The Carolina Hurricanes won their eighth consecutive game Thursday night with a 3-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center.
The Canes rallied back from a 1-0 first period deficit, eventually overwhelming San Jose with a multi-goal third period.
Here are a few of my takeaways from the win:
Dmitry Orlov Returns To The Lineup
The Russian defenseman had missed the past five games for the Canes, dealing with what was labeled as a "minor injury."
Orlov started the game paired up with Shayne Gostisbehere on his offhand, but ended up back alongside his usual partner, Jalen Chatfield, as the game progressed.
Orlov played 5:49 of his 5v5 ice time with Gostisbehere and 7:54 with Chatfield.
It was a good return for Orlov, who played 17:36 in total last night (the lowest amongst all blueliners).
He had a 16-9 chance advantage and a 76.48% expected goals for percentage according to NaturalStatTrick.com and Orlov also had a shot on goal, a blocked shot and drew a penalty.
The team will look to ramp the veteran defenseman's minutes back up as they get ready for the playoffs in April.
Top Line: Small But Strong
The Carolina Hurricanes have found a bit of fire with its new top line of Sebastian Aho, Seth Jarvis and Jackson Blake.
It was the fourth game in a row for the line and they've been dominant over that stretch.
According to NaturalStatTrick.com, the line has outchanced opponents 71-37, has a 14-6 edge in high-danger chances and has an expected goals for percentage of 69.22%.
And where it actually matters, they've outscored opponents 4-0 with another goal having been called back for offsides.
Last night was much of the same as they controlled play, scored twice and just tilted the ice so much.
"They were buzzing around and they had a lot of good shifts," said Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour. "They were one of our best lines if not the best line."
Despite the smaller stature of the trio — the average height and weight of the three is 5-foot-11 and 181-pounds — they play larger than they are with each being a tenacious and puck-hungry forechecker.
"I thought it was a pretty good game by us," Aho said on his line. "We were hounding the puck, on the forecheck all night and we got a lot of pucks back. Whenever we got in the o-zone, we kind of took over. That's the stuff I'm not too worried about. We all can skate, stickhandle and look for the pass and shoot. Just get to those loose pucks, win those battles and we usually do good."
Brent Burns' Milestone Moment
The veteran blueliner passed former teammate Patrick Marleau for the fifth longest iron man streak in NHL history last night as he played in his 911th consecutive game at his old barn.
Burns, who hasn't missed a game since November of 2013, had a vintage performance as well against the Sharks and now he's just a few games away from jumping up to fourth on the iron man list.
You can read more about Burns' night here.
Brent Burns Puts Up Vintage Performance In Milestone Game Back In San Jose
The timing was essentially perfect for <a href="http://thn.com/carolina" target="_blank">Carolina Hurricanes</a> defenseman Brent Burns Thursday night, as he reached yet another milestone.
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