RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Jaccob Slavin's first assist of the season on William Carrier's goal lifted the Carolina Hurricanes to a 3-2 win over the Seattle Kraken on Saturday night.
Jordan Martinook and Logan Stankoven also scored for the Hurricanes, who won their fourth straight game. Carrier deflected in a shot by Slavin with 6:10 left in the third period. Jordan Staal assisted on the final two goals.
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Carolina Hurricanes' William Carrier (28) clears the puck from Seattle Kraken's Ben Meyers (59) during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Raleigh, N.C., Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker)
Carolina Hurricanes' Jordan Staal (11) readies for a face-off against the Seattle Kraken during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Raleigh, N.C., Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker)
Carolina Hurricanes' William Carrier (28) clears the puck past Seattle Kraken's Jacob Melanson (63) during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Raleigh, N.C., Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker)
Carolina Hurricanes' Logan Stankoven (22) celebrates his goal against the Seattle Kraken during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Raleigh, N.C., Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker)
Seattle Kraken's Tye Kartye (12) has his shot frozen by Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Brandon Bussi during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Raleigh, N.C., Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker)
Berkly Catton and Matty Beniers scored for the Kraken and Joey Daccord stopped 31 shots. Seattle lost in regulation for the first time in 11 games (8-1-2).
Slavin missed the previous 10 games with an upper-body injury he suffered in a 4-3 shootout loss at Florida on Dec. 19. He missed 29 games earlier in the season with a lower-body injury. It was only the sixth time Carolina had their top defenseman in the lineup and they improved to 5-0-1 in those games. The assist was Slavin's 300th career point.
Brandon Bussi made 10 saves for his 16th win in 19 starts this season. The rookie goalie inadvertently helped Catton give Seattle a 2-1 lead at 5:56 in the third period. Ryan Winterton stole Bussi's failed clearing attempt and found Catton alone in the slot for the goal.
Bussi wasn't overly busy on the night since Seattle had a season-low 12 shots on goal and only eight through the first two periods.
Martinook tied the game at 10:37 in the third period on a feed from behind the net from Staal.
Stankoven gave the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead at 3:23 in the first period. He has scored a goal in four straight games.
Beniers tied it for Seattle at 14:13 in the first. He made a pretty move around Slavin at the blueline and then beat Bussi to his stick side.
Kraken: At the New York Rangers on Monday night.
Hurricanes: At Detroit on Monday night.
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AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL
Carolina Hurricanes' William Carrier (28) clears the puck from Seattle Kraken's Ben Meyers (59) during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Raleigh, N.C., Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker)
Carolina Hurricanes' Jordan Staal (11) readies for a face-off against the Seattle Kraken during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Raleigh, N.C., Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker)
Carolina Hurricanes' William Carrier (28) clears the puck past Seattle Kraken's Jacob Melanson (63) during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Raleigh, N.C., Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker)
Carolina Hurricanes' Logan Stankoven (22) celebrates his goal against the Seattle Kraken during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Raleigh, N.C., Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker)
Seattle Kraken's Tye Kartye (12) has his shot frozen by Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Brandon Bussi during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Raleigh, N.C., Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker)
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Madison Chock and Evan Bates danced their way to a record-setting seventh U.S. Figure Skating title on Saturday night, showcasing their trademark creativity, athleticism and precision in their final competition before the Milan Cortina Olympics.
Now, the countdown is on for the moment they have waited for the past four years.
“We like to build momentum through the season,” Bates said, “and it's a great feeling going into a big event knowing you skated well the previous event. So we're going to roll with that momentum into Milan.”
Chock and Bates have dominated ice dance ever since they finished fourth at the Beijing Games, arguably the most disappointing and frustrating placement for any Olympian. They have won the past three world titles, the past three gold medals at the Grand Prix Final, and they have nobody within sight of them when it comes to competing against fellow Americans.
Performing a flamenco-styled dance to a version of the Rolling Stones hit “Paint It Black” from the dystopian sci-fi Western drama “Westworld,” Chock and Bates produced a season-best free skate inside Enterprise Center and finished with 228.87 points.
Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik were second with 213.65 points and Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko were third with 206.95, making those two pairs the likely choices to join Chock and Bates on the American squad for the Winter Games.
There wasn’t much drama in the dance competition.
At least for the top step.
Yet sometimes the winning programs aren’t necessarily the ones that win over the crowd. And while Oona Brown and Gage Brown only finished fifth, the sister-brother duo — former world junior champions — earned the first standing ovation of the night for their moody, creative and almost cinematic program set to selections from the film “The Godfather.”
“I think that was one of the best — if not the best — performances we’ve had,” Gage Brown said afterward.
The Browns ended a stretch in which several couples taking the ice made some kind of significant mistake, whether it was a skater stumbling to the ice, someone getting out of synch with their twizzles, or some other calamitous misfortune.
Then it was a parade of near-perfect programs, each couple trying to upstage the previous one.
Emily Bratti and Ian Somerville were the first to knock the Brown siblings from first place, then reigning bronze medalists Caroline Green and Michael Parsons took over first place with their program, set to “Escalate” by Tsar B and “Son of Nyx” by Hozier.
Carreira and Ponomarenko, the U.S. silver medalists the past two years, knew a podium spot would probably earn them a spot on the Olympic team when they took the ice. And they delivered with a sharp program in which they seemed to channel the feeling and the characters from the 2006 psychological thriller film “Perfume: The Story of a Murder.”
“We had a bit of a rocky start to this season,” said Carreira, who was born in Canada but receiver her U.S. citizenship in November, making her eligible to compete at the Olympics. “I'm happy we got our act together and delivered a good performance here.”
It wound up being good enough for bronze.
That's because the 23-year-old Zingas, who made the difficult witch from singles to dance about four years ago, and the 24-year-old Kolesnik quickly assumed the top spot with a program set to music by Sergei Prokofiev from the ballet of “Romeo and Juliet.”
“It hasn't been an easy journey,” Zingas said, “and I think our unique approach to this season, and our unique style on the ice, really helped us, and it's really an emotional moment to be sitting here.”
Zingas and Kolesnik only held the top spot for about four minutes — the length of the free skate by Chock and Bates.
It almost seemed to be a forgone conclusion that they would win Saturday night. But the real pressure now begins: Chock and Bates finished eighth at the 2014 Olympics, ninth four years later, and came in fourth at the Winter Games in 2022.
Yes, they helped the Americans win team gold in Beijing, but even that was somewhat tainted. They never got a medal ceremony there because of a long investigation into Russian doping, which pushed their presentation all the way to the 2024 Summer Games.
They would love to help the U.S. win another team gold. But their target is unquestionably the ice dance title itself.
“It’s going to be a lot more of what it has been — we know what to do, we have our plan and we’re executing,” Chock said. “We don’t plan on deviating from it. We’re going to stick to it. Trust ourselves, trust our team and do what we know to do.”
AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko skate during the free dance competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik skate during the free dance competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik react to their scores after the free dance competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Madison Chock and Evan Bates watch for scores after finishing the free dance competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Madison Chock and Evan Bates skate during the free dance competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
