Hurricanes left as much mad as sad after double-overtime loss to Predators
It was the kind of game that left everyone limp.
Players, coaches, fans, referees, linesmen, certainly everyone in Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena.
Not Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour. He was incensed Friday after Game 3, after the Predators took a 5-4 victory in double overtime on Matt Duchene’s goal. He did not like the disparity in the penalties called, which included the only one whistled in either overtime: a hooking call against Canes defenseman Max Lajoie in the second OT.
To Brind’Amour, the game between two good teams, working hard, pushing themselves to the limit, was even in almost every way except one. Carolina was whistled for seven penalties and Nashville three.
“We played our butts off, played great, played hard,” Brind’Amour said. “We’re playing a great team and we’re in a battle. Nashville is a phenomenal team. But we’re also fighting the refs. It’s that plain and simple.
“You can’t tell me two games in a row we get seven and eight penalties and they get three, when the game is this even? It’s not right. I give my guys tons of credit for just sticking and going and playing their butts off and having a good chance to win.”
Canes captain Jordan Staal, asked about the penalties after the game, said he would not comment. He did say he spent the intermission between the first and second overtimes getting stitches. It wasn’t for a self-inflicted wound.
The Predators had seven power plays in Game but went 0-for-7 as the Canes won 3-0 for a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. They finally scored Friday, and the Canes were hot about that, too.
In the second period of Game 3, the Canes’ Warren Foegele was called for delay of game when it was determined he flipped the puck cleanly over the glass. The officials huddled to talk it over, talk it over, and finally ruled it a penalty as an angry Brind’Amour and the Canes said that the puck first glanced off the boards -- replays indicated it did.
Thirty seconds later, Staal was called for a tripping penalty. The Preds scored on a 5-on-3 power play. Brind’Amour’s eyes behind his mask grew wider and wider, his anger obvious.
But the teams played on. With defenseman Jaccob Slavin missing another game, Brind’Amour leaned a lot on Dougie Hamilton (36:56 in ice time), Brett Pesce (39:27) and Brady Skjei (37:59). Lajoie, playing his first game for the Hurricanes, played almost 17 minutes. and handled himself well enough.
Goalie Alex Nedeljkovic, in his third consecutive playoff start, had 49 saves. Preds goalie Juuse Saros had 52, including 21 in the two overtimes.
Canes forward Steven Lorentz said Thursday that tight playoff games leave those watching sitting on the edge of their seats. It was an edge-of-seat kind of night, the tension mounting with each minute in the overtimes.
It was the second longest playoff game in franchise history, topped only by the epic three-overtime loss to the Detroit Red Wings in Game 3 of the 2002 Stanley Cup finals. Pesce was on the ice and had a nice view of the winning goal in another double-OT playoff game -- Brock McGinn’s score against the Washington Capitols in Game 7 of their 2019 playoff series.
“It’s tough,” Pesce said. “I thought we worked really hard and had a ton of chances to finish that game.”
It was Pesce’s goal with 3:21 left in regulation Friday that tied the score 4-4. He unloaded two shots from beyond the left circle, the first taking a weird bounce and nearly getting past Saros and the second finding the net after a Teuvo Teravainen pass.
The Canes had 13 shots in the first overtime and eight in the second. But the Preds finally ended it as Duchene got in front of defenseman Jake Bean and scored at 14:54.
“I hadn’t been on this side of it,” Pesce said. “Obviously the (Washington) double OT came out in our favor. It’s not a good feeling.”
But one the Canes must shake quickly. Game 4 on Sunday will have a 2:30 ET start, cutting into the recovery time.
Brind’Amour sounded as if Slavin’s status for Game 4 was questionable, again saying it would be a game-time decision. He called Nedeljkovic’s effort “awesome” and said the only reason not to play him again Sunday would be if he felt “overworked” in Game 3. The lineup could stay the same.
“I think our group is going to rebound and come out with an even better effort next game,” Staal said.
This story was originally published May 22, 2021 at 7:30 AM.
