Elias Lindholm — remember him? — scores twice as Vancouver edges Hurricanes
Sebastian Aho and Elias Lindholm have remained good friends even as the business of hockey took Lindholm away from the Carolina Hurricanes.
The two were once teammates with the Canes, and were teammates again this past weekend at the 2024 NHL All-Star Game in Toronto. Aho was representing the Hurricanes and Lindholm the Calgary Flames, even though Lindholm had been traded last week to the Vancouver Canucks.
That was good for a few smiles. The Canes and Canucks also were scheduled to face off Tuesday in their first game after the All-Star break. They’d be seeing each other again, but on opposite sides.
Aho scored a power-play goal in the game. But Lindholm had two on the power play, both on redirections in front of Canes goalie Pyotr Kochetkov, as the Canucks came away with a 3-2 victory.
J.T. Miller had the winning goal for the Canucks (34-11-5), who lead the Western Conference in points and have the look of a Stanley Cup contender. Taking advantage of an odd carom off the boards as Kochetkov left the net to play the puck, Miller was looking at an open net four minutes into the third period and scored at even strength for his 22nd of the season.
“I thought there was two very good hockey teams playing each other,” Aho said. “There was not a lot out there. Special teams had four goals.
“So that’s the way it goes. They got a bounce at the end. Obviously it was a pretty tight game. It was a tight-checking game.”
Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko, a big man in net, took it from there for the Canucks, 10-0-2 in their last 12 games. It was Demko’s 27th win of the season for a team that leads the Western Conference in points and should be a Stanley Cup contender.
It was all special teams in the first two periods. Carolina’s Jordan Martinook scored shorthanded in the first period and Aho on the power play in the second while Lindholm had a power-play tip in each period.
“They were the better team for sure in the first period,” Martinook said. “The second period was more even. It’s two good teams going at each other, but they were playing the style we want to play for the first two periods. In the third we so our push because we played the way we play.
“Bur obviously they get the bounce in the third and it’s in the back of your net.”
If it was a restart for the Canes (28-16-5), who won their last three games before the break, it was an important restart for Kochetkov, who had not played since Jan. 11.
Kochetkov, who had won four straight games, suffered a concussion against the Anaheim Ducks after a collision with Isac Lundestrom in net.
Both of Lindholm’s goals came off Quinn Hughes shots as the All-Star defenseman – “He’s like another forward out there,” Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said of Hughes — now has 52 assists.
Lindholm was drafted by the Hurricanes in 2013, taken with the fifth overall pick, and showed considerable promise before being traded to the Flames in the summer of 2018. He soon earned enmity with Canes fans after a Flames win during the 2018-19 season at PNC Arena, Lindholm mocking the overhead claps being used in Carolina’s initial Storm Surge craze as he left the ice.
Lindholm, who played 374 games for Carolina, still draws some boos at PNC Arena and did again Tuesday. But he was the one who left the ice victorious.
Martinook and Teuvo Teravainen played a little two-man game to put the Canes in front with the first goal, Martinook’s third shorthanded score with the Canes.
Teravainen made a nice stick play to lift the puck out of the zone on the penalty kill. Martinook chased it down in the Vancouver zone, made a pass up the boards to Teravainen, then beat Sam Lafferty in getting to the net to take the return pass from Teravainen and beat Demko with a backhander.
Aho and Lindholm played on Nathan MacKinnon’s team in the All-Star three-on-three tournament Saturday. They lost their first game, then split Toronto.
Aho’s power-play goal Tuesday came on a shot from the top of the left circle in the second period. It tied the score 2-2 and was his 18th goal of the season, but Miller’s goal was the difference.
Next up for the Canes on Thursday at PNC Arena: the Colorado Avalanche, led by MacKinnon.
“We’re in what feels like the home stretch, and every game will be so crucial and you’re playing good teams every night,” Martinook said.
