Hurricanes Blow Late Lead, Recover in Overtime for Win

Nov 30, 2022 - 3:14 AM

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After finally getting back in the win column on Saturday, the Carolina Hurricanes looked to make it two in a row on Tuesday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Hurricanes failed to hold onto a late 2-1 lead, but they managed to salvage an overtime win to kick off their six-game road trip.

Derek Stepan drew an early hooking penalty on Jake Guentzel and gifted the Hurricanes with an early power play opportunity. Unfortunately, their power play magic from Saturday didn’t make an appearance.

Just a few moments of 5-on-5 play later, the Penguins got on the board.

Sidney Crosby won a race to the front of the Canes' net and managed to squeak a centering pass through Pyotr Kochetkov to make it a 1-0 game.

Pittsburgh followed up their opening goal with a few more great chances, including a lacrosse goal attempt from Rickard Rakell that Kochetkov slammed the door on.

The Penguins dominated the first half of the period, but the Hurricanes slowly started to find their chances late in the period. However, Tristan Jarry was ready for the push, and his home club took a 1-0 lead into the intermission.

The Hurricanes were guilty of the early-period penalty the second time around, and their penalty killers were the ones getting the scoring chances. They had two odd-man rushes in rapid succession, one saved by Jarry and the other waived off for goalie interference.

Carolina built on that momentum, though, and they potted their first goal at 5:45 of the frame. Brett Pesce’s point shot dropped out of Jarry’s possession with traffic in front, and Martin Necas was there for a slam-dunk goal and his 11th of the season.

The teams exchanged chances as the period progressed, but the ice started titling back in Pittsburgh’s favor thanks to a few strong shifts leading up to their second power play of the night.

Again, the Hurricanes’ penalty kill was stout, holding Pittsburgh without a shot on goal. Less than a minute later, they secured their first lead of the night.

Jarry couldn’t handle the rebound on a long-range shot from Sebastian Aho, and Andrei Svechnikov swooped in to grab the puck and put it home on a wrap-around for his 14th tally of the season.

Kochetkov made a save on a Pittsburgh chance with one second to go in the period, and the Hurricanes took a 2-1 lead into the third period.

After a power play chance aided them early in the period, the Hurricanes chased the Penguins for most of the final 15 minutes. Much like their recent loss to the Wild, the Hurricanes tried to hang onto a late one-goal lead, and again, they couldn’t.

With Jarry on the bench for an extra attacker, Jake Guentzel executed a perfect deflection on a point shot and beat Kochetkov to tie the game at two goals apiece. The heartbreaker forced the Hurricanes into their fifth overtime in seven games.

Something had to give, with the Penguins winless in games decided in overtime this season and the Hurricanes having lost five straight overtime decisions, and it did at the halfway point.

Seth Jarvis laid a hit at the red line that was met with an uproar from the Penguins' bench, and the Hurricanes took advantage of the chaos by scoring the game-winner on a 2-on-0 break.

Brett Pesce got the goal, assisted by Svechnikov and Jarvis, and the Hurricanes escaped game one of their six-game road trip with a win.

Pesce, Svechnikov, and Aho had multi-point nights in the win to support a 30-save effort from Kochetkov, who was forced to make tough saves from start to finish.

The Hurricanes will continue the trip on Thursday night against the St. Louis Blues.