Nikolaj Ehlers’ immediate reaction to 1st hat trick with Hurricanes

The Carolina Hurricanes didn’t hold back against a shorthanded Florida Panthers team on Friday night, demolishing the back-to-back defending Stanley Cup champions 9-1 at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh.

Nikolaj Ehlers was right in the middle of it, scoring his sixth career National Hockey League hat trick — and first as a member of the Hurricanes, who he signed with as a free agent last summer.

“It felt fantastic, of course,” the Danish forward said afterwards, per NHL.com’s Kurt Dusterberg. “To do that at home makes it even more special. I think we played a great game tonight. We were able to capitalize on our chances.”

The 29-year-old added: “The way that they battle, the way they win pucks back, I knew I would be able to get some more space out there, which is something I’ve kind of been looking for. That first goal was an incredible play. We want to keep building off this game.”

Ehlers also added an assist in the lopsided triumph, which included Carolina scoring four goals on five powerplay opportunities. Head coach Rod Brind’Amour was — understandably — quite happy with his team’s performance afterwards.

“We were having a real nice game [early], and (Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky) was playing out of his mind,” Brind’Amour said. “Even when they tied it up, we just kept playing. It’s been a long time coming against this team. We just never seem to break through with goals.”

Ehlers got the scoring started late in the first period; the Panthers would tie things up on an Uvis Balinskis goal early in the second — the defenseman inked a two-year contract extension shortly before scoring his second goal of the year.

But the Canes didn’t look back after that, potting eight unanswered tallies. Bobrovsky was in net for all of them, making 26 saves on 35 shots in the demolition.

Hurricanes back on track after 2 straight losses

Prior to Friday’s win, Carolina had lost back-to-back games. They suffered a 4-3 overtime defeat at the hands of the Detroit Red Wings on Monday, and were shut out 3-0 by the St. Louis Blues the next night.

That came on the heels of four straight wins. Now 29-15-4 and tied for first place in the Eastern Conference, the Hurricanes continue to impress in 2025-26.

“We played direct,” Ehlers said, per Dusterberg. “We wanted to get the puck to the net. When you’re able to get pucks to the net and get rebounds back, that’s when the (penalty kill) box starts running, and that’s when the little holes open up to make the plays we were able to do tonight.”

It’s the first time Carolina has scored nine goals in nearly 17 years; they defeated the New York Islanders 9-0 back in early April of 2009.

Up next is a visit to Newark to play the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night, who have won two in a row. Puck drops just past 7:00 p.m. ET from the Prudential Center.

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