Rachel Barkley
The referees of Game 3 were chaos agents as the Carolina Hurricanes faced the Montreal Canadiens, but there was one big call that went the Hurricanes way – and it changed the outcome of the game.
Carolina came out of the gates strong and hard, with Shayne Gostisbehere and Taylor Hall getting a goal apiece in the first period, while Mike Matheson scored once for Montreal.
In the first frame, the Hurricanes essentially suffocated the Canadiens – allowing only five shots on goal while putting up 15 of their own.
However, the second period saw a power play goal for the Canadiens which tied the game 2-2. The goal came from Lane Hutson, who had drawn the somewhat questionable penalty. Jordan Martinook had gone to the box after a tap to the young defenseman’s stick, which was whistled for slashing to the dismay of the Hurricanes winger and his coach, Rod Brind’Amour.
That wasn’t the only questionable moment of officiating, either. Hall was the recipient of a neutral zone take down far away from the puck, which went without a call, and also a trip later on, which further went without a call. Jake Evans even deliberately covered the puck with his body, which led to a whistle to end the play – yet no delay of game penalty was assessed.
The Hurricanes Managed to Catch a Break with a Coach’s Challenge
Nonetheless, in the third period, the Hurricanes got a decision they truly needed. Cole Caufield had launched a shot that ricocheted off of Nikolaj Ehlers’ stick and into the net, giving the Canadiens the go-ahead goal. But for the Hurricanes, they got a break as video coach Chris Huffine detected the offside zone entry from the goal scorer Caufield. Following the coach’s challenge, the referees removed the goal, evening the score once more.
The Hurricanes got the call they needed at a crucial point of the match.
Without another goal from either team, the game soon went into overtime.
The additional frame saw even more chaos from the referees, who were missing calls left and right for both teams. Notably, the Canadiens found themselves with too many men on the ice, with the player departing the ice playing the puck with his skates. It soon led to a discussion amongst the officials, and to the shock of the Hurricanes, went without a penalty.
However, the good news for Carolina was that they were able to get the game-winning goal moments later, taking the game 3-2 and establishing a 2-1 series lead. Andrei Svechnikov had stolen the pass from Hutson, and at a distance, snapped a shot which went past Jakub Dobes, who was being screened by Sebastian Aho and his own teammate, Juraj Slafkovsky.
At first the goal was given to Svechnikov, then it was changed to Aho, and was soon reverted back to Svechnikov moments later.
Hurricanes Game Notes
With the Hurricanes’ Game 3 win, it is the first time they have led in the Eastern Conference Final since the 2006 postseason.
For the second game in a row, the Hurricanes have won in overtime with a 3-2 score. So far this postseason, the Hurricanes hold a 5-0 record in the additional frame(s).
Andrei Svechnikov’s overtime goal was the first in his NHL postseason career.
