The Carolina Hurricanes will try to take their red-hot start across the Atlantic Ocean when they play the first of two games against the Seattle Kraken on Thursday in Helsinki, Finland, in the NHL’s Global Series.
The Hurricanes, who are tied atop the league with 30 points, have won six of their last seven.
Carolina hammered the visiting Chicago Blackhawks 9-2 on Saturday.
Sebastian Aho, one of three Carolina players from Finland, had a goal and two assists and another, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, added two assists.
Aho was in attendance as a 13-year-old the last time the Global Series visited Helsinki in 2010. The Hurricanes were one of the teams.
Defenseman Juuso Valimaki also is from Finland.
“Coming here, seeing family and friends a little bit, and being able to show Finland to all the guys, everyone’s pretty pumped about that,” Kotkaniemi said shortly after arriving in Helsinki.
Hurricanes’ coach Rod Brind’Amour also is enjoying the trip.
“You come all this way to experience Finnish culture, and so I like going around the city and finding stuff new to do,” he said. “I’m excited to be here now. I didn’t like the flight over here, but now that we’re here, I’m happy to be here.”
Aho is the team’s leading point producer with 26 (10 goals, 16 assists) and Kotkaniemi has five goals and 10 points in 17 games. He had nine points (two goals, seven assists) in 42 games last season.
“It’s bounces here and there. I’m glad to get a couple this year,” Kotkaniemi said. “Hopefully I’ll keep going like that. I try to be positive and work hard every day.”
Captain Jordan Staal on Thursday could return from a torn calf muscle injury, which has sidelined him for a month.
The teams practiced in a rink that is within a cave, 121 feet below the ground, on Monday.
“I mean, there’s rock coming down the elevator into like a cave,” Kraken captain Jordan Eberle said about the practice rink of the Veikkaus Arena, where the teams will play Thursday and Saturday. “The roof was pretty low.”
Seattle lost 4-3 to the visiting New York Rangers on Saturday in the team’s get-away game before traveling to Helsinki.
“There’s been a lot of packing, and we’ve got to leave right after,” Finland native Kaapo Kakko said after the contest. “But, I think (it was) an early game, nothing crazy.”
He organized team activities in Helsinki.
“(Kaapo’s) done some things and prepared some things for the guys and the entire team to experience while we’re here in Finland,” Kraken coach Lane Lambert said. “… He’s shown a great deal of leadership.”
Kakko is one of four Finnish players with Seattle. The other three are defenseman Ville Ottavainen, Jani Nyman and goaltender Niklas Kokko.
Kakko got the team’s first goal, early in the third period, on Saturday after trailing 4-0. Eberle also scored.
Defenseman Vince Dunn got the other goal for the Kraken on Saturday and Berkly Catton had two assists to stretch his point streak to eight games (three goals, seven assists). He has a team-leading 14 points (five goals, nine assists) for the season.
Joey Daccord allowed three goals on 10 shots before being replaced by Philipp Grubauer, who made 15 saves.