Hurricanes Hold On, Overcome Penguins in Milestone-Filled Game
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Wednesday night, the Logan Stankoven line was fire. They were also score. …Please allow me the Evgeni Malkin puns, I mean them with the utmost respect and lightheartedness.
The Carolina Hurricanes and Pittsburgh Penguins are shaping up for a rivalry, and Wednesday’s game did not lack the playoff energy their last bout produced. Not at all.
Jordan Martinook started the scoring with a shorthanded goal, his second of the season, just under 10 minutes into the game. Wild enough, Seth Jarvis and Sebastian Aho managed to break out for another shorthanded chance during the same penalty kill, but it ultimately failed to go in.
When the second period ensued, Jarvis wound up with yet another shorthanded scoring chance, which just barely missed thanks to a fantastic pad save from Penguins goaltender Stuart Skinner.
The Hurricanes and Penguins traded off goals, ending the frame with the same difference as before, just at 2-1.
A Chaotic Third Period
The third period saw the most action with seven total goals scored between the two teams.
Erik Karlsson scored from the point with a screen, and soon after, Taylor Hall scored…and immediately mowed down Logan Stankoven (no harm was done). Then Bryan Rust scored. Then Stankoven scored.
Soon, Karlsson scored the exact same way again, with another brilliant screen that gave Frederik Andersen no chance. 23 seconds later, Ben Kindel gave the Penguins their first lead of the night, but K’Andre Miller got the equalizer to send things into overtime.
After some exchanges of the puck between both sides of the ice, Jarvis and Aho got the puck to Sean Walker at the elbow of the left face-off circle. From there, he launched a clapper clean into the net, thanks to Jarvis causing enough havoc in front of the crease with Karlsson to take a clear line of sight away from Skinner.
The overtime goal was the first of Walker’s NHL career. Additionally, Aho’s assist gave him his 700th career NHL point, making him only the eighth Finnish player to achieve the milestone.
Andersen, who has been shaky, had a fantastic night. Aside from two goals in the five-hole, the others were those that any goalie would have little chance to stop. He was sharp.
Throughout the contest, Andersen made 30 saves on 35 shots against, and Skinner made 38 saves on 44 shots against.
The Tenacious Trio
Between Logan Stankoven and wingers Taylor Hall and Jackson Blake, the second line combined for seven total points in Wednesday’s game against the Penguins. Stankoven, who scored the fourth goal for the Hurricanes, matched his previous season’s 14-goal total with 13 more games left to play.
Meanwhile, Blake notched his first 20-goal season with the Hurricanes’ second goal of the game. With a three-point night in the books, he was named the first star of the game.
“It’s awesome,” he said about his 20-goal milestone. “Obviously, couldn’t do it without the boys. …Glad to get that, and just happy we got the win tonight.”
(Psst! This game was against a team also covered by the National Hockey Now Network, so feel free to sneak behind enemy lines and check out the Penguins’ perspective from Dan Kingerski.)
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