LAS VEGAS — The five-hour, 2,000-plus-mile trip to Las Vegas on Friday afternoon was a whole lot smoother for the Carolina Hurricanes after their dramatic 4-3 come-from-behind, overtime victory over the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final on Thursday.
Carolina, trailing 2-0 midway through the third period and staring squarely at an 0-2 deficit in the best-of-seven series, pulled out a comeback for the ages capped by Seth Jarvis’ power-play game-winner 3:56 into overtime.
It marked the first time since the Montreal Canadiens in 1944 that a team trailing by multiple goals in the final 10 minutes of regulation rallied for a victory in a Stanley Cup Final.
Now the series heads west to Las Vegas for Game 3 on Saturday and Game 4 on Tuesday before returning to Raleigh, N.C., for Game 5 on Thursday.
“I think there’s obviously more good vibes today than there could have been,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. ” … We’ve played two good games, and we’re starting over.”
“It’s a five-game series now,” Hurricanes defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere added. “It’s just managing (the emotions). We’re still human beings. We’re going to get nervous out there and have emotions, but the more you do it, the more you do anything, you get used to it. It’s just trying to holster that and bring it all in focus for the task at hand.”
The Eastern Conference champions, who were an impressive 24-12-5 on the road in the regular season, are 6-0 away from home in the playoffs. Thursday’s win also improved Carolina to 6-0 in overtime in these playoffs.
It looked like Vegas was going to finish a two-game sweep of the games in North Carolina thanks to two more goals by Brett Howden combined with defensive play which was, at times, quite stifling.
But the game turned around quickly with 9:40 remaining when 5-foot-8, 165-pound center Logan Stankoven won a puck battle along the boards behind the net from 6-foot-1, 202-pound Vegas defenseman Rasmus Andersson and then scored on a backhand shot from the right side of the crease.
“You can’t measure that stuff,” Brind’Amour said Friday, pounding his heart when asked about Stankoven’s play that flipped the game and the series. “He just keeps doing it, night in and night out. It’s pretty amazing.”
Just 2:26 later, ex-Golden Knight William Carrier made a diving pass to Mark Jankowski who blasted a shot from the high slot bar-down to tie it at 2.
Jordan Staal then gave the Hurricanes a controversial 3-2 lead with a tip-in on a power play after the Golden Knights drew a delay of game penalty after unsuccessfully challenging a goalie interference call that negated a potential Ivan Barbashev score. But Mark Stone scored a 6-on-5 goal with 1:21 remaining to force overtime.
Jarvis then won it with a one-timer from the left circle off a Gostisbehere pass on a power play after Tomas Hertl went to the penalty box for tripping.
Vegas, which was well-positioned to take full control of the series, instead heads home even at a win apiece.
“It’s fine,” center William Karlsson said of his team’s emotions Friday following the late meltdown. “It is what it is. Obviously, we would have loved to win that game. We didn’t, but it’s in the past. Nothing we can change, so now we just look ahead.”
“We’re good,” Golden Knights coach John Tortorella added. “We’re ready to play. I like a lot of things about what’s gone on in the first two games.”
One potentially very big negative for Vegas occurred in the first period when defenseman Brayden McNabb, who had three assists in the team’s 5-4 Game 1 victory and is the franchise’s all-time leader in blocked shots (1,417) and hits (1,469), was hit square in the middle of his face by an 87 mph slap shot by Nikolaj Ehlers.
A key member of the team’s penalty-kill unit, McNabb skated off immediately while covering his face and was taken to a hospital for treatment. Tortorella refused to give any update on his condition on Friday but said McNabb would fly back with the team.
“I think he’s a vital part of this team,” Karlsson said. ” … Of course, (it was) tough not to have him for the remainder of the game.”
