Aho scores twice as Hurricanes beat Kraken in Helsinki on Hall’s milestone night

Sebastian Aho scored twice in his native Finland as the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Seattle Kraken 4-1 in Helsinki on Thursday, November 12. The NHL Global Series victory at Veikkaus Arena took Carolina to 15-3-2, with seven wins from its past eight games, according to the Associated Press.

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Nikolaj Ehlers opened the scoring with a shot from the point after receiving a pass from K'Andre Miller. Canes Country reported that Seattle coach Lane Lambert challenged the goal with Jackson Blake positioned near goaltender Philipp Grubauer. The challenge failed, leaving the goal in place and giving Carolina a power play through the resulting delay-of-game penalty.

Aho converted that opportunity, finishing a move involving Blake and Ehlers to put the Hurricanes two goals ahead before the first intermission. Fellow Finn Juuso Valimaki then added Carolina's third in the second period. It was the defenseman's third goal in eight appearances for his new club, Canes Country reported.

Carolina extended its advantage again in the third period when Aho scored his second of the evening and 12th of the season. Frederick Gaudreau eventually answered for Seattle, denying Brandon Bussi a shutout. Bussi finished with 12 saves from 13 shots, while Grubauer made 26 saves at the other end. Seattle's record fell to 9-7-1.

The occasion also marked Taylor Hall's 1,000th NHL appearance. The 34-year-old winger became the first player to reach that milestone in a game outside North America, AP reported. Hall is in his 17th NHL season and has accumulated 305 goals and 488 assists, giving him 793 career points at the landmark.

There were continuing scoring runs elsewhere in Carolina's lineup. Logan Stankoven supplied two assists to stretch his point streak to six games, while Blake's assist extended his career-best run to 10. The teams will meet again in Helsinki on Saturday to complete their two-game series, with Carolina having won the opening fixture by three goals. Canes Country put Carolina's Metropolitan Division lead at six points after the win.