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Carolina Hurricanes left wing Nikolaj Ehlers is congratulated after his hat trick goal by defenseman Jalen Chatfield and right wing Jackson Blake (James Guillory-Imagn Images)

3 Takeaways From Hurricanes’ Four-Game Road Trip

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers | By Zach Martin | Last updated Mar 10, 2026 11:35 AM ET

After a hectic week between four games in Seattle and Western Canada, along with the trade deadline, the Carolina Hurricanes return home with four out of a possible eight points. Over the week of late-night hockey and the anxiety of who could be staying or going, what three things stood out for the Hurricanes?

Takeaway #1: Duality of Goals For & Against

The Hurricanes put on a scoring clinic over the four games, scoring 17 goals, with 16 of them being against the Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers, and Calgary Flames. They managed to score six goals in back-to-back games against the Canucks and Oilers, winning 6-4 and 6-3. While the former was a close nailbiter, the latter against the Oilers was more of a showing of dominance for the Hurricanes. However, they did allow 14 goals over the four games as well.

They did manage to lose 2-1 to the Kraken to begin the road trip after Joey Daccord was able to shut the door on them all game. The other loss came in a rally that fell short, as the Flames won 5-4. Unfortunately, the defensive breakdowns, turnovers, and multiple penalties did them in for those two games in particular.

Overall, it was a solid road trip for the Hurricanes, who earned four points and moved eight points ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins for the top spot in the Metropolitan Division.

Takeaway #2: Multiple Players on Scoring Runs

When looking at who contributed in a big way over the four games, the names who stood out overall were Nikolaj Ehlers, Jackson Blake, Sebastian Aho, and Seth Jarvis. Ehlers had a three-game scoring streak after scoring the lone goal in the loss to the Kraken. However, he followed that up with his second hat trick with the Hurricanes in the win over the Canucks. After the game, he said that he didn’t feel like it was his best game despite scoring three goals on three shots. If he considers that not his best game, what would that kind of game look like? In the four games, Ehlers had five goals and six points. Pretty “Fly” for the Danish forward.

What a sophomore season it’s been for Blake. He has set a new career high in goals (19), assists (20), and points (39), all while playing in 63 games. There is a chance he could have a 25-goal and 50-point season. Over the four-game trip, he had two goals and three points. What made his performance stand out was the two-goal night against the Oilers in the 6-3 win on Friday, March 6. Blake’s two goals were the ones he needed to set a new career high in 18 fewer games than in 2024-25, where he scored 17 in 80 games.

It’s no surprise that Aho is having himself a season, especially when he has 65 points in 63 games. With 19 games left, he needs 25 more points to reach 90 for the first time in his career. If the Hurricanes don’t rest him, there is a chance he could do it. The 2023-24 season saw him reach 89 points in 78 games. It’ll be interesting to see if he can reach that mark this season. He has 23 goals and 42 assists, and the road trip helped bump those numbers up. He had one goal and five assists over the four games, with all of them coming in Canada. He had three assists against the Flames after putting up one each against the Oilers and Canucks. Overall, Aho had a three-game point streak to finish the road trip.

When talking about Aho, people cannot forget to mention Jarvis, who is having another huge season. In 55 games, he has 27 goals and 52 points in 55 games. He is on pace to set a new career high in all offensive categories despite missing eight games to injuries. Over the road trip, he had one goal and six points. He had a three-point night in the loss to the Flames, scoring the opening goal and adding two assists. He also had an assist against the Oilers after having two against the Canucks. Between Jarvis and Aho, they were a two-man wrecking crew, tallying 12 points combined in four games.

Takeaway #3: Give & Take on 2-2-0 Road Trip

While the Hurricanes had a scoring differential of plus-3 over the trip, it was a mix of give and take when diving more into the stats. They went 3-for-9 on the power play, which has them 11th in the league now. Not bad, going 33% over the span of four games. However, they went 8-for-12 on the penalty kill. That is 66.6% after giving up four power-play goals, two of them against the Canucks in the 10-goal shootout on March 4. The Hurricanes had 28 penalty minutes, while their opponents only had 22 over the four games.

Another stat that stood out was that the Hurricanes outshot the four teams by a combined 130 to 78. That’s an average of 32.5 shots on goal per game compared to 19.5. While they outshot the Kraken, Canucks, Oilers, and Flames by a wide margin, they were only able to claim four points. However, they did widen their lead in the Metropolitan Division and showed that they can score at will. As long as they tighten up defensively, there is no need to panic after a .500 road trip.

Overall, the Hurricanes went 2-2-0 and are in a good spot with 19 games left in the regular season. They play the Pittsburgh Penguins three times over the next 12 days, starting on Tuesday night (March 10) in Raleigh. As long as they take points in all three games, they will be fine in the Metropolitan Division, along with trying to hold the number one seed in the Eastern Conference. It’ll be interesting to see how the next 19 games will go, but there is no doubt that the Hurricanes will be firing on all cylinders when the playoffs begin in mid-April.