In a hard-fought win that went down to the wire, the Carolina Hurricanes secured two points thanks to center Martin Necas’ overtime winner. The Canes held their ground and beat a strong Ottawa Senators team who came into this game knowing it was all or nothing.
The Hurricanes (50-18-9) became just the second team in the NHL to reach the 50-win mark on the season with the win tonight against the Senators (37-34-7). The Canes are now up to 109 points and keep their three-point lead over the New Jersey Devils, who also won their game tonight.
In typical Carolina fashion, the team came out flying and put pressure on Senators’ goalie Leevi Merilainen, who made his first career NHL start tonight. The pressure paid off as fellow Finn — center Jesperi Kotkaniemi — scored on a deflection after defenseman Brady Skjei’s shot from the point. Kotkaniemi continues to stay hot in the second half of the season, scoring a goal in back-to-back games.
The second-line and second-defensive pair would continue to roll in the first because with just over four minutes to go, they would come through again. After Ottawa head coach D.J. Smith challenged incorrectly, the Hurricanes would find themselves on the power play, and who else but Skjei would double the Canes’ lead. That puts his goal total at 18 on the season, tying him with Devils defenseman Dougie Hamilton for first in goals by a defenseman in Hurricanes franchise history since relocation.
Although right wing Stefan Noesen scored no goals, he was able to earn himself two assists in the first period. On the second goal, he was able to get the puck to Kotkaniemi, who found Skjei and got the perfect screen on Merilainen, who stood no chance at making a save.
Once the first period ended, however, the Canes could not get through Ottawa’s defense and found themselves outplayed for most of the game. The Senators were relentless, fighting tooth and nail for the puck for the rest of the game as they need every point from now on to make it into the playoffs.
This monumental effort would soon pay off as halfway through the second period right wing Ottawa Alex DeBrincat whipped a pass cross ice that found an unmarked Senators right wing Claude Giroux waiting at the back post. As the game continued to tilt more in the Senators’ favor, the only thing stopping them was Canes goalie Antti Raanta.
Raanta was weathering the storm for Carolina, sliding from left to right and shutting the door right in Ottawa’s face. Multiple times Raanta found himself with legs stretched completely out, touching both posts just to keep it a one-goal game. Despite Raanta’s best effort, Ottawa left wing Brady Tkachuk would find twine on the power play just three minutes into the third period.
With blood in the water, the Senators were circling a Canes team that was struggling to stay afloat. For the rest of the way, the game was in a frenzy. Each of these teams desperately needed the two points and battled the whole way. Both Finnish goaltenders, Raanta and Merilainen, stood fast in net, determined to bring the game to overtime.
As the game transitioned to overtime, the Hurricanes were able to find their feet again and dominated puck possession in the extra period. Despite their best efforts, the game seemed to be destined for a shootout.
With just under a minute to go in OT, center Seth Jarvis took it upon himself to go coast-to-coast with the puck. With his speed, Jarvis was able to draw in two defenders and made the smart play to drop the puck off for Necas, who was able to get into the slot firing one off the post and in.
This wasn’t one of the prettiest wins for the Canes, but they found a way to win nonetheless. The Hurricanes will get a day to regroup and then head to Nashville to take on the Predators on Thursday, April 6 at 8 p.m.
