Saturday, the Carolina Hurricanes completed an overseas season sweep of the Seattle Kraken as they won 5-1 in their second and final game of the 2026 NHL Global Series in Helsinki, Finland.

Before the game began, a sweet moment captivated the hearts of fans as Hurricanes netminder Pyotr Kochetkov helped a youth goalie prepare for the singing of the US and Finnish national anthems. Shoutout to KJ on X for capturing and sharing this heartwarming footage!

The ceremonial puck was dropped by five-time Stanley Cup Champion and Finnish NHL legend Esa Tikkanen, who was the latest recipient of the Borje Salming Courage Award for his positive influence in his community.

The first goal of the game came on the power play from the stick of Jackson Blake – the puck given to him with an awesome no-look drop pass from Sebastian Aho.

Before the end of the first period, Mark Jankowski scored what was ultimately the game winning goal – with the primary assist coming from Jesperi Kotkaniemi, who received a roar of applause from the fans in the stands when the PA announced the scorers.

In the second period, Andrei Svechnikov added a goal on the power play from his office – the right face-off circle – to make it three to nothing.

A few minutes later, Matty Beniers got one back to bring the game within two.

Interestingly, less than a minute later, Blake shot for another goal, but Kraken goaltender Joey Daccord had knocked the net completely loose. The Hurricanes briefly celebrated, believing it to have counted, but it was called off, and did not even face a review – nor was there a penalty for Daccord’s action.

Nonetheless, a few minutes later, Svechnikov scored once again on the power play, from the exact same spot as before to make it 4-1, which led to the Kraken sending Philipp Grubauer out in relief of Daccord.

In the third period, one more goal was scored as Jankowski tallied another, the primary assist belonging to Taylor Hall – who was celebrating his birthday – and the secondary assist belonging to honorary Finn Seth Jarvis.

After the game concluded, the Hurricanes gave Kochetkov some love before lining up for the announcement for the Three Stars of the Game, with Jankowski being named the first star and being awarded a time piece, just as Aho had on Thursday.

Then, they treated the Helsinki crowd to one more Storm Surge – just their third ever away from home – before throwing Jankowski into the hug circle.

Game Notes

Saturday, Jordan Staal made his return to the lineup after a 14 game absence due to a calf tear in October. However, to activate him off the injured reserve, they had to remove one player from the active roster. As such, Mike Reilly was placed on waivers.

With his goal, Blake extended his point streak to 11 games.

Saturday was the 50th time that the puck has dropped overseas in a game featuring NHL teams.