After a long six-game road trip, the Carolina Hurricanes made their way back to PNC Arena to take on the Seattle Kraken looking to avenge a loss from earlier in the young season. The Canes trailed most of the game but a late goal in the third period tied it. Center Martin “Mr. Overtime” Necas iced the game in overtime to give Carolina a 3-2 win.
“Yeah it’s huge…obviously it wasn’t the road trip we wanted to start the year and to get back home in front of the fans and get comfortable,” said defenseman Brady Skjei. “… It was a big win for sure.”
Carolina (4-4-0) outplayed Seattle (2-4-2) most of the game with a 45-26 shot on goal advantage. Despite the Canes dominating the shots on goal and puck possession, Seattle held the lead until center Jesperi Kotkaniemi tied the game late in the third period.
“We’ve always had that confidence in this room that we never get too rattled when we’re down, and that shows in the way we play,” said Skjei. “We know that we create enough chances — we play the way we know how.”
The Canes came out of the gates fast in front of their home fans, recording the first five shots on goal and not allowing the Kraken to record a shot on goal during the first seven minutes of the first period.
Seattle settled in after its first shot on goal and started capitalizing off the Canes’ mistakes, scoring two goals in the period just a few minutes apart.
Kraken right wing Oliver Bjorkstrand broke the 0-0 tie midway through the first when he rifled a shot past the outstretched glove of goaltender Frederik Andersen. To double Seattle’s lead minutes later, center Devin Shore knocked the puck out of the air with his stick and snuck a goal through the five-hole of Andersen.
“It was good and then not good, that inconsistent part is what I’m not digging there,” said head coach Rod Brind’Amour. “We’re on it, and then we decide to do something a little different. … It’s just trying to do a little too much at times, and that doesn’t really work.”
Carolina answered back late in the period when left wing Michael Bunting found Necas in front of the net to make it a 2-1 deficit going into the first intermission. The Canes were able to capitalize after a turnover by Seattle and a tic-tac-toe passing play found Necas for his first of two goals.
The second period saw both teams struggle to create offensive chances, but the Canes dominated possession like they did most of the game with a 16-7 shot on goal advantage. Carolina made it tough for Seattle to create many chances after the first period.
“[The second and third periods] I felt like we were dominant,” Necas said. “That’s just how we gotta play, don’t give them much and create a lot in the [offensive zone]. That’s Carolina hockey.”
Unlike most Hurricanes games this season, the first penalty to either team came 12:28 into the second period, with both teams playing a relatively clean game. By staying out of the box and avoiding unnecessary penalties, Carolina would begin to dominate possession.
“That game was officiated very well,” Brind’Amour said. “They let the players play; there were no knickknack penalties like we’ve seen all year”
The Hurricanes’ hard work finally paid off in the third period when Skjei got behind the Kraken’s defense and passed to Necas through a sea of defenders. After Necas received the pass, he spun with the puck and found a wide-open Kotkaniemi in the slot for the game-tying goal.
“We had a lot of great individual efforts on goals like on the tying goal from Brady Skjei,” Brind’Amour said. “That was the biggest play in the game, so kudos to him.”
With the crowd coming to a roar every time Necas touched the puck in overtime, it seemed inevitable that something magical would happen with the stick on his puck.
“That’s his time for sure; he loves that, and we try to get him out there every time we can because he’s got that ability,” Brind’Amour said.
Sure enough, Mr. Overtime delivered. With 20 seconds left in overtime, Necas made one last push into the offensive zone, creating space in the slot he fired the puck past Seattle goalie Joey Daccord to seal the game.
The Canes were without star defenseman Brett Pesce, who is anticipated to miss the next two to four weeks according to the team. However, in his absence, defenseman Jalen Chatfield, who made his 100th appearance for the team, stepped up in a big way tonight.
The Canes will stay at PNC Arena to take on the San Jose Sharks on the second night of a back-to-back on Friday, Oct. 27 with puck drop set for 7 p.m.
