It's not every night you watch double overtime... and see the game-winning goal put away... and fill with joy when you hear Nickelback play, but for the Carolina Hurricanes and their fans, Monday night was the night they defeated the Ottawa Senators 3-2 in a heated contest.
In the first period, the second line – which had been the dominant line in Game 1 – struck first as Logan Stankoven, with assists from both his linemates, Taylor Hall and Jackson Blake, beat Linus Ullmark through the five-hole.
It wasn't until the second period that more scoring occurred, starting with Sebastian Aho's spectacular tip-in goal about eight minutes in, with the only assist from Jordan Staal, just seconds after concluding a successful penalty kill.
However, it didn't take long for the Senators to pull back, as Drake Batherson gave Ottawa its first goal of the series when he provided a rebound off his own intercepted pass to Claude Giroux.
Soon, Dylan Cozens tied the game with a five-hole goal on Frederick Anderson with assists from Ridley Gregg and Jake Sanderson – the latter of whom intercepted a pass from Logan Stankoven.
There was a flurry of crickets on the scoresheet in the third period, although there was notable pushback from the Senators, who outscored the Hurricanes 8–5 in the frame.
After overtime, chances were there on both ends of the ice, but the Hurricanes got lucky late in the frame... or so they thought.
Controversial offside call wipes out Hurricanes overtime game-winner
With just over three minutes remaining, Staal crossed the blue line and passed to Jordan Martinook, who drew a hooking penalty on Warren Foegele as he prepared to launch the puck on net. Anderson made a strong run to the bench after the extra attacker hit the ice for a delayed penalty, and with 2:42 left in the period, Mark Jankowski put it past Ullmark, which was immediately followed by a celebration by the team and fans.
However, this was followed by an official league review. The referees eventually declared after some discussion that the play was offside, ruling that Staal did not have control of the puck when crossing the blueline, and ruled out a goal that Jankowski had scored.
In addition, the referee also announced that Martinook would take a penalty shot instead of a power play.
Intelligently and humorously, Hurricane's DJ starts blasting rockstar by Nickelback, whom Martinook has often cited as his favorite band, to try and energize him for the shot. However, the twine was never found in the shot.
The game soon went into a second overtime, and with 13:53 remaining, Martinook sealed the deal with a 3–2 victory – the first overtime game-winning goal of his 12-season career. As they celebrated the victory and walked off the ice, their signature victory song, all I do Is Win Not played by DJ Khaled, and instead, he started yelling rockstar For goalscorers.
storm notes
Throughout the game, the Hurricanes managed their minutes remarkably well, with no skater exceeding 35 minutes of ice-time. The Senators were not so lucky, with three defensemen exceeding that number, one of whom, Sanderson, played over 43 minutes.
The gift was a big issue for Storm. Despite having only two more than the Senators, both goals against them came from them. Additionally, sloppy puck management in the offensive zone led to a few more chances than desirable.
The Nickelback connection to Martinook goes a little deeper than just being a favorite band. During their 'Get Rollin' tour, they stopped at Coastal Credit Union Music Park in Walnut Creek, Raleigh, on September 14, 2023, where Martinook performed rockstar On stage with him.
