RALEIGH – The Carolina Hurricanes continued their hot play of late, beating the Montreal Canadiens (40-28-8) 2-1 in overtime on Sunday, March 24 at PNC Arena in a battle of two Eastern Conference teams fighting for a wild-card spot.
With their win, the Hurricanes are now sitting at 42-26-7 with 91 points, and they keep their first spot in the wild-card race. It also puts the Canes at four wins in their past five games, all home, and they finish their homestand 4-1 heading into Tuesday night’s Metropolitan Division matchup against the Washington Capitals.
Both teams came into this game with a lot of momentum. Carolina was coming off of a dominant 5-1 win in the previous night against the Minnesota Wild (35-32-9, 79 points), who are two points behind the Colorado Avalanche for the final wild card spot in the west, while the Canadiens were coming off a dominant win against the Buffalo Sabres, a team that was once near the top of the Eastern Conference earlier this season.
All night long, it was a battle between the pipes. After an early goal from the Canadiens’ Paul Byron with 5:02 left in the first period, it was save after save. MacElhinney looked stellar all night long, making 29 saves, including his biggest of the night in overtime, a slapshot by Max Domi 19 seconds in. Price was automatic himself, saving 38 out of the 40 shots he faced, including a couple of big ones late in the third period, most notably a save on a wrist shot by Jordan Staal with 2:02 left in regulation.
After scoring five goals in the previous game against the Minnesota Wild, the Hurricanes could not seem to get anything going against the Canadiens. But that all changed in the third period.
Carey Price was able to stop every shot in the game until the 5:39 mark of the third period, when, after the Canes were able to keep it in the Canadiens’ zone, Trevor Van Riemsdyk fired a shot from the point that deflected off of Canadiens’ defenseman Jordan Benn and into the goal, right past Carey Price, for the Canes’ first goal of the game. After tying it up late in the third, the Canes had a couple of chances to win at the end of regulation, but Price was able to hold the Canes off.
After a brief break, both teams came out of the locker room ready to play. Max Domi won the opening faceoff for the Canadiens and fired a shot on McElhinney 19 seconds later. After McElhinney’s save, the Canes were able to take the puck down to the Canadiens’ zone, put some pressure on Price, and then with 1:45 left in overtime, Canes winger Andrei Svechnikov fired home a wrist shot, putting the puck in the five-hole and giving the Canes a 2-1 overtime win. The celebration began in Raleigh, and for their latest storm surge, the Canes went fishing.
The Hurricanes will look to continue their playoff push this upcoming Tuesday, as they take on their Metropolitan Division-leading rival, the Washington Capitals, at 7 PM in Capital One Arena. As for the Canadiens, they will look to jump the Hurricanes in the wild-card standings as they travel to Nationwide Arena to take on the Columbus Blue Jackets, a team fighting for a playoff spot.
