1-0 overtime loser to the Florida Panthers in their opener at Lenovo Center – on the day the 2026 Stanley Cup banner went up – then had an ugly first period in a 5-2 beating by Washington in the second game Friday.
The Canes trailed 2-1 in the third period Saturday against the Flyers, the team Carolina swept in four games in the second round of the playoffs last season. But Aho struck on the power play about five minutes into the period to tie the score, and the Canes killed off a Gostisbehere slashing penalty late in regulation and early in overtime.
Aho’s first goal came on the first shift of the game, the center taking a pass from William Carrier from behind the net and beating goalie Joseph Woll with a quick strike. Carrier had been moved to the Aho line by Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour, and the forechecking of the winger and Andrei Svechnikov resulted in the Aho score from the slot.
The Canes fell behind the Caps 3-0 in the first period of Friday’s game in Raleigh but had an immediate response in the team’s first back-to-back of the season.
“I thought from start to finish we were good. We got to our game right away, first shift, which was nice,” Brind’Amour said. “We had the bulk of the play. I liked that we had to stick with it and the power play came up big.”
In overtime, the Flyers’ Owent Tippett was called for slashing Aho at 1:35 of OT. Gostisbehere took a pass from Jackson Blake and unloaded from the top of the left circle as Svechnikov screened Woll.
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“I was trying to put it there and thankfully it went in,” Gostisbehere said. “It wasn’t what we were trying to do … but at the end of the day you’ve got to make some plays and put the puck in the net.”
Tippett and Matvei Michkov each scored their first goals of the season – Tippett in the first period after a scramble in the slot after a loose puck and then Michkov in the second to give the Flyers the lead. Woll had 37 saves as the Flyers fell to 0-1-2.
“Today, we played our game the full 60-plus minutes, keep grinding, keep grinding,” Aho said. “Our mentality was to play Hurricanes hockey today.”
Kochetkov missed most of last season after surgery and had some rough moments in preseason games. But after Brandon Bussi started the first two games of the season, he was in net for the first time since December and faced 18 shots.
“I feel actually not bad for my first game,” Kochetkov said.
Aho’s first goal was the fastest in a game for the Canes since Kevin Dineen’s score 10 seconds into the first period Dec. 3, 1990, for the Hartford Whalers at Montreal.
Also of note: Canes forward Jordan Martinook played his 800th career game, and the Canes won their first road game for the ninth straight season, matching the Flyers’ NHL record.
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