Canes fall to the Panthers in overtime but earn a point after third-period comeback
Goaltender Alex Lyon led the Carolina Hurricanes out for pregame warmups Saturday, an early surprise.
But Antti Raanta, the Canes’ expected starter against the Florida Panthers, was injured. Frederik Andersen had played Friday against Calgary. It was Lyon’s net.
Then the Panthers scored on the first shot of the game. And scored again in the first period and again early in the second, building a lead.
The Panthers would go on to a 4-3 victory, but they needed overtime to do it, on an Anthony Duclair goal at 2:53 of the extra period. Taking advantage of a turnover by the Canes’ Brady Skjei, Duclair delivered the winner.
Carter Verhaeghe had a pair of goals and goalie Sergei Bobrovsky picked up his 16th win of the season for the Panthers (23-7-5). The Panthers, who spoiled the Canes’ 9-0 start to the season by winning in November, ended a five-game streak by Carolina with Saturday’s win.
The Canes (24-7-2) overcame a slow start Friday and raced past the Flames 6-3 at PNC Arena behind Andersen. But a repeat in Saturday’s matchup of two of the Eastern Conference’s best teams did not end as well for Carolina, even though the Canes did earn a point by tying the score in the third on Seth Jarvis’ goal.
“We were slow again tonight and not good,” Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “We had a lot of guys who did not play good. Let’s leave it at that. It was tough to find a handful of guys you could say, ‘Wow they were on their games tonight.’
“When you’re playing a team like that and you’re not sharp, that’s going to be tough. I give the guys credit for digging in a little and the third period was better, for sure.”
Jarvis’ goal early in the third period had PNC Arena rumbling, the rookie forward taking a pass from Sebastian Aho and beating Bobrovsky to the short side from the right circle.
Teuvo Teravainen had a power-play score for the Canes early in the game, and Skjei’s goal — yes, the defenseman scored for the third straight game — pulled Carolina within 3-2 in the second period.
Jarvis, shifted to Aho’s line with Teravainen during the game as Brind’Amour made changes, picked up his sixth of the season at 1:45 of the third to tie it as Aho earned his second assist of the game.
The Canes had two power plays in the third and the Panthers had their power-play chances. But it took overtime.
The game was physical but not dirty, with little open ice to work, tough board battles and most shots contested. Lyon had 33 saves as the Canes were outshot 36-27.
Lyon is 9-1-1 with the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League this season but last played Dec. 18 as the Wolves had games postponed because of COVID issues. He said he flew into Raleigh on Friday night, when he was told he’d be making his second NHL start for Carolina on Saturday.
“I’ve been feeling pretty good about my game this year so I knew it was going to come back around,” Lyon said. “I felt like the first 30 minutes of the game I was scrambling bit, and then found a little bit of rhythm. That’s pretty typical of being off for a while.”
In the November game, the Panthers bolted to a 4-0 lead in the first period, scoring three times on the power play. The Panthers had quick starts in the first and second periods Saturday.
Jonathan Huberdeau beat Lyon off the rush 70 seconds into the game. Verhaeghe did it 35 seconds into the second period with a shot from the left circle for a 3-1 lead.
“I was proud of the fact I let in a poor first goal and then was able to battle back,” Lyon said. “I really made an effort to calm myself and have some mental toughness.”
It was a tough spot for Lyon, who beat the St. Louis Blues 3-2 on Nov. 13. He was reassigned to the Canes’ taxi squad Friday and then activated Saturday with Raanta unable to go, with little prep time.
“We threw him into the mix and he was good,” Brind’Amour said. “Yeah, he’d probably like to have that first one back but he dug in and made some real big saves and allowed us to get back in the game and have a chance to maybe squeak it out.”
Teravainen’s power-play score came on a top-shelf shot, the winger taking a pass from Tony DeAngelo, skating into the left circle and beating Bobrovsky. It was Teravainen’s 10th of the season and his sixth on the power play.
Skjei beat Bobrovsky with a shot from the right point as forward Steven Lorentz provided a net-front screen. It was Skjei’s fifth goal and his fourth in the past three games.
The Panthers, battling Tampa Bay for first place in the Atlantic Division, entered the game on an uptick, leading the NHL in goals scored with 132. They had 29 goals in their past five games (4-0-1).
The Panthers were without four forwards. They announced Saturday that forward Patric Hornqvist had entered the NHL COVID protocol, joining Sam Reinhart and Mason Marchment. Sam Bennett was serving the final game of a three-game suspension for his high hit on Cedric Paquette of the Montreal Canadiens.
This story was originally published January 8, 2022 at 9:52 PM.
