The Carolina Hurricanes were finally back within the friendly confines of the Lenovo Center on Tuesday night, starting a quick stay with a divisional battle against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Canes split their four road decisions, dropping the final leg of the journey in Calgary on Saturday night to complete a back-to-back.
There weren't any surprises in the lineup for Carolina. Frederik Andersen was in the net, with the lineup around him the same as it was in Calgary. The Penguins turned to Stuart Skinner, who was excellent when these two met in December. Pittsburgh was without Sidney Crosby, Justin Brazeau, Samuel Girard, and Kevin Hayes because of injuries, and Evgeni Malkin because of a suspension.
The early edge belonged to the Hurricanes. They hemmed the Penguins in their zone for minutes at a time. It allowed them to get on the board first. Mike Reilly jumped into the play and was denied before Logan Stankoven hopped on the rebound. However, Pittsburgh took over the final few minutes. Eventually, they found the tying goal when Anthony Mantha picked a corner, tying the game at one.
Tempers started to flare during the middle frame. The Canes took too many penalties in succession, and it eventually cost them. It didn't help that Jaccob Slavin lost his stick. Jordan Martinook gave him his, but it opened a lane for Egor Chinakhov to find Bryan Rust, giving the Penguins the lead. The Canes had spurts of zone time, but the penalties stunted their development, trailing 2-1 after 40.
The Hurricanes came out in the third and took control of the contest. The fourth line was rewarded for its hard work by scoring the tying goal. Mark Jankowski followed his chance and poked home a rebound to knot it up. Less than a minute later, Andrei Svechnikov sprung Seth Jarvis for a breakaway, and he buried it to put the Canes back out front.
They kept the ball rolling by scoring on a 5-on-3, with Alexander Nikishin doing the honors and extending the lead to two. If you thought it was over then, you'd be sorely mistaken. The Penguins refused to go away. With Skinner on the bench, Rust's shot deflected off Noel Acciari and into the net to pull within one. Then, Rust tied it with 35 seconds left, sending us to overtime.
Well-known bad boy Jaccob Slavin took a slashing penalty in overtime, giving the Penguins a chance to win it on the power play, but the Canes' penalty kill survived to get the game to a shootout. While Ben Kindel scored to open the shootout, Svechnikov and Jackson Blake followed with goals, and Andersen denied Mantha in the third round to secure the second point in a wild 5-4 victory.
A larcenous save in the third period allowed Pittsburgh to come back
It really felt like the Hurricanes had this game secured when they took a two-goal lead in the third. They were ruling the roost for the better part of 16 minutes. They nearly made it 5-2, and they would've if not for Stuart Skinner making a ridiculous save on Eric Robinson. Aho put it perfectly on the tape of Robinson, and he had plenty of net to shoot at, but he couldn't beat the glove.
This save was the difference between the Penguins getting nothing out of this game and getting at least one point, fighting for a chance at the second. They scored twice with Skinner on the bench, as the Hurricanes once again allowed a lead to slip through their fingers. With points at a premium right now for everyone in the Eastern Conference, Skinner's save proved giant.
The penalty kill came up huge in big spots, but none bigger than overtime
You can say what you want about the officiating tonight. I thought it was equally horrendous for both teams. Regardless, when the stripes call something, you have to go out there and kill it. The second period saw the Canes take three penalties in quick order. It took that many tries for the Penguins to break through, but it took a broken stick to get it done.
Truthfully, whether it was a penalty or not, I hated the call against Jaccob Slavin in overtime, especially with what I felt were more egregious missed calls mere seconds earlier. However, the Canes' penalty kill dug in to get the job done. They finished the night 4-for-5 against one of the league's best power plays, preventing the Penguins from doing more damage.
Additional Thoughts
There was a scary moment in the first period when Nikolaj Ehlers went hard into the boards with Erik Karlsson. Ehlers immediately hit the ice and grabbed his knee, and he skated off with some help. I thought his night was done for sure, but Ehlers was right back out there to begin the second period. He finished the game with a helper, though his health is far more important.
The fourth line had a good night. All three forwards were impactful, led by Mark Jankowski's goal. In the third period, the big guns took over. Seth Jarvis, who had a game-high nine shots, finally scored a goal, assisted by Andrei Svechnikov, and Sebastian Aho had the primary helper on Alexander Nikishin's dart, making him the most prolific goal-scoring rookie defenseman in team history.
Up Next: The quick return to Raleigh comes to an end on Thursday night after the Hurricanes host the St. Louis Blues. The team takes a quick trip to Florida, facing the Lightning for the final time this season on Saturday. Next week kicks off with a back-to-back in Columbus on Tuesday before a second meeting with the Penguins in as many weeks at the Lenovo Center on Wednesday.