Since the Carolina Hurricanes returned to relevance in the late 2010s, there has been no shortage of incredible moments in the regular season. We've seen them come back from countless deficits over the years, but what we witnessed on March 18, 2023, remains one of the most incredible endings to a game I can remember. For this early evening tilt, the Canes were in the City of Brotherly Love to face the Flyers.
The game started slightly skewed in the Canes' favor after Sebastian Aho and Brady Skjei scored just under two minutes apart late in the first period. Aho was the receiver of a beautiful pass from behind the net by Martin Necas to open the scoring before Skjei sniped his 15th goal of the season past Felix Sandstrom. Tyson Foerster scored his first career goal to cut into the Canes' lead early in the second period, but Aho responded with his second of the game to restore the lead with 6:05 left.
Philadelphia not only stuck around but scored three unanswered goals on Frederik Andersen to take the lead early in the third period. Noah Cates started it by scoring with a two-man advantage late in the second period. Joel Farabee tied it early in the third by picking up a rebound in the crease. Brendan Lemieux took advantage of a misplay by Andersen, tapping home a pass with the goalie scrambling to put the Flyers on top.
The Canes pushed to get the tying goal but nothing was coming easy. On other big story of the game was the lack of power plays for Carolina. Aho's second goal came during a delayed sequence, but that was the closest they had gotten. Meanwhile, the Flyers had earned four chances, getting a goal on one of them.
With seven seconds remaining, the Canes would earn their first power play, and I remember thinking there wasn't enough time for them to do anything with it. Clearly, I was mistaken. Jordan Staal won the draw to Brent Burns, who fed Shayne Gostisbehere for a one-timer. Sandstrom got over to stop the shot, but the puck stayed deep.
As the madness ensued, the Flyers left Aho and Necas unmarked at the front of the net. Ivan Provorov's attempt to move the puck hit Rasmus Ristolainen's skate and trickled to the unmanned Canes. Necas swung and knocked the puck home with 0.3 seconds remaining, stunning the crowd and everyone else watching from home. It was one of the most remarkable things I had ever seen.
With overtime in the cards and one point under their belts, the Canes turned to their superstar to end it. Showing shades of the 2020 playoffs in the bubble, Aho brought the puck into the zone, danced through Tony DeAngelo, and tucked the game-winner under the crossbar to complete the hat trick for his 30th goal of the season. The improbable comeback had been completed.
Necas' goal at the end of regulation came nearly eight years after Jeff Skinner did something similar. Skinner unleashed a shot from the slot with under a second remaining to tie a game against the Ottawa Senators in March 2016 that the Canes would win in a shootout. I believe Skinner's goal still holds the record, coming with 0.2 seconds left. Regardless, Necas' tally remains one of the latest tying goals in franchise history and a moment most who witnessed it will never forget.