Hurricanes Defeat the Ducks 5-2 to Complete Regular Season Sweep

The Carolina Hurricanes hosted the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday night (Jan. 8) in their final meeting of the 2025-26 season. Rod Brind’Amour’s team was looking to complete the regular-season sweep after defeating the Ducks 4-1 on Oct. 16. The Hurricanes entered the game on a two-game winning streak, while the Ducks were looking to snap a seven-game losing streak. After the final horn, the Hurricanes defeated the Ducks 5-2.

Game Recap

The Hurricanes were able to get a few chances on Ville Husso in the first period, but were not able to get the puck past the Ducks’ netminder. However, on an offensive turnover by the Hurricanes, the Ducks made a counterattack with numbers. Ryan Poehling was able to cash in on a wide-open net after a three-on-one took advantage of the Hurricanes players not getting back to defend.

Chris Kreider and Jackson LaCombe, with nifty passing, got Frederik Andersen moving and gave Poehling the opening he needed to score his third of the season. Even though they outshot the Ducks 7-6, the Hurricanes trailed 1-0 after 20 minutes.

The second period saw a plethora of goals, four to be exact. After entering the middle frame down 1-0, the Hurricanes tied it up almost nine minutes into the period. Mark Jankowski powered his way to the goal and was able to stuff it past Husso, making the game 1-1. Less than four minutes later, Mikael Granlund on the backdoor step was able to give the Ducks the lead back after being left all alone behind Andersen. After the Ducks scored, the Hurricanes scored two of their own in four minutes to go from 2-1 down to up 3-2. Taylor Hall found Logan Stankoven streaking to the Ducks’ goal between the circles. Stankoven snapped it past Husso for his ninth of the season, giving him three straight games with a goal.

Jalen Chatfield scored the last goal of the period as he ripped a slapshot past Husso, giving the Hurricanes their first lead of the game. The Hurricanes outshot the Ducks 18-3 in the period, and took a 3-2 lead into the second intermission.

The Hurricanes added two more goals in the third period to put the game out of reach. Jackson Blake scored his 13th of the season after being Johnny on the spot to grab the rebound. He was able to corral the puck and get it past Husso to double the Hurricanes’ lead. To cap off a huge night for the Hurricanes’ second line, Hall scored on the empty net, making it a 5-2 game for the Hurricanes. The line of Stankoven, Hall, and Blake tallied three goals and five points in the win.

The Hurricanes move to 27-14-3 on the season, and they’re on a three-game winning streak. Andersen picked up his first win since Nov. 6 after stopping 11 of 13 shots in the victory. The Ducks are now on an eight-game losing streak after the loss to the Hurricanes. They are now 21-20-3 on the season.