Carolina Hurricanes: Three Games that Saved the Season.

1. Game 75: Carolina Hurricanes Vs Montreal Canadiens, March 24, 2019

Of all the games in this article, this is the only one I attended personally. This is the game where the fans, myself included truly started to believe. Before this game, we understood the chances this team had in making the postseason, but we didn’t want to believe as an attempt to defend ourselves from another year of heartbreak.

The way this game started, it felt like that heartbreak was very imminent. With the ever so formidable Carey Price in one net and the recently lackluster Curtis McElhinney in the other, this felt like a game that was definitely not on our side. The Canadiens were experiencing a surge up the standings of their own and Carolina was playing its third game in four days.

The way the game started, it went all as planned for the Montreal Canadiens. The Habs fired the opening salvo late in the first period and then relied on Price to keep the door shut on the Carolina Hurricanes. The second period came and gone. Price seemed to have an answer for whatever was thrown at him from whatever angle.

On the opposite side of the rink Curtis McElhinney seemed to have completely forgotten that he had let one in earlier and that the team was losing. He seemed to play as if he was trying to keep the same shutout going that Price had on the opposite end. Soon enough, on the 37th shot on Carey Price, it finally went in:

How perfect was it that it was Trevor van Riemsdyk who would get that clutch goal? The defender was named hockey is for everyone ambassador for the another consecutive year. On Hockey is for Everyone night, renamed Pride Night by the Carolina Hurricanes, He found the back of the net in what might be his most important goal.

That goal came with only 5:39 left in the game. But that was enough time for the crowd to get back into this one and slowly begin to realize that in what might be the most crucial game of the entire year, The Carolina Hurricanes were more than up to the task of rebounding back after being down for most of the game.

And rebound back they did. After TVR’s goal forced the game into overtime The Carolina Hurricanes only needed three more shots on Carey Price to seal the game. The final shot came from none other than rookie phenom Andrei Svechnikov, who showed the fans just how hockey smart and skilled he was as he took the puck five-hole on a legendary Vezina winning Netminder:

If there was a goal that saved the season, it was TVR’s goal. If there was a game that saved the playoff hopes of the team it was this game. This game alone dictated if the Carolina Hurricanes entered the playoffs. Had they lost this game, I would be writing a completely different article right about now.

Had TVR’s shot been found and blocked by Carey Price the Carolina Hurricanes would have missed the playoffs. There is no understating just how important this win was. Without it both the Carolina Hurricanes and Montreal Canadiens finish with 97 points on the season. Tied for the final wildcard the next tiebreak would be ROW.

Now I know what you are thinking, “but that would mean Carolina would finish with a 43 ROW and Montreal would only have 42, we still make the playoffs!” That is not necessarily true. Montreal’s final win of the season was a SHOOTOUT win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. With the season on the line, we might have seen an incredible effort to win the game in overtime to include an empty net!

The final Tiebreaker would have been the head to head record, which Montreal would have won sending the Carolina Hurricanes to another heartbreak season. But thanks to the efforts of the wonderful players within these three games, we get to enjoy more hockey in the month of April. Perhaps we will see further heroics in the next series against the Capitals?

Question for CC Readers: Which three games would you nominate for top games that saved the season?