The Anatomy of a Moment: The Night Jaccob Slavin Couldn't Miss the Net
By Ben Huffman
Breaking it Open
The last bit of momentum the Islanders would get for the night came early in the second period. Future Hurricane Calvin de Haan scored with a wrister over the glove-side shoulder of Cam Ward. It was a shot that seemed innocent at first, given where de Haan released it from. From this point on, the Hurricanes were in the driver's seat.
Justin Faulk tied the game for the third time with a glove-side goal of his own. After not catching Jordan Staal's pass cleanly, Faulk unleashed a wicked shot past Jean-Francois Berube from the right dot to extend his point streak to four games. Jeff Skinner joined the fun 71 seconds later. Entering the zone on a 2-on-1 with Victor Rask, Skinner snuck one through the pads of Berube to end the New York goalie's night.
In Berube's place entered Thomas Greiss. He faced a rude awakening once he took his spot in the crease. Faulk scored over Greiss' blocker on the first shot he faced to give the Canes the first multi-goal lead of the game. With three goals in 2:07, the game had turned sharply in Carolina's favor.
That point was only made clearer when Jaccob Slavin scored his second of the night with the Canes down a man. Slavin outmuscled Brock Nelson at the blue line before winning the race down the ice and sliding the puck through Greiss' pads with one hand. The Islanders would finish the period by cutting into their deficit when Joshua Ho-Sang tipped a pass in from the side of the net, making it 6-4 going into the third period.