Jordan Staal’s late goal lifts Hurricanes past Senators 4-3

By Canadian Press on February 3, 2026.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Jordan Staal scored the go-ahead goal with roughly five minutes left to help the Carolina Hurricanes edge the Ottawa Senators 4-3 on Tuesday night.

The captain scored his 14th of the season after a neutral-zone turnover by the Senators, with Nikolaj Ehlers coming up with the puck and sending it ahead to Staal at the blue line. Staal skated in and fired from the left circle, banging the puck into the upper right corner of the goal at 14:53 of the third period.

That finally put Carolina ahead for good on a night when it pushed to a 3-1 lead, only to have the Senators respond with a pair of power-play goals to tie it. Before those goals, Carolina had gone 14 for 14 on the penalty kill in its last six games.

Seth Jarvis scored twice in the second period for the Hurricanes, while Sebastian Aho struck for Carolina’s first goal late in the first. Brandon Bussi had 22 saves for the Hurricanes, including a big one while diving to his left to deny Jake Sanderson with Ottawa going 6-on-5 late after pulling James Reimer in an attempt to tie.

Sanderson blasted a one-timer to tie the game 3-3 early in the third for the Senators, who got on the board less than three minutes in with Stephen Halliday’s redirection from the edge of the crease. Tim Stutzle also scored on the power play late in the second, a critical goal coming less than a minute after Jarvis’ second marker pushed Carolina to a 3-1 lead.

Reimer finished with 14 saves.

The Hurricanes had won 10 of 14 and carried an eight-game point streak entering their final home game before the Olympic break. That included a 4-1 win at Ottawa on Jan. 24, though the Senators had won all four games since and outshot Carolina 25-18 in this one.

UP NEXT

Senators: Visit the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday.

Hurricanes: Visit the New York Rangers on Thursday.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Aaron Beard, The Associated Press