The Carolina Hurricanes just ripped a 3-2 victory from the hands of the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday, Oct. 17.
This victory extended their winning streak to seven games, but the milestone goes much deeper than that.
Hurricanes Make Franchise History in Win Over Jets
Per NHL Public Relations, this is the first time in Carolina history that the franchise has won the first five road games of a season.
As they pointed out, “Only two clubs have posted a run of that length in the past five years: Winnipeg (7 GP in 2024-25) and Los Angeles (11 GP in 2023-24).”
They further added, “The Hurricanes (7 GP) tied the Panthers (7 GP in 2024-25) and Golden Knights (7 GP in 2023-24) for the longest winning streak by a reigning Stanley Cup champion since 2020-21.”
The first period of the Hurricanes-Jets clash at Canada Life Centre went scoreless, but in the second period, Mark Jankowski scored off assists from Logan Stankoven and Bradly Nadeau.
This put the Hurricanes on the board, tying the game 1-1 with Winnipeg.
Later in the period, Jesperi Kotkaniemi scored Carolina’s second goal off assists from Shayne Gostisbehere and Eric Robinson.
Once the third period rolled around, the Hurricanes had one more goal left in them, thanks to Nikolaj Ehlers’ slap shot — the game-winner. Again, Gostisbehere assisted.
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Funny enough, just yesterday, Sean Gentille and Dom Luszczyszyn of The Athletic wrote, “Forget everything you saw last postseason and focus on the fact that Ehlers has yet to score a goal, eight games in. Carolina should probably trade him to your favorite team…”
Ehlers tends to carry a surprise element with him, and that apparently stands true today.
Where Do the Hurricanes Stand Right Now?
With Carolina’s imposing winning streak, they’ve quickly become a team to beat.
Their next clash is scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 18, at 8 p.m. ET against the Calgary Flames.
This is another away game for the Hurricanes, as the game is being held at Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary.
Following this meeting, Carolina will remain on the road and head to Rogers Arena to face the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday, Oct. 20.
At the time of this writing, the Hurricanes are riding a 7-1-1 overall record in the Metropolitan Division, trailed by the New York Rangers (6-3-0) and the Washington Capitals (5-3-0) in second and third, respectively.
They also lead the NHL in points (15) so far this season through nine games.
If Carolina can keep turning the knob and increasing momentum on the ice, they could very well be gearing up for another deep run in the postseason this winter, barring injuries.
Can the Hurricanes continue extending their record this coming week?
Hurricanes Make Franchise History With Unprecedented Feat vs. Jets