It’s not often you get a playoff-style contest in the 36th game of the regular season, but in the second act of a back-to-back game against the New Jersey Devils, the physicality of the first game wore off.
Devils right wing Timo Meier was ejected 6:28 into the third period for bending over Canes center Martin Necas and six minutes later, Devils center Erik Haula and Hurricanes defenseman Dmitry Orlov went to the penalty box. abuse following a check to the head that Orlov had not done. t take kindly to.
“I think it was a dirty song and I didn’t like that,” Orlov said. “I didn’t think it was two minutes, I thought it would have been more than that. But we took revenge and I also got two minutes, but I didn’t beat him. I held him and said a few words.”
Despite playing the hard-fought style favored by head coach Rod Brind’Amour, Carolina (22-13-1) fell behind 1-0 and 2-1 before coming back. Right wing Jackson Blake scored the game-winning goal on the power play while Jack Roslovic’s 15th and 16th goals of the season rubbed salt in New Jersey’s (24-12-3) wound.
Hurricanes defenseman Ty Smith made his team debut, his first NHL action since January 2023. Smith entered the team’s first team 7:29 of ice time after to be immediately included in the senior team to play the strength of the team. Defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere was ejected before dropping the puck, giving the 24-year-old his first chance to play since being acquired in the Jake Guentzel trade last March.
Once action resumed in the second period it didn’t take long for New Jersey to get on the board. Center Paul Cotter stole the puck from center Jesperi Kotkaniemi in the neutral zone and powered in to give the Devils a 1-0 lead.
The Hurricanes dominated the game and controlled the faceoff circle but couldn’t break New Jersey’s goalie Jake Allen. Sebastian Aho Sebastian Aho had two grade-A chances when he was short, which left him shaking his head when he didn’t convert.
The Devils were close to taking a 2-0 lead but Necas laid down on the ice and got a skate blade to deflect the puck out of the empty net.
With only 30 seconds left in the period, the Canes were staring down a barrel of 25+ shots on goal with nothing to show for it but Orlov unleashed a rocket to tie it up. Orlov took a pass from quarterback Sean Walker and blasted a 92.2 mph one-timer past Allen.
“In my head as I was passing it, I was thinking about what he did against Washington and I was like, ‘Oh, it’s going in,'” Walker said.
The Devils regained the lead 1:05 into the third when center Ondrej Palat split in front of the net from defenseman Brent Burns and beat left winger Jesper Bratt. The goal would have taken the wind out of Carolina’s sails but they fought back to tie the game 51 seconds later.
Denied twice earlier, Aho got lucky when he took control of the puck that Roslovic took out of mid-air to keep in the offensive zone and fired a shot that ricocheted off the arm of Allen to make it 2-2.
It was at this point that things started to shake up on the ice with each team looking to hit the next big hit. Meier caught Necas near the ice with a knee-to-knee that ended the first night.
Standing up for his teammate, Kotkaniemi quickly started a ruckus as Necas clutched his knee and Canes fans gasped. Necas slipped, unable to put any weight on his leg, but returned to the bench before the game resumed, apparently fine.
After spending two minutes for a penalty, Kotkaniemi avenged his teammate’s mistake with the game-winning goal. Shooting from the point, Blake deflected Kotkaniemi’s shot for his eighth goal of the year.
He had been held without information since Nov. 27, Blake was relieved when he returned to the goal line.
“I’ve been waiting for a while,” Blake said. “I didn’t read sports. Sometimes it takes such advice or a lucky break. … It sounds strange. “…
A minute and a half later, Roslovic buried a pass from center Seth Jarvis two-on-one to score his first team goal, his 15th of the season. In the match that followed, Haula pinned Orlov, making the match advance to Wrestlemania.
Taking a moment to collect himself after the hit, Orlov returned to the fray before being sent to the bench. From there, Orlov was examined and when the bleeding stopped, he jumped Haula on his way to the box.
Orlov was lucky to only get two minutes himself but the fans loved it as Haula continued to be a heel for the Caniacs.
Rolsovic scored his second goal of the night with an empty net, sealing Brind’Amour’s 300th career NHL goal. At 488 games, Brind’Amour became the fastest coach in NHL history to reach the title.
“I’m lucky,” said Brind’Amour. “I have a very good team. You can count the times on your hand when it wasn’t a solid effort. They give you what they can every night. That’s something I think I’m very proud of. ”
In the kind of win that could unify the team, the Canes want to use it to build a strong playoff and close out 2024 with success. They play Columbus on New Year’s Eve with puck drop at 8pm
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