The Carolina Hurricanes forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi opened up on how he felt when he thought he was traded to the Colorado Avalanche for Mikko Rantanen.

It took nearly 40 minutes for two of the best defensive teams in the NHL to find the game's first goal, and fortunately for Carolina, it came off the stick of Kotkaniemi at 17:07 of the second stanza.

And at one point, it was thought that Jesperi Kotkaniemi was heading to Denver. The former Canadian player was heading to Colorado, according to Frank Seravalli… but he later retracted. As you can see ...

DALLAS --Jesperi Kotkaniemi scored twice, including the game-winner at 10:35 of the third period, to help the Carolina Hurricanes defeat the Dallas Stars 2-1 at American Airlines Center on Tuesday.

That said, amidst all the excitement, there was a brief moment when Jesperi Kotkaniemi seemed to be heading to Colorado. Frank Seravalli relayed the information… but he was subsequently contradicted ...

DALLAS — Jesperi Kotkaniemi scored both Carolina goals, the second coming 24 seconds after Dallas’ tying goal midway through the third period, as the Hurricanes beat the Stars 2-1 on Tuesday ...