PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – It’s the NHL game of the year, or at least the best game in the Metropolitan Division. The Pens fought back from four deficits, but Carolina scored the last two goals for a 6-5 overtime win in Raleigh Wednesday night.
From the Hurricanes point of view, they controlled much of the play after getting spanked by Columbus the night before. Pens helped with a number of untimely turnovers, but were able to secure a point for the 18th consecutive time in a division game.
Let’s break this down.
Scoring
· Jackson Blake gave the Canes the lead back and a 2-1 lead after two periods. But early in the third, Erik Karlsson fired one on net on a 5-on-3 and a perfect screen by Bryan Rust blinded goalie Frederik Andersen and it’s 2-2
· Taylor Hall gave Carolina another lead only to have Rust take the puck on a breakaway to make it 3-3 at 12:44.
· Power play goal after a Crosby penalty by Logan Stankoven gave the Canes a fourth lead, but Karlsson undressed Sebastian Aho and fired one past Anderson to make it 4-4 at 5:14.
· 23 seconds later Ben Kindel gets a great pass from Anthony Mantha and the Pens held its first lead at 5-4
· This time Carolina would fight back to tie it on a K’Andre Miller goal with 2:51 left and it headed to overtime where Sean Walker scored 29 seconds before it would have headed to a shootout.
While the stats will show that Stuart Skinner gave up six goals, many of his 38 saves were outstanding including a diving stop to his left to prevent a regulation-ending goal by Mark Jankowski.
The Pens haven’t won in Raleigh since December 2018.
Back home
Wednesday night marked the end of a five-game road trip. The Pens have a rare two days between games before a pair on the weekend—Winnipeg at PPG Paints Arena on Saturday at 1p and then Carolina Sunday at 3p. Tuesday is another home matchup against a division leader, a 7p faceoff against Colorado.