Rachel Barkley
They call them the ‘Cardiac Canes’ for a reason…
The Carolina Hurricanes and Vegas Golden Knights have simply been must-watch television in this Stanley Cup Final, and for Game 2, the Hurricanes claimed their first win of the series in about as dramatic a fashion as you could imagine.
Carolina fell behind early, but before the Golden Knights put a number on the board, they lost top-pairing defenseman Brayden McNabb after taking Nikolaj Ehlers’ 87.3 MPH slapshot to the face. It was reported later in the game that he had left the building and gone to the hospital for the injury.
Moments later, Brett Howden got the Golden Knights ahead – nabbing himself the lead for most goals scored leaguewide this postseason. In the second period, Howden scored yet again, extending Vegas’ lead two-to-zilch.
It seemed as though the Hurricanes couldn’t and wouldn’t be able to generate anything, with the Golden Knights blocking shots and defending their zone proficiently.
Things Got Real in the Third Period
However, with just 9:40 left in the third period, Carolina finally cracked open the game as Logan Stankoven got his team on the board. It was his 10th goal of the playoffs, returning him to the second-most goals leaguewide, as well as tying him with Eric Staal for the second-most goals scored in a single postseason in franchise history.
Less than two and a half minutes later, Mark Jankowski found the back of the net to even the score, notching his first official goal of the postseason after his previous two were removed in the first and second rounds.
Soon after, Frederik Andersen stopped a shot, leading to the whistle being blown. However, the puck still trickled in as players continued to push and prod at Andersen. Despite being declared on the ice as no-goal, Golden Knights coach John Tortorella challenged the goalie interference call, which ultimately failed and led to a Hurricanes power play.
Despite their less-than-stellar showing with the man advantage throughout the postseason, a shot from Shayne Gostisbehere found a tip-in from Jordan Staal to give them their first lead of the night with just 4:35 remaining on the clock.
However, before things were said and done, Vegas pulled goaltender Carter Hart from the net and managed a crazy goal, scoring as a shot went off the leg of Mark Stone, then off the stick of one of Carolina’s own defenseman – Jaccob Slavin – and then into the net to tie the game.
Overtime commenced soon after, and a tripping call to Tomas Hertl led to another Hurricanes power play. Once again, the Hurricanes converted on the opportunity, with Seth Jarvis netting the first overtime game-winning goal of his NHL postseason career – effectively evening the series.
Hurricanes Game Notes
Thursday’s match was Frederik Andersen’s 100th playoff game in his NHL career.
Going scoreless through two periods, it was the first time the Hurricanes had done so in 49 games.
With scrutiny and a lack of action on the Hurricanes’ top line, head coach Rod Brind’Amour shook things up for the third period, swapping Seth Jarvis and Jordan Martinook between lines. Interestingly, all three players on the usual top line found their names on the scoresheet, with Jarvis getting the overtime goal and both Andrei Svechnikov and Sebastian Aho assisting on goals.
The Hurricanes are the first team to overcome a multi-goal deficit in the last 10 minutes of a third period in the Stanley Cup Final since the 1944 Montreal Canadiens.
This has been the first Stanley Cup Final in NHL history to feature two teams winning with multi-goal comebacks in the first two games of the series.
