Just 1:06 into the 2nd period of Saturday’s commanding win over the Buffalo Sabre’s, Brent Burns recorded assist 600 for his career off his pass to Andrei Svechnikov who set up Sebastian Aho for his first goal of two. A second secondary assist would come later in the second with yet another pass to Svechnikov who would feed Teuvo Teravainen. Burns’ two assists are his 6th and 7th of the year, and his 2nd and 3rd in the last 5 games. Saturday’s game was also the second in a row Burns has points giving him 12 on the season.
With 600, Burns is ranked 69th on the NHL’s all time assist leader boards, and 8th among active players. He trails Blake Wheeler who has 614 on the active list and Glenn Anderson who played from 1980 to 1996 for the Edmonton Oilers, Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers, and St. Louis Blues on the all time record list.
Burns has been the veteran of among vets with Carolina’s defensive unit in two seasons now recording 23 goals and 50 assists since coming to Raleigh from the San Jose Sharks.
In 20 NHL seasons, Burns’ 600 assists have been tallied with three different teams. His career high of 55 assists was with San Jose back in 2017-18. Burns has 10 or more apples in all but one season, and 13 seasons above the 20 mark.
Carolina, following a 5-4 OT loss to the New York Islander last Thursday, came out strong against the Buffalo Sabres Saturday. In total 11 different Hurricanes registered points with Jack Drury, Andrei Svechnikov, Martin Necas, Jaccob Slavin, and Brent Burns all coming away with a multiple point game. Sebastian Aho would record two goals to add to the offensive onslaught. With different outcomes, Saturday’s game against Buffalo looked similar to Carolina’s game against New York.
The Hurricanes head to the great white north of Canada with games against Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, and Ottawa followed by a stop in Detroit. Friday December 15th will be Carolina’s next home game when they face the Predators at PNC.