Jordan Staal’s overtime goal gives Hurricanes first playoff win over Lightning
The Carolina Hurricanes found a way to win.
After losing the first two games of their playoff series to the Tampa Bay Lightning at home, the Canes went into Amalie Arena for Game 3 and took a gutsy 3-2 overtime win.
Jordan Staal’s power-play goal in overtime has given the Canes new life in the series. Sebastian Aho, who scored in the second period, took a pass from Teuvo Teravainen and ripped a shot and Staal got a piece as the Canes beat Andrei Vasilevskiy at 5:57 of the OT.
The Canes went on the power play after Nikita Kucherov was called for holding the stick at 4:16 of overtime.
Carolina killed off the end of a Dougie Hamilton penalty to begin the OT. Hamilton was called for tripping Alex Killorn with 1:08 left in regulation. The Lightning’s power-play time extended into overtime.
Canes goalie Petr Mrazek, making his first playoff start, faced 32 shots in regulation and made some critical saves late. Vasilevskiy faced 23 in regulation -- the Canes had five shots in the third.
The Canes could play Game 4 on Saturday missing three forwards: Warren Foegele, Vincent Trocheck and Nino Niederreiter.
Foegele left Thursday’s game with an upper-body injury. Foegele appeared to injure a shoulder in the second period, left for the locker room, tried to play in the third but soon was removed.
Trocheck, who was injured in Game 2 but traveled with the team, was ruled out of the game, and Niederreiter missed his third game with an upper-body injury.
The Canes took a 2-0 lead in the second period as Brett Pesce and then Aho scored five-on-five goals. Aho, who assisted on Pesce’s goal, then beat goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy with a quick five-hole shot.
But Tampa Bay tied it on power-play goals by Brayden Point and then Alex Killorn as Nikita Kucherov assisted on both.
Second period: Tampa ties the game
The Canes scored the first goal of the game in the second period, then added a second. But the Lightning has countered with two power-play goals and it’s 2-2 after 40 minutes.
Playing their ninth playoff game, the Canes took a 1-0 lead for just the second time. Defenseman Brett Pesce, bloodied by a blindside hit from Nikita Kucherov in the first, scored the goal at 5:15 of the second.
Taking a drop pass from Andrei Svechnikov, got off a shot from the top of the right circle that beat Andrei Vasilevskiy high to the blocker side. Sebastian Aho also had an assist.
Aho then made it 2-0 at 7:40, beating Vasilevskiy with a five-hole shot after a touch pass between the legs from Teuvo Teravainen, who had taken a stretch pass from Jaccob Slavin at the red line.
.JPG "HurricanesLightningHockey (6).JPG")
But Aho was called for cross-checking at 8:01 in front of the Canes net. The Lightning quickly converted as Brayden Point scored off a pass from Kucherov at 8:57
A Brady Skjei hooking penalty late in the period led to Tampa’s tying goal from Alex Killorn at 16:18. Kucherov had a shot stopped by Petr Mrazek, collected the rebound and got the puck to an open Killorn in the slot.
First period: Canes’ Brett Pesce blindsided, bloodied
There were no goals scored in the opening period, again, but the heat is being turned up in Game 3.
With three minutes left in the period, Canes defenseman Brett Pesce was blindsided and bloodied after taking a hit from Nikita Kucherov. After much shoving and pushing, Kucherov was called for an interference penalty and the Canes had the only power play of the period but was unable to get set or get a shot on net.
Canes goalie Petr Mrazek faced 10 shots in his first start of the playoffs and made some sharp saves.
The Canes are playing without center Vincent Trocheck, who did not take the pregame warmup, Morgan Geekie has drawn back into the lineup and is being used on the fourth line.
The Lightning did not have a shot in the first 5:18 of the first period but have not allowed a lot of space for the Canes, either.
Mrazek’s first big test was a shot off the rush by defenseman Victor Hedman that Mrazek stopped. Moments later, he stopped a backhander by Brayden Point in tight.
Mrazek was bumped in the crease by Alex Killorn, gave the forward a forearm and had a few words with him, showing his feisty side.
Game setup
Canes forward Brock McGinn was the first to say it Thursday morning.
“I don’t think we want to go out there and change too much. We just want to play our game,” he said.
Defenseman Jaccob Slavin, next up Thursday, said the same.
“We don’t need to change much. We’ve been playing pretty good hockey,” he said.
Finally, Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour concisely summed it up heading into Game 3 against the Lightning.
“We’ve got to win a game,” he said. “As boring as it to say, it is what it is. It’s that simple.”
It is that simple, but also could be complex. Tampa Bay, despite its 2-0 lead in the series, has not been at its best in the first two games. The Lightning won two games at PNC Arena, but mostly because of the splendid play of goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy.
Vasilevskiy doesn’t rattle, doesn’t flinch. Canes goalie Alex Nedeljkovic is a finalist for the 2021 Calder Trophy as the NHL’s rookie of the year. Vasilevskiy is a finalist -- again -- for the 2021 Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s best goaltender, an award he won in 2019 and could win again this year.
Brind’Amour will make one change Thursday: Petr Mrazek will start in place of Nedeljkovic, who has been in net the first eight games of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
“I think it was more the freshness,” Brind’Amour said of the decision. “We’re changing a little something, but I think it’s more giving (Nedeljkovic) a mental break. Petr’s more than capable and he’s been waiting. We’ll give him his opportunity.”
Canes’ lineup for Game 3
The Canes again won’t have injured forward Nino Niederreiter and Vincent Trocheck, who Brind’Amour called doubtful for Game 3, will not play.
The Canes had a healthy complement of players after the Nashville series. Then Niederreiter was injured in practice and Trocheck hurt in Game 2 after an open-ice collision with teammate Warren Foegele. That’s an unexpected kind of attrition.
If Brind’Amour sticks with his lines at Thursday’s morning skate, Sebastian Aho again will be together on a line with Andrei Svechnikov and Teuvo Teravainen. Jordan Staal will center Foegele and Martin Necas, Jordan Martinook will be at center with McGinn and Jesper Fast and Steven Lorentz with Morgan Geekie and Cedric Paquette.
The defensive pairs were Slavin-Dougie Hamilton, Brady Skjei-Brett Pesce and Jake Bean-Jani Hakanpaa.
This story was originally published June 3, 2021 at 7:34 PM.
