‘Two great teams going at it.’ Panthers snatch away victory from Hurricanes in OT
The Carolina Hurricanes weren’t lacking for motivation Wednesday against the Florida Panthers.
Both teams believe they can win the Stanley Cup this season. The Panthers had won the first two head-to-head matchups. Then, there was talk about animosity between the two teams stemming from last season, when the Canes beat the Panthers six of eight times.
The game they played Wednesday wasn’t for the weak of heart or soft of flesh. Call it “big-boy” hockey, with a playoff-type blend of physicality, toughness and snarl, and it took overtime to decide it before the Panthers took a 3-2 victory.
Actually, the Panthers snatched it away. Sam Reinhart scored with 49 seconds left in regulation to tie things up, then Aaron Ekblad won it 16 seconds into the overtime when the defenseman got behind Teuvo Teravainen, took a stretch pass from Jonathan Huberdeau and beat goalie Frederik Andersen with a short backhander.
Just like that it was over. Ekblad was celebrating, Teravainen was angrily smashing his stick against the cage and the Canes (32-11-4) had lost for a fourth time in five games since the NHL All-Star break (1-3-1).
“We got what we deserved,” Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said dryly. “Yeah, it’s disappointing but the better team won tonight, there’s no question.”
Reinhart’s goal came as the Panthers (33-10-5) pulled goalie Sergei Bobrovsky for a sixth attacker, and after the Canes’ Brett Pesce had just missed the empty net on a long attempt. Reinhart, unchecked to Andersen’s right after circling behind the net, hopped on a loose puck after a MacKenzie Weegar shot hit the Panthers’ Patric Hornqvist in front.
In the overtime, the Panthers won the opening faceoff and Ekblad was able to quickly slip behind Teravainen, who took a futile swipe at the puck on Huberdeau’s saucer pass from the Florida zone.
The Canes got goals from Teravainen late in the first period and Tony DeAngelo early in third. But the Canes’ failure to score on two minutes of a five-on-three power play in the opening period and a strong, aggressive third period by the Panthers were the difference in Florida’s first game since Feb. 1.
“It was an intense game, a lot of battles, two great teams going at it,” Canes center Sebastian Aho said.
Brind’Amour has often said this season that he has had “hold-your-breath” days while he waited for the team COVID-19 results. While the COVID threat might be passing, Brind’Amour’s “hold-your-breath” time is having a healthy team and 35 games left to play in the regular season. The question: can the Canes keep it that way?
In Wednesday’s game, Svechnikov took a blindside shot from Owen Tippett along the boards in the first period and was knocked to the ice. Svechnikov retaliated later with a hit on Sam Bennett, then had the Panthers’ Hornqvist and Radko Gudas drill him from behind near the Canes bench, a dangerous double-team hit.
In the second period, Canes center Vincent Trocheck was leveled on an open-ice hit from Mason Marchment. Trocheck hopped up but picked up a penalty for playing without his helmet, perhaps still feeling the effects of the hit.
Neither Svechnikov nor Trocheck were injured. But staying healthy is one thing for the Canes. Staying motivated is another.
The Hurricanes were motivated in game 47 against the Panthers in a game televised nationally by TNT. But what about, say, game 56 against the Seattle Kraken? Or game 64 against the Dallas Stars?
Baseball has its dog days of summer. In an 82-game NHL season, those dogs days can come in February and March when a team like the Hurricanes appears set for the Stanley Cup playoffs but must muster up energy and excitement for another 35 or so games.
“A hundred percent,” Brind’Amour said Wednesday after the morning skate. “It’s February and you look up and it’s like, ‘Wait a minute, we still have 40 games?’ Because you’ve been pushing hard and now you have to figure out a way to keep that mental focus.
“The great ones can do it, right? The great teams just find a way to keep going, keep playing the same way. That’s the hard part of hockey. It’s not physically, for me, not a physical demand. Guys rest, get enough rest. It’s that mentally answering the bell that’s the challenge.
“You’re aware, though, that it’s out there. It’s there. So you have to find ways to take care of that and make sure you’re aware of it. But there’s still just one way to play the game.”
This story was originally published February 17, 2022 at 8:11 AM.
