![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AP26098081504594-678x381.jpg\" "\\"Jaccob")
\nHurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin celebrates his game-winning overtime goal against the Bruins during Carolina\u2019s 6-5 win Tuesday in Raleigh. (Karl DeBlaker \/ AP Photo)<\/p>\n
\nHurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin celebrates his game-winning overtime goal against the Bruins during Carolina\u2019s 6-5 win Tuesday in Raleigh. (Karl DeBlaker \/ AP Photo)<\/p>\n
RALEIGH \u2014 The Hurricanes and Bruins gave the fans at Lenovo Center everything they could want in Carolina\u2019s final home game of the regular season: 11 combined goals, several milestone accomplishments, a Metropolitan Division title and Jaccob Slavin\u2019s first goal of the season coming in overtime of a 6-5 win Tuesday at Lenovo Center.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s good. It means the guys, we put in a lot of work this season,\u201d Slavin, who jumped off the bench and finished a perfect pass from Sebastian Aho on the back door on the winner at 1:13 of overtime, said of winning the division for the first time since 2022-23. \u201cAnd honestly, to do that is still a big accomplishment.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut that\u2019s just one step along the way. And so let\u2019s feel good, yeah, but at the same time, that\u2019s not the goal that we want.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aho\u2019s assist, his 53rd of the season, tied a career best. He wasn\u2019t the only one who reached a milestone.<\/p>\n
Brandon Bussi (16 saves) became the seventh different goalie in franchise history to win 30 games. Andrei Svechnikov scored his 30th goal of the season, matching a career high. Jackson Blake\u2019s first of two assists gave him 50 points on the season. Logan Stankoven\u2019s goal gave him a new career high in points with 39. Sean Walker\u2019s two assists gave him 21 on the year, a new career best.<\/p>\n
But for all the individual and team accolades, the goal remains bigger.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s all you can get at this point,\u201d Hurricanes coach Rod Brind\u2019Amour said of clinching the division. \u201cSo it was started in September \u2014 but really we started whenever we finished last year. And it\u2019s to get to, OK, that\u2019s the first thing, win your division. And now if we can win the conference, great.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen when that ends, flip the page and we get an opportunity to fight for what everyone\u2019s been trying to get at for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n
The win still wasn\u2019t an ideal performance. Pavel Zacha\u2019s goal with just over seven minutes left in regulation, his 30th of the season, tied the game at 5-5 and forced overtime.<\/p>\n
But Jordan Staal won the opening faceoff of 3-on-3 and Carolina never lost possession.<\/p>\n
After Svechnikov powered into the offensive zone, he handed the puck off to Aho in the right faceoff circle. Aho curled toward the top of the circle and saw Slavin slashing toward the far post. Aho\u2019s pass found Slavin\u2019s stick blade in stride, and the puck got past Joonas Korpisalo \u2014 the only goal he allowed on 17 shots after replacing Jeremy Swayman \u2014 for Carolina\u2019s 50th win of the season.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone draws it up a little differently, but that\u2019s how you draw it up,\u201d Brind\u2019Amour said of the overtime winner. \u201cYou win the draw, you get the right guys out, you hang onto it, get the right guys out, and then you make the play. And that\u2019s what talent is supposed to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
It ended a wild game that included five ties, six lead changes and a hat trick by Boston\u2019s Morgan Geekie.<\/p>\n
It took Boston \u2014 outshot 40-21 by the Hurricanes on the night \u2014 nearly five minutes to register its first shot, but the Bruins made it count.<\/p>\n
After the Hurricanes spent much of the first several shifts in the offensive zone, the Bruins dumped the puck into the Carolina end. Zacha retrieved the puck, but his centering pass slid through the slot and to the point. Boston defenseman Hampus Lindholm collected it and shot from the top of the left circle past Bussi for his fifth goal of the season and a 1-0 lead at 4:40 of the first period.<\/p>\n
The Hurricanes responded with two goals in 94 seconds.<\/p>\n
First, Svechnikov got the puck just outside the Bruins zone and motored past Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy and around the net. He attempted a centering pass that hit Boston defenseman Jonathan Aspirot\u2019s skate and went past Swayman (18 saves) for Svechnikov\u2019s 30th goal of the season at 10:04.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know what kind of player I am, and I know what I can bring to the team,\u201d Svechnikov said of matching his career-best 69 points three years after having a season-ending knee injury. \u201cAnd I just like those people who say, \u2018ACL, I got ACL. That\u2019s why he slowed down.\u2019 But that\u2019s all excuses, I know that. And like I said, I know what kind of player I am.\u201d<\/p>\n
Just over 1\u00bd minutes later, Carolina took the lead when Staal cleanly won a faceoff back to K\u2019Andre Miller. Miller snapped a shot from the point that went in for his seventh goal of the year at 11:38.<\/p>\n
The high-scoring first period wasn\u2019t over.<\/p>\n
After Bussi steered a David Pastrnak rush shot off net, the Bruins sniper got to his own rebound behind the net and passed in front. Geekie was left unchecked, and he buried his 35th goal of the season to end a 17-game goal drought and tie the score at 2-2 at 13:36.<\/p>\n
Geekie then got his second of the night, crashing the net and finishing a Pastrnak feed at 17:25 to reestablish the Bruins\u2019 one-goal lead.<\/p>\n
The Hurricanes scored three times in 3:16 during the second period to turn a 3-2 deficit into a 5-3 lead.<\/p>\n
First, after Bruins forward Mark Kastelic failed to clear the puck on a Hurricanes power play, Taylor Hall set up Stankoven for his fifth goal in as many games and 19th of the season. Blake also got an assist for his 50th point of the season.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re getting the opportunities, that\u2019s all you can ask, really,\u201d Brind\u2019Amour said of Stankoven discovering his scoring touch. \u201cThey\u2019re going to go in, and that\u2019s what\u2019s happened. It was just a matter of time, and now he\u2019s in a stretch where they\u2019re all going in.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Hurricanes then reclaimed the lead when William Carrier looked to pass but had that taken away by Aspirot. So he instead shot from Swayman\u2019s left and scored his seventh goal of the season, ending a 25-game goal drought at 7:20 of the middle frame to make it 4-3.<\/p>\n
Seventy-three seconds later, Hall got his 17th goal. His initial shot was blocked and went right back to him, and his follow-up ended Swayman\u2019s night and gave Carolina a 5-3 lead.<\/p>\n
But the pendulum again swung the other way late in the second when Nikita Zadorov\u2019s point shot was redirected by Geekie to complete his hat trick at 18:50 and cut the Hurricanes\u2019 lead to 5-4 heading into the final period.<\/p>\n
Zacha\u2019s goal forced overtime, but the Hurricanes \u2014 as they have done so many times in Brind\u2019Amour\u2019s eight seasons as coach \u2014 found a way to pick up another win, building a four-point cushion atop the Eastern Conference with four games remaining in the regular season.<\/p>\n
\u201cDoesn\u2019t mean anything, to be honest,\u201d Svechnikov said of clinching the division title. \u201cBut it just means that all season we\u2019ve been grinding away and all the boys just battling for each other and winning games. But like I said, it\u2019s all about playoff.\u201d<\/p>\n
Notes: Hurricanes defenseman Jalen Chatfield left the game in the third period with a lower-body injury and did not return. Brind\u2019Amour did not have an update on his status. \u2026 Carolina went 1 for 4 on the power play and has scored with the man advantage in 10 of the last 11 games. \u2026 Forwards Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Eric Robinson and defenseman Mike Reilly were healthy scratches for Carolina. \u2026 Hurricanes equipment manager Bob Gorman worked his 2,700th NHL game.<\/p>\n
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