Jaccob Slavin returned to the lineup after another extended injury absence and assisted William Carrier’s go-ahead goal with 6:10 remaining as the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Seattle Kraken 3-2 on Saturday night in Raleigh, N.C.

Logan Stankoven and Jordan Martinook also scored for the Hurricanes as they won their fourth game in a row. Jordan Staal provided two assists.

Brandon Bussi made 10 saves to improve his record to 16-2-1 during his rookie season.

Matty Beniers and Berkly Catton scored for the Kraken, who began a five-game road trip. Joey Daccord stopped 31 shots.

Slavin was in his sixth game of the season and his first outing since a lower-body injury on Dec. 19, though during that recent absence from the line the defenseman was selected for the U.S. Olympic team. He notched his first assist of the season on the winner. Skating toward the crease and accepting a short pass from Staal with Carrier in front of Daccord. He sent the puck toward the goal and it hit off Carrier before going in.

The Kraken went ahead for the first time with 14:04 remaining when Catton converted off a mishandling of the puck by Bussi.

Martinook and Carrier scored in a span of less than 3 1/2 minutes as the Hurricanes burst back into the lead. Martinook’s goal came as he was stationed in front of the net and deposited a puck from Staal’s behind-the-net pass.

Stankoven opened the scoring by posting a game in a fourth consecutive game. He put the puck into the net after only 3:23 elapsed for his 10th goal of the season.

Beniers evened the score with 5:47 to play in the opening period with an unassisted goal.

The Hurricanes outshot Seattle 21-8 through two periods. The Kraken finished with four shots on goal in each period.

It was his first multi-point outing for Staal since he scored two goals Nov. 21 at Winnipeg.

–Field Level Media