25 Clutch Goals in Carolina Hurricanes History (Part 1: #25-16)
By Ben Huffman
#23: April 7, 2007- Rod Brind’Amour finishes the year on a high note
It became clear that a title defense wasn’t in the cards for the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006-07, meaning their season finale against Florida would serve as a celebration of the season before things ended for the summer. The good vibes were not being felt after 40 minutes as the Panthers held a 4-1 lead, with a goal from David Tanabe being the lone bright spot. Tanabe would strike again in the third period on the power play, and Erik Cole brought the Canes within one goal a few minutes later. Eric Staal tied things up on the power play with 4:23 left to force overtime before Rod Brind’Amour got loose on a breakaway in the dying seconds of overtime, beating Alex Auld to complete the comeback. This was not unfamiliar territory for the Canes that season, having beaten the Panthers 6-4 about three months prior by scoring six goals in the third period after trailing 3-0.
#22: March 18, 2023- Martin Necas’ Not-so-brotherly love
Though it might be recency bias, there’s no denying how incredible this goal was. Through two periods, Sebastian Aho was the one everyone was talking about. He’d scored two goals to that point, and the Canes held a slim 3-2 lead with 20 minutes to play against the Flyers. Then, the wheels fell off. Philly took the lead with two goals early in the third and stifled every chance for the Canes to get back even. After drawing their first power play of the game with mere seconds left, Shayne Gostisbehere was denied on a one-timer before the puck found its way to Martin Necas at the front of the net. With fractions of a second left, he buried it into the net to tie the game and force overtime, joining Jeff Skinner in the history books for the latest game-tying goal in franchise history. In overtime, Aho would complete the hat trick by undressing Tony DeAngelo and lifting the puck past Felix Sandstrom 28 seconds into the extra frame.