The Hurricanes avoid another collapse, beat the Kings in overtime on Aho's winner

The Carolina Hurricanes and the Los Angeles Kings weathered the winter storm to bring Sunday afternoon hockey to the masses at the Lenovo Center. Each team played on Saturday, with the Kings beating the Flyers, 3-2 in overtime, and the Canes falling, 4-3, in overtime to the Capitals, despite leading 3-0 in the second period.

Brandon Bussi started the second half of the back-to-back for the Hurricanes, who deployed the same lineup from last night. This included Logan Stankoven after taking a high hit from Tom Wilson in the third period. Former Hurricane Anton Forsberg was in the net for the Kings. This was the same goalie matchup when the teams met in Los Angeles in October, a 4-3 OT win for Carolina.

There wasn't much flash to the opening period between the Canes and the Kings. The Kings had an early power play that was beautifully defended. The Canes got one soon after and scored in four seconds. Andrei Svechnikov and Shayne Gostisbehere kept their hot streaks going, setting up Jordan Staal for the early redirection. The rest of the period was okay as the Canes led 1-0 after 20.

The ice started to tilt in the Canes' favor with two early power plays, but neither of them looked particularly good. The Kings failed to build off this momentum. In fact, for a long stretch in the period, neither team had a shot on goal. The Canes should've scored at least twice, with Seth Jarvis passing up a 2-on-0 and Drew Doughty making an unreal skate stop. After all of that, the Canes still led, 1-0.

The Canes finally found the second goal late in the third. Alexander Nikishin was on the spot to fire a loose puck past Forsberg, going off the post and in to double the lead. Unfortunately, the Canes saw it disappear again. Samuel Helenius scored 24 seconds later to break the shutout, and Quinton Byfield finished an unreal pass from Adrian Kempe, sending the game to overtime tied at two.

Overtime was controlled by the Hurricanes from the opening draw. Jordan Staal won the face-off, and the Canes never relinquished the puck. Sebastian Aho had the final say. His shot from between the dots eluded Forsberg, preventing another total collapse, as the Canes secured the 3-2 victory over the Kings.

Another blown lead nearly proves costly

There needs to be a study done to explain what the Carolina Hurricanes' problem with holding a lead over the last month and a half has been. It was beyond concerning when they did it five times in a matter of weeks in December and January, and they've done it again on back-to-back days this weekend. Fortunately, it didn't bite them in the behind.

There wasn't a drastic difference in how they played after going up 2-0 today. Yesterday, the Capitals were the better team in spite of the scoreboard. Today, the Canes were running circles around the Kings. Anton Forsberg was just that good. It didn't help that the bump-up shift after the second goal ended up in their net. At the end of the day, it all worked out, so I won't complain too much.

The big players made big plays in key moments

Just take a look at the box score for the Hurricanes today, and you'll see a lot of big names getting points. On the opening goal, it was Andrei Svechnikov and Shayne Gostisbehere setting up Jordan Staal, who has now matched his goal total from last season. On the winning goal, Gostisbehere is there again, along with the birthday boy, Seth Jarvis, as Sebastian Aho did the closing honors.

The Canes' top line had so many great looks. This game shouldn't have gotten to overtime. Jarvis chose the wrong day to be a team-first guy. He should've scored at least twice. Gostisbehere was the only player with multiple points, and he could've added a goal if the crossbar were a little taller. Aho getting the winner felt appropriate. After 12 games without, he has scored in back-to-back.

Additional Thoughts

Truthfully, the Stankoven line didn't have a great afternoon, but their hard work and persistence late in regulation were repaid handsomely on the second goal. Jackson Blake won't get a point, but he was ravenous during that shift, working to the front of the net. Alexander Nikishin benefited from the errant clear, putting him one goal away from tying the rookie goals record for a defenseman.

This is another game where the stat line doesn't paint an appropriate picture of Brandon Bussi's afternoon. Bussi will only be credited with 11 saves on 13 shots, but some of those stops were from dangerous spots on the ice. A win is a win for Bussi, giving him 21 on the season in 25 games, and he'll likely make one more start before the break.

After it was all said and done, the Hurricanes honored Anze Kopitar, shaking hands with the Kings' captain after playing his final game in Raleigh. Jordan Staal was at the front of it, leading by example to congratulate someone who played the game the right way. He blocked two shots and laid three hits in his second game back from injury.

Up Next: The Carolina Hurricanes welcome the Ottawa Senators to town on Tuesday for their second meeting in ten days. The Canes won in Ottawa on January 24. To conclude their pre-break schedule, the Canes head to the Big Apple for a meeting with the Rangers. Once the Olympics wrap, they'll pick it back up at home against the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Detroit Red Wings.