"Some teams would just pack it in, but that’s just not the way we are…"
© Cato Cataldo / Carolina Hurricanes
RALEIGH, N.C. – The Carolina Hurricanes entered Game 5 with plenty of momentum, having taken Game 4 on the road to set up a chance to advance on home ice.
But just 10 minutes into the contest, it all seemed to be going wrong. New Jersey raced out to a 3-0 lead, and at the first intermission, the Canes knew they had to flip a switch.
“Trash that [first period], let’s try to get back in the game,” said Rod Brind’Amour, offering insights into his intermission address to his team. “Let’s see if we can close the gap and give it a chance.”
Just over an hour of game time later, the gap had been closed twice and Sebastian Aho was being mobbed by his teammates after netting the series-clinching goal in double overtime on a one-timer from the right circle.
“The guys did [give it a chance],” said Brind’Amour. “Clearly.”
"That's what we do. That's what we're about." pic.twitter.com/xabkXYkWOG
It didn’t take long for the Canes to heed the words of their head coach as they returned to the ice for the second period. Despite the sizeable deficit, it took just 5:40 to even the score as Taylor Hall, Jackson Blake and Andrei Svechnikov whipped an anxious Lenovo Center into a fervent frenzy.
“We kind of talked a little bit in the room that we just needed to restart in a way there. Obviously a big goal there by (Taylor Hall)… crowd really picked up there, we gained a lot of momentum there and kind of took over the game after that,” said Aho.
Tuesday’s goal-scorers were a fitting bunch for this iteration of the Canes, with a blend of new skill and familiar faces stepping up to bridge the gap. A pair of newly acquired forwards in Hall and Logan Stankoven teamed up on the first goal, followed shortly after by a goal from another newcomer to this year’s squad in Blake – the first playoff tally of his promising career.
Then, it was Svechnikov’s turn. Coming off of an up-and-down regular season to co-lead the NHL in playoff goals (5) through Tuesday’s action – including a hat trick in Game 4 – the 25-year-old came up clutch yet again for his team, demanding the puck at the top of the circles and firing a laser past Markstrom to level the score.
“He went through a stretch there where it was like ‘ehh,’ and now, it’s like ‘there it is.’ That’s the guy that we all love,” said Brind’Amour. “It felt like he was firing pucks, every shift [his line] was out there, I thought they were going to get one. After the first, that line, especially, I thought was really good.”
Svechnikov, who described the playoffs as “my time” after his standout showing in Newark on Sunday, finished with a career-high nine shots to go with his sixth point of the postseason, but knows the job’s not done.
“I had a good series, but I feel like right now [it’s time to] move on. It’s going to be a new series,” he said. “I’ve got to continue [doing] what I’ve got to do. It was lots of effort from everyone, we played good and I’m glad we won this.”
IT'S A TIED GAME 🤯
SVECHNIKOV WITH THE GAME-TYING GOAL IN THE EARLY 2ND 🚨 pic.twitter.com/BKMpqYYAgR
Comeback wins can be common at this time of year. When seasons and championships are on the line, nobody’s willing to go out quietly. But a three-goal hole should have crippled the Canes – only three other teams have ever come back from three goals down to win a series-clinching game.
And yet, one step at a time, one goal at a time, they clawed back into the contest and found themselves back on equal terms before the halfway mark of regulation time.
“Dig in, take it one shift at a time, win your small battles. We came out for the second and obviously we were buzzing there and so we dug in. That’s what you’ve got to do this time of year,” said Jaccob Slavin, who notched an assist on the Canes’ first goal.
Even when New Jersey regained the lead shortly after Svechnikov’s equalizer, Carolina still managed to strike back before the break, as Aho tallied his first of the evening to set the stage for a winner-take-all final frame(s).
“Some teams would just pack it in and say we’re down 3-0 and we’d have a 3-2 lead after this game, but that’s just not the way we are,” said Blake. “It’s really cool the way we won tonight. It was awesome.”
Of course, no comeback is complete without getting the win, and Aho made sure the Canes finished the job.
Chance after chance went by in the first extra frame, including a Seth Jarvis bid that found iron and several Grade-A opportunities that were stymied by New Jersey’s Jacob Markstrom. But with a four-minute power play in the second overtime, the Canes turned to the player with more overtime tallies than anyone in franchise history.
“Felt unreal, obviously,” said Carolina’s No. 20 about his series-deciding dagger. “You almost, like, blackout for a second there. The crowd goes nuts, guys are jumping on you, and it’s unreal. Really good feeling.”
Chills. pic.twitter.com/5dpKNmYFPa
With the win, Carolina became just the fourth team in NHL history to win a playoff series in seven consecutive postseasons, and the first to do so in more than 30 years.
“It’s what we try to hang our hat on – being consistent,” said Brind’Amour. “Obviously, we want to win the whole thing, that’s the goal. It’s extremely hard to do. Everyone understands that.”
“We’re a hard-working team that’s going to go out there and try and compete, every shift. Roddy talks about it all the time, consistency. We’re just trying to stick to that,” echoed Slavin.
Publicly, much has been made of Carolina’s perceived “lack” of star power compared to other Stanley Cup contenders, but that won’t bother anyone inside the confines of 1400 Edwards Mill Rd. The Hurricanes’ strength lies in all 20 players buying into their way of playing, and on Tuesday, their way came through again.
“From [the second period] on, it was exactly the way that we needed to play. Overtime, it just kept getting better and better,” said Brind’Amour.
“I give the guys so much credit, because there aren’t many games that even when we don’t play well, we don’t get back in the game. We find a way. That’s what happened.”
