Most wins in the NHL aren’t pretty, but each victory counts the same in the standings. Against the Boston Bruins, the Carolina Hurricanes had the puck bounce their way for two points, it won’t give back.
With under 20 seconds left in the third period, Bruins defenseman Nikita Zadorov looked to clear the zone and send the puck up ice for one last push before the final horn blew. Instead of putting it on the tape of a teammate, his stick broke, leaving the puck on the stick of center Seth Jarvis.
His snapshot beat Boston goaltender Joonas Korpisalo to the low-blocker side to put the Hurricanes up 3-2 with 19 seconds left.
“I saw the stick break and it was just a matter of getting the puck,” Jarvis said. “[My] confidence lately shooting the puck hasn’t been very high. I’ve had a lot of chances, haven’t scored, so it’s nice to see one drop.”
Throughout the game, the Bruins (28-28-8), had outclassed the Hurricanes (37-22-4) in nearly every facet. Most notably, a team that rarely is outshot by their opponents, struggled to get anything on net and had to watch goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov bail out a lackluster offense on the other end.
“[Kochetkov], all night really, was the difference,” said head coach Rod Brind’Amour. “We needed that. He obviously got us the two points.”
Kochetkov stopped 32 of 34 shots in one of his best performances of the season. In a game where his team had zero scoring chances at 5v5 in the second period to the Bruins’ 11, the Russian stepped up.
His only two blemishes came from former Hurricane, center Morgan Geekie. Just before the end of the first and a minute into the third, Geekie was the beneficiary of rebounds given up by Kochetkov and scored his 21st and 22nd goals of the year.
“He’s finding the ice, he’s seeing the offense right now,” said Bruins head coach Joe Sacco. “He’s getting his opportunities and burying them. Players get an opportunity and they try to take advantage of it.”
Both of Geekie’s goals tied the game after the Hurricanes jumped out to a lead over Boston. The first time, he answered a goal by center Sebastian Aho who scored yet another shorthanded goal.
This time, Aho made a power move to the net after poke-checking the puck away from Bruins right wing David Pastrnak and outwaited Korpisalo before elevating his backhand shot into the net.
https://x.com/BR_OpenIce/status/1897805591566766472
Since the turn of the new year, the Hurricanes have played 26 games and the team has scored as many goals down a man as it has up one. The power play has looked dreadful and continued to do so against the Bruins, going 0-3 on the night.
The Canes’ second goal came 2:06 into the second when defenseman Brent Burns’ tried to throw the puck through the slot but a deflection of a Bruin resulted in the puck in the back of the net.
After Geekie’s second-tying goal, coming 1:14 into the third, the Hurricanes mustered up its best period, creating a more even-chanced game the rest of the way. Carolina thought it had the winner when left wing Taylor Hall scored on a shot that deflected off a Bruin again with 1:15 left.
The Bruins got the goal wiped off the scoreboard with a successful coaches challenge for a missed offsides that occurred 22 seconds before the puck ended up in the net. It was then, 56 seconds later, that Jarvis netted his 24th of the season to seal the win for the Hurricanes.
The Hurricanes will look to extend their three-game winning streak to four when the team plays on Sunday at 5 p.m. against the Winnipeg Jets — Burns’ 40th birthday.
