Photo : Bruce Bennett ( Getty Images )

Sebastian Aho plays for the New York Islanders. Sebastian Aho plays for the Carolina Hurricanes. Yes, there are two players named Sebastian Aho in the NHL, in what appears to be hockey’s useless but mildly interesting equivalent of the NFL’s “Antonio Gates played basketball in college.”


The two Ahos are roughly one year apart in age and are not related. Alex Prewitt of Sports Illustrated uncovered the Aho facts last month. The Hurricanes’ Sebastian Antero Aho is a Finnish 20-year-old forward drafted in 2015. The Islanders’ Sebastian Johannes Aho is a Swedish 22-year-old defenseman drafted in 2017. The two have met before in under-18 and under-20 tournaments, as well as an Islanders-Hurricanes game in February. New York won, 3-0. Last night, they met again, and Carolina’s Aho hooked New York’s Aho, leading to one of the best box score entries ever.


It’s a good thing the players wear numbers:

The Hurricanes won, 4-3. The Aho Series is split at one.