In Seth Jarvis’ return from injury, Carolina Hurricanes wallop Dallas Stars

RALEIGH

It was a night for “welcome backs” at Lenovo Center on Tuesday — one decidedly more amorous than the other.

After missing eight games following a collision with a goalpost in a loss to Florida — and one week after being snubbed for inclusion on Team Canada’s entry into the 2026 Olympic Games — Seth Jarvis returned to the Carolina Hurricanes’ lineup against the Dallas Stars.

Dallas is, of course, the home of savior-until-he-wasn’t Mikko Rantanen, whose surprise trade to the Canes last season signaled the franchise’s commitment to “go for it;” and whose trade away from the Canes a few weeks later left many scratching their heads.

(Both the Stars and Hurricanes reached their respective conference finals, and each team lost their series, 4-1).

Advantage Jarvis, on this night.

Jarvis had a goal and an assist in his return Tuesday, while two fruits of the Rantanen trade tree scored for Carolina in a lopsided, 6-3 Hurricanes win over the Stars.

The win is the second in a row for the Hurricanes, who’d previously lost six of eight, several while losing multi-goal leads in the second halves of games.

There would be no late collapse Tuesday; the Canes sent the Stars to their sixth consecutive loss.

Rantanen did finally get on the board for the Stars, though, walking through a pair of defenders early in the third period to score his 17th goal of the year and adding a late assist on the power play.

Trading places

Tuesday’s outing notwithstanding, Rantanen has fit in well with Dallas. In 42 games, Rantanen has 59 points, good for fifth in the NHL.

But Logan Stankoven, the young forward the Canes acquired from Dallas in the Rantanen deal, also had a good day: Playing visibly inspired hockey, Stankoven scored the Hurricanes’ third goal.

Playing mostly second- and third-line minutes, Stankoven’s overall point total has paled in comparison to Rantanen’s this season — Stankoven has eight goals and 19 points.

Comparing Rantanen to Stankoven directly isn’t fair, though. They are two very different players at very different points in their careers. But had the Canes extended Rantanen and kept him in Raleigh, Nikolaj Ehlers likely wouldn’t be on the roster, and neither would K’Andre Miller, whose acquisition included sending the first-round pick from the Rantanen deal to the Rangers.

Miller scored the first and fourth goals of the game Tuesday and added an assist. He has been solid on the blue line for the Canes while contributing four goals and 18 points.

Ehlers, after taking a while to acclimate to the Carolina system, has been electric of late. He was a catalyst on the Canes’ first two goals Tuesday despite not earning a point, and earned assists on the team’s fourth, fifth and sixth goals.

On a heater

If the Hurricanes’ faithful have learned anything the past eight years or so, it’s that Andrei Svechnikov can be … streaky. The hope, of course, is that his switch is flipped to “on” at the right times during the season, and particularly for the playoffs.

Svechnikov is having one of those stretches.

A career .75 points-per-game player with 395 points in 520 games prior to Tuesday, the Russian power forward has five goals and 12 assists in his past 11 games, a clip well better than a point per game.

His four-assist effort Tuesday was the first four-assist game of his career, and tied him with a handful of players for the franchise record for most assists in a game, most recently accomplished by Teuvo Teravainen in February 2024.

Svechnikov is one point away from 400 for his career.

Finally getting healthy

The Hurricanes have endured more than their fair share of injuries this season. Jarvis’ return Tuesday after eight games away was the latest in a long season of “returns.”

But his reinsertion into the lineup also created a Canes game roster that was as close to complete as it has been in quite some time.

Defenseman Jaccob Slavin, recently named a U.S. Olympian, has played in five games this season, and just three since opening week. He remains sidelined.

Every Hurricanes defender except Sean Walker has missed at least one game this season, though Alexander Nikishin’s respite was as a healthy scratch.

The forwards have fared a bit better, with six having played all 43 games to date.

This story was originally published January 6, 2026 at 9:45 PM.