Canes stop Mammoth, pad Eastern Conference lead

Andrei Svechnikov and Jordan Staal scored first-period goals as the Carolina Hurricanes topped the Utah Mammoth 4-1 on Saturday in Salt Lake City.

With the victory, Carolina (52-22-6, 110 points) moved four points up on the idle Buffalo Sabres for the top seed in the Eastern Conference. Carolina and Buffalo each have two games remaining.

Sebastian Aho and Sean Walker also tallied while Nikolaj Ehlers, Jordan Martinook and Shayne Gostisbehere added a pair of assists each for the Hurricanes, which have won three straight and improved to 23-12-4 on the road this season.

Frederik Andersen made 26 saves in his first career appearance and win against the Mammoth.

Dylan Guenther scored for the Mammoth (42-31-6, 90 points), and Karel Vejmelka stopped 26 shots as Utah's five-game win streak ended. The Mammoth hold the top wild-card spot in the Western Conference, leading the Kings by three points. Both teams have three games to play.

Utah cut Carolina's lead to 2-1 on a power play at 2:42 of the third as Guenther one-timed a cross-ice feed from Clayton Keller for his team-leading 40th of the season.

The assist extended Keller's point streak to seven games (four goals, 12 assists), while Guenther has six goals and seven assists in his last seven contests.

Carolina took a 3-1 lead at 15:30 of the third as Aho redirected a Gostisbehere point shot past Vejmelka for his 27th of the season.

Walker added an empty-netter for the Hurricanes at 19:37 of the third.

Svechnikov opened the scoring at 4:15 on a power play, backhanding the rebound off Ehlers' shot past Vejmelka for his 31st of the season.

The Hurricanes doubled its lead at 13:23 of the first as Staal one-timed an Ehlers' feed past Vejmelka for his 20th of the season.

Utah defenseman John Marino sat out with an upper-body injury and is considered day-to-day.

--Field Level Media