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Carolina Hurricanes right wing Andrei Svechnikov celebrates his goal against the Vancouver Canucks (James Guillory-Imagn Images)

Hurricanes Postgame Bites: Brind’Amour on Svechnikov & More

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers | By Zach Martin | Last updated Jan 20, 2026 4:05 PM ET

The Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Buffalo Sabres 2-1 on Monday, Jan. 19, which moved them to 31-15-4 on the season. It was their third consecutive victory, which turned into the Brandon Bussi Show. After making what could be the save of the year on Tage Thompson, he was the main topic of discussion in the locker room, on TNT, and on social media. Following the game, Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour was asked about Bussi and the game overall.

During the postgame press conference, The Hockey Writers spoke with the head coach about Andrei Svechnikov and how the coaching staff gets the team prepared on a nightly basis.

Brind’Amour on Svechnikov Being Productive

When asked about Svechnikov, regarding him scoring five goals and tallying seven points in the last three games, Brind’Amour stated, “If he’s on the top line, he’s got to score. I mean, at the end of the day, that’s what has to happen. Those guys have to connect. I didn’t love the penalty at the end, it wasn’t much of a penalty, but certainly it put us in a jammer there, but we need him to be impactful, and he was certainly tonight.” The penalty in question was his roughing call in the third period to negate a possible Hurricanes power play after a delayed tripping call on the Sabres. Svechnikov finished his check before the whistle but was still given a penalty on the play, making it four on four with 2:39 left in the game.

Through 50 games this season, Svechnikov has 17 goals and 42 points. He is currently three goals and assists, along with six points, away from tying his numbers from the 2024-25 season, and is currently on pace to tally between 55 and 65 points this season. The last time he had 55 points was in 2022-23, where he played in 64 games before tearing his ACL. The last time he had a 60-plus point season was 2021-22, when he finished with a career high 69.

If Svechnikov hadn’t had a slow start to the season, when he did not tally a point in the first eight games, he could already have 50 points. The run he has been on is what the Hurricanes need, especially in the playoffs. Brind’Amour has stated in the past that they need Svechnikov to score goals and be productive overall. Right now, even with his slow start, this is the power-forward version of Svechnikov they’ve needed since the injury.

Last season, Svechnikov was a minus-8 with an 11.1 shooting percentage (S%) in 72 games. This season, he is a plus-1 with a 12.3 S% in 50 games. If he can maintain his current pace, there is no reason he cannot reach 30 goals for the first time since 2021-22 and second time in his career. He’s already three away from 20, and has 32 more games to score 13. Are we on “Svech for 30” watch?

Preparing Players Every Night

The second question THW asked was about how Brind’Amour and his staff are able to get everyone prepared night in and night out, especially considering the injuries they have dealt with all season, especially on the blue line.

“I know I have the best staff in the league in terms of preparing guys,” he said. “That’s never really been a question in any game we’ve ever played. So I appreciate that. With our group, I think we have great leadership that helps to drag us in. The Groundhog Days that are going on here, you just have to find a way to perform at your best every night. That’s what good players, good teams, elite teams do, and that’s what we’re trying to be.”

It goes to show how much preparation goes into getting these guys ready with three games in four days and two sets of back-to-backs in the same week. The Hurricanes are 31-15-4 on the season with 66 points, and seven points clear of second-place New York Islanders, who have one game in hand. While they have played three more games and sit two points ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Hurricanes are the number-one seed in the Eastern Conference.

Furthermore, they are second in the NHL points-wise behind the league-leading Colorado Avalanche (76). The fact the Hurricanes sit second in the NHL in points, even with all the injuries they had to deal with between October and December, is astounding. They did not have Jaccob Slavin for 40 games this season; his first stint of being out was 34 games. The Hurricanes had to deal with that, along with not having Shayne Gostisbehere, Jalen Chatfield, Seth Jarvis, and Charles Alexis Legault in different parts of the season. The Hurricanes, as a whole, just kept plugging and playing guys throughout the lineup and have been successful at it.

The Hurricanes are a team to be reckoned with as we get closer to the Winter Olympic break. It’ll be interesting to see what the Hurricanes do ahead of the 2026 Trade Deadline to get better. However, no matter how it plays out and who they bring in, this Hurricanes team could go on a run that could see them at least reach the Eastern Conference Final for the third time in four seasons.