Sebastian Aho scored twice in front of the home crowd and the Carolina Hurricanes opened the NHL Global Series in the Finnish capital with a 4-1 victory over the Seattle Kraken on Thursday.
Match Highlights and Scoring
The dominant Hurricanes jumped to a 2-0 lead with goals coming just 1:06 apart in the opening period. Nikolaj Ehlers put them ahead 1-0 with 8:16 remaining on a wrist shot from the blue line. Home crowd favorite Aho doubled the advantage on a power play moments later after receiving a pass at the side of the net from Jackson Blake. Aho then secured his second goal of the night on a one-timer from the slot in the final period.
Nikolaj Ehlers finished the match with a goal and an assist, while Aho’s fellow Finn, defenseman Juuso Välimäki, also scored for the Hurricanes, who improved their record to 15-3-2 and claimed their seventh win in their last eight games. Logan Stankoven contributed two assists to extend his point streak to six matches, and Jackson Blake added an assist to push his career-high point streak to 10 games. Carolina goaltender Brandon Bussi stopped 12 shots.
Frederick Gaudreau scored the lone goal for Seattle, dropping the Kraken to 9-7-1, while goaltender Philipp Grubauer finished the game with 26 saves.
Milestones in Helsinki
Left winger Taylor Hall celebrated his 1,000th NHL game as the team made a victorious return to Helsinki’s Veikkaus Arena after 16 years. The 34-year-old Hall made history as the first player to skate in his 1,000th game overseas. Now in his 17th NHL season, Hall holds career totals of 305 goals and 488 assists for 793 points.
With his performance, Aho reached three goals and seven points across his last three outings. His 321st career goal allowed him to tie Olli Jokinen for fourth place among Finnish players in NHL history.
Thursday’s matchup marked the 49th regular-season game played outside North America as part of the league’s efforts to expand its fan base in hockey-focused nations like Finland, Sweden, and the Czech Republic. It was the 12th regular-season game hosted in Finland and the eighth in Helsinki, with only Stockholm and Prague having hosted more. For the Kraken, the fixture marked their first regular-season game outside North America, making them the 27th active franchise to play internationally.
The Hurricanes and Kraken will complete their two-game series in Helsinki on Saturday.
