Two days before the Carolina Hurricanes were set to face the Washington Capitals at Carter-Finley Stadium for the 2023 Stadium Series, 21-year-old center Seth Jarvis led his team to a 6-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens. 

Led by Jarvis’ first NHL hat trick, the Hurricanes (36-10-8) pulled out early in the third frame after a tight game, notching three goals in five minutes to hand the Canadiens (23-28-4) a loss at PNC Arena.

“My dad and brother came in last night, so to have them here to witness that means the world to me,” Jarvis said. “That’s something I dreamed of from when I was a little kid, so to be able to do that with the help of my teammates is everything for me.”

Thursday night’s game kicked off with Cam Ward’s induction into the Carolina Hurricanes Hall of Fame. In its inaugural year, three former players were automatically elected: Ron Francis, Glen Wesley and head coach Rod Brind’Amour. Ward, who helped lead Carolina to its first Stanley Cup championship in 2006 as a rookie goaltender, played 668 games with the Hurricanes before retiring in 2018.

“It’s a lot of emotions, because you realize you’re getting old,” Brind’Amour said. “Time’s ticking, and you want to cherish every memory that you can. When you’re young, you think they’re all coming but you get up there — these are moments that are great.”

Emotional festivities aside, both teams got down to business early. The Canadiens beat Carolina to the board after Montreal left wing Michael Pezzetta nicked a rebound past goaltender Antti Raanta 3:24 into the first frame. Despite Montreal’s early lead, the Hurricanes extended their home shutout streak against the Canadiens to 179:36, making it the longest such sequence in franchise history.

Fittingly, it was center and former Canadien Jesperi Kotkaneimi who put the Hurricanes on the board. The 22-year-old surged ahead of Montreal goaltender Sam Montembault for a picture-perfect slapshot, giving Carolina a fighting chance nine minutes after Pezzetta’s go-ahead goal.

Amid Twitter rumblings of a potential trade with the San Jose Sharks, center Seth Jarvis played like he had nothing to lose, giving Carolina the lead minutes after Kotkaniemi’s biscuit. A perfect setup from center Sebastian Aho delivered Jarvis an opportunity he couldn’t afford to miss, and the Winnipeg native followed through with ease.

Montembeault faced some tough competition in the first frame — the Hurricanes notched 16 shots of 25 attempts against the Canadiens, three of which coming from center Paul Stastny. Raanta also made some key saves across the first 20 minutes of play, keeping Carolina from a tied game heading into the second period.

“You can only focus on the next puck and you can’t start thinking about too much else,” Raanta said. “Just try to keep focused on the moment, and try to make the next save.”

A penalty on Kotkaniemi and a questionable call for cross-checking on right wing Andrei Svechnikov handed the Canadiens two valuable penalty plays in the second frame, the latter of which they were able to capitalize on. Montreal left wing Rafael Harvey-Pinard tied the game at two goals apiece on the man advantage, and Carolina was forced to make up for lost time with just under 25 minutes of hockey to play.

The Hurricanes did just that, in large part thanks to Aho, Jarvis and center Jordan Staal – the trio scored one goal apiece in five minutes, handing Carolina a cushy 5-2 lead with 15 minutes to go. As time ticked away at PNC Arena, an antsy crowd of Caniacs breathed a little easier.

Finally, as if he’d meant to do it all along, Jarvis set himself up for a shorthanded goal in the final seconds of the game that almost looked too easy. With it, the Canes surged to a 6-2 lead, hats flew onto the ice, and Jarvis’ grin lit up PNC Arena.

“Honestly, I woke up in a good mood for once, which is nice,” Jarvis said. “The whole day, I was just kinda happy, in a good mood. When I feel like that, I feel like coming to the rink with a smile on my face — I try to do that every day, but some days [are] a little bit easier, and today was one of those days, and it paid off for me.”

Carolina looks to be in good shape ahead of Saturday’s landmark match against the Capitals at Carter-Finley Stadium. Puck drop is set for 8 p.m.