When you need a clutch goal, rely on defensemen. A strange reality, but the Carolina Hurricanes have survived two games in a row.
The Hurricanes did not score a single natural goal during the entire match. Nonetheless, in a unique game full of individual achievements and accomplishments, they still defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 4–3 in overtime.
One of those milestones hit the moment Taylor Hall stepped onto the ice. This was his 100th game as a member of the Carolina Hurricanes, after being traded in the old three-team Mikko Rantanen deal.
Dakota Joshua scored in the first period to put the Leafs up one, but that was all he wrote for the opening twenty minutes as both teams went back and forth with the puck.
The game came alive in the second period
Early in the second frame, Andrei Svechnikov and ex-Hurricane Max Domi collided at the Leafs' blue line. Svechnikov, who was shaken up, was briefly attended to by head athletic trainer Doug Bennett before going to the bench and later to the locker room. However, he was able to return near the halfway point.
In the inning following Svechnikov's injury, Eric Robinson took a high-stick to the face from Brandon Carlo – drawing some blood for a double minor. In the final seconds of a four-minute power play, Jordan Staal once again proved to be one of the best things to happen to Carolina this season, as he tipped in a shot by Seth Jarvis.
Afterwards, Robinson once again performed for his team and drew a hooking penalty from Troy Stecher on a breakaway. He was given a penalty shot opportunity – the first attempt in his NHL career – and proceeded to slip a nice short wrister past Josef Woll to give Carolina its first lead of the night.
However, that lead was short-lived. Just 72 seconds later, John Tavares made his way behind Brandon Bussey's net and put the puck in through the five-hole.
In the final minutes of the second frame, Sean Walker was fouled in the penalty box for fouling Matthew Neese. However, Walker's defensive partner was not satisfied with simply killing a penalty, and instead, took the puck down the ice for the first shorthanded goal of his NHL career.
It was the second consecutive game for Shorty to score for the Hurricanes.
The third period arrived, and with just a few minutes remaining, William Nylander scored a goal to force overtime.
three-on-three action
When overtime began, the game-winner came off the stick of a first-time player: Alexander Nikishin. The rookie defenseman had just come on the ice in place of Jakob Slavin because Jarvis had sent him off, but he didn't have it for long. Skating quickly to the right face-off circle, he wasted no time – launching it through an accidental Leafs screen and past the Vols after just 41 seconds of play. It was not only the first overtime goal of Nikishin's NHL career, but also his first game-winning goal. For the second consecutive game, the Hurricanes' overtime game winner came from a defenseman.
The game marked an unusual pattern to victory, as all four of the Hurricanes' goals did not come on five-on-fives. Instead, they were on the power play, in the form of penalty shots, shorthanded and three-on-three in overtime.
