The snow outside of Lenovo Center may have iced half of the broadcast crew and fans, but within the arena, physical play and drama kept things hot as the Hurricanes blazed a trail to their 3-2 overtime win against the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday.
Finally! The Hurricanes looked like themselves throughout the full sixty minutes for the first time since their January 19th game against the Buffalo Sabres. Hard-nosed defensive play and patience in their game returned and overtook the antsy, careless puck management that had been prevalent in their recent slump.
Of course, occasional spurts of overpassing at key moments remained, but overall, most of the significant wrinkles had been ironed out.
Careful to remain disciplined, the Hurricanes allowed just two power play opportunities throughout the game, and went on four – one of which led to a goal from Jordan Staal.
Straight out of the gates, the Hurricanes had to jump into their defensive game after Jordan Martinook assessed a boarding penalty just 32 seconds into the first period. Mikey Andersen, who drew the penalty, sadly left the game due to injury. As Andersen turned by the cornerboards, Martinook appeared to have tried to slow his speed to avoid boarding him, but the attempt for safety ultimately failed.
For the rest of the game, Martinook was the subject of frustration for many Kings. He drew three physicality-related penalties in the second period, including an attempted fight off the face-off, which he elected to disengage from to acquire a power play.
The score remained 1-0 throughout the majority of the game, until Alexander Nikishin, Samuel Helenius, and Quinton Byfield found the back of nets halfway through the third period.
Just 1:25 into overtime, Sebastian Aho scored the game-winning goal, with helpers from Seth Jarvis and Shayne Gostisbehere.
After the game, Hurricanes Captain Jordan Staal gave Kings Captain Anze Kopitar a handshake, soon followed by the rest of the Hurricanes team, to honor his career in his final regular-season visit to Raleigh.
“He’s a two-time Stanley Cup Champion,” Aho said of Kopitar in the locker room. “Obviously, one of those guys that I looked up to a lot growing up, and still even.
“Like, he’s such a steady professional, you know. He does so many things good on the ice, so just an honor to compete against a guy like that, and wish him all the best.”
Hurricanes Notes
Aho’s overtime game-winner, the 18th of his career, doubled second place (9G, Martin Necas) in the franchise’s overtime goals record.
Sunday’s match against the Kings was William Carrier’s 500th game of his career. During it, he logged three shots and two hits.
Seth Jarvis, who celebrated his 24th birthday Sunday, logged his 18th assist of the season.
The Hurricanes’ next game, Tuesday versus the Ottawa Senators, will be their final home game before the Olympic break, and will be a special ‘international send-off’ theme night.
