Stop me if you’ve heard this one before.
In overtime, defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere and center Martin Necas combine to find center Sebastian Aho who scores the game-winner. Well, you probably heard it when the trio did the same thing last week in a 3-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers.
Instead of waiting until the last 10 seconds to find the net, the trio made quick work of the Canucks in overtime, scoring less than a minute into the extra session. Aho’s third goal of the year tied Ron Francis for the most game-winning goals in franchise history and tied Olli Jokinen for the most overtime goals by a Finnish player in NHL history.
With the Canes’ (6-2-0) 4-3 win over the Vancouver Canucks (4-1-3), they finished off their early-season road trip going 5-1-0 in six games. Earning 10 points on the trip, Carolina matched its second-best six-game road stretch in franchise history.
Carolina started off firing on all cylinders, outshooting the Canucks 13-5 in the first period. The Canes lit the lamp first, courtesy of left wing William Carrier 5:40 into the game. Carrier slapped a shot past Vancouver goaltender Kevin Lankinen, beating him glove-high.
Up until Carolina’s first goal, Vancouver was lacking any sort of aggressiveness on the forecheck but when Carrier scored, the Canucks ramped up the tempo. It didn’t take long for it to pay off either when right wing Brock Boeser scored in the slot on a wrap-around pass from center J.T. Miller.
Miller capitalized on Hurricanes netminder Pyotr Kochetkov selling out for the shot — he couldn’t get back into position by the time the puck was on Boeser’s stick.
This was the first of two critical errors from Kochetkov that led to a Vancouver goal. The second goal happened late in the third when the Russian came charging out of his crease to try and beat Canucks right wing Daniel Sprong to a lead pass. Although making contact on both the initial poke check and ensuing cross-ice pass, it wasn’t enough to stop the puck from finding the net.
If Aho hadn’t bailed out Kochetkov with the overtime winner, it wouldn’t have been hard to point the finger at the goaltender, whose aggressiveness could have denied the Canes two points. Kochtkov’s play style is embodied by plays like these, entering his third season with the team, it’s clear the young goalie struggles when to be aggressive and when to let the play come to him.
Mere minutes after Boeser’s tying goal, the Canucks looked like they were going to ride the momentum they created from a one-goal lead. However, a timeout and offsides challenge by head coach Rod Brind’Amour reversed the call, stopping the game from completely flipping on its head.
After finding their feet again in the first, the Hurricanes got their lead back when Necas beat Lankinen in transition on the blocker side to make it 2-1 heading into the first intermission.
Carolina started the second off much like it did the first — holding the Canucks to just three shots on goal through the first half of the period while increasing its lead by one. Joining in on the rush, defenseman Brent Burns found center Jack Roslovic on a cross-slot pass and Roslovic, from a narrow angle, made it 3-1 less than two minutes into the second.
Vancouver made a late surge in the period, getting nine shots on goal in the final nine minutes but the Canes fended off those chances to take a 3-1 lead into the break.
Eight minutes into the third, defenseman Quinn Hughes made it a one-goal game when he stepped into a drop pass and wired a slap shot at 93 mph to beat Kochetkov. Suter tied the game on Kochetkov’s untimely error with just over three minutes to play.
Brind’Amour sent out his traditional overtime unit to take the opening draw of center Jordan Staal, defenseman Jaccob Slavin and Burns. Winning the faceoff, Staal, Slavin and Burns quickly went to the bench in favor of the dynamic Aho, Necas and Gostisbehere who earned the game-winning goal.
The Hurricanes kick off a four-game home stand against the Bruins on Thursday at 7 p.m. where they will look to cement themselves as one of the best teams in the east.
