The Carolina Hurricanes, they were kinda kicking themselves for not having Sebastian Aho’s back when he got pummeled by Matthew Tkachuk from the Florida Panthers in Game 3. It was a rough night for the Hurricanes, losing 6-2 and falling behind 3-0 in the Eastern Conference finals. Tkachuk went after Aho with a bunch of shoves and cross-checks, even putting him in a headlock and taking him down to the ice. This was all in response to Aho’s low hit on Sam Reinhart in Game 2, which left Reinhart injured and unable to play in Game 3.
Tkachuk, he was all like, “Nah, it wasn’t about intimidation or anything. Just standing up for my teammate, ya know?” He got hit with a roughing penalty and a 10-minute misconduct for his efforts. But the thing is, when Tkachuk had Aho down on the ice, the Hurricanes didn’t really do much. Taylor Hall admitted they should’ve had a better response, saying they wanted to avoid penalties but needed to support each other. Coach Rod Brind’Amour chimed in, saying there should’ve been a reaction, especially since the game was pretty much over at that point.
The Hurricanes are facing elimination in Game 4 on Monday night, and they’re staring down the barrel of a 16th straight loss in the Eastern Conference finals dating back to 2009. Hall is staying positive though, saying they believe in themselves and are ready to fight for their season. It’s gonna be a tough battle, but they’re not backing down. They’ll give it their all and see what happens.
