Hurricanes rally to beat Coyotes 6-5 despite fluke goal

Just when the Carolina Hurricanes believed things couldn’t get any more bizarre this season … it did.

The Hurricanes gave up one of the most unusual goals imaginable, but regrouped to beat the Arizona Coyotes 6-5 Thursday at PNC Arena as Jeff Skinner and rookie Valentin Zykov each had a pair of goals.

Skinner’s second goal of the game, on backhander with 1:58 left in regulation, pushed the Canes ahead 6-5. Skinner, who has 22 goals, also earned an assist for a three-point game.

Zykov, playing on a line with Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen, had a pair of goals for the Canes. The Russian winger, recalled this week from the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL, drilled a shot from the slot and scored his second when he used his 6-1, 224-pound frame to get to the front of the net and bang the puck past goalie Darcy Kuemper.

Teravainen had a goal and assist and Aho two assists for the Canes, who trailed 5-4 after two periods but tied the score on Zykov’s second goal. Phil Di Giuseppe added a goal and two assists for the Canes (32-31-11), who are seven points out of playoff position in the Eastern Conference with eight games remaining.

Defenseman Alex Goligoski scored twice for the Coyotes. Only once did he put the puck in the net.

The Canes, embarrassed 7-3 by the Edmonton Oilers in their last game, took a 2-0 first-period lead as Skinner and Zykov scored. Then things turned weird.

Canes goalie Cam Ward left the net to play the puck when Goligoski hard-rimmed it around the back boards. But Ward couldn’t locate the puck. Neither could the referees.

Ward quickly returned to the net, regaining his position, jabbing his right skate behind him and just past the goal line. The problem for the Canes: the puck was lodged in Ward’s right skate.

The referees had no choice but go to a review. The ruling: the puck crossed the goal line — albeit in the goalie’s skate — before play was whistled dead at 8:27 of the first period. Arizona goal.

The Canes’ bench was livid, especially assistant coach Rod Brind’Amour. Their argument was that the referee closest to the play should have blown the play dead immediately when he couldn’t spot the puck.

Replays show the referee with his arms spread wide, as if as confused as everyone else.

"I've had some bad bounces throughout my career but I think certainly that tops the list," Ward said. "I can sit here and pretend it didn't bother me but it did bother me.

"I mean, you battle all season long, you compete, and then a bounce like that happens (and) it doesn't seem fair at the time. But the guys competed and capitalized on our opportunities. It wasn't exactly a goaltending battle, both ways, out there."

The gift-goal changed the game’s momentum. "It affected everybody," Canes coach Bill Peters said. "It was one of those where you shake your head, right? You're thinking what else, what's next? Very bizarre."

The Coyotes (25-38-11) tied the score 2-2 with 21.8 seconds left in the period on a goal by Clayton Keller, the 21st for the rookie forward. Di Giuseppe and Teravainen scored for the Canes in the second but Josh Archibald and Nick Cousins countered for Arizona.

Goligoski’s second goal, on a power play with 10.3 seconds left in the second, pushed the Coyotes ahead 5-4.

Aho and Teravainen each extended their point streaks to seven games, a career high for both and the longest of the season for the Canes.

Ward finished with 28 saves and one of his best stops was in the final moments, on a shot by Oliver Ekman-Larsson after the Coyotes pulled Kuemper for an extra attacker.

This story was originally published March 22, 2018 at 9:47 PM with the headline "Hurricanes rally to beat Coyotes 6-5 despite fluke goal."