Metropolitan Division Clinched! Hurricanes Overcome Bruins (and Referees) in OT Thriller

· Yahoo Sports

James Guillory-Imagn Images

In the Carolina Hurricanes’ final game in Lenovo Center of the regular season, they sent their fans home happy as they overcame the Boston Bruins (and the referees) with a 6-5 overtime win, clinching the Metropolitan Division.

As the game opened, Eric Robinson was out of the lineup in favor of Nicolas Deslauriers, but the Hurricanes appeared a bit disjointed defensively. Head coach Rod Brind’Amour had shoved the defensive lines into the ol’ blender, which saw Jaccob Slavin paired with Shayne Gostisbehere, K’Andre Miller paired with Jalen Chatfield, and Alexander Nikishin paired with Sean Walker. It was a rare opportunity for Nikishin to play on his natural side, and it was ultimately the only pairing to remain untouched in the following frames.

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With the Bruins’ first shot of the game, Hampus Lindholm found the back of the net. However, the lead was short-lived as the Hurricanes scored twice in 1:34 – one from Andrei Svechnikov, who notched his 30th goal of the season, matching his career high, and one from K’Andre Miller.

Goaltender Interference: Disappointed, but Not Surprised

Soon after, Morgan Geekie tied the game, and before the end of the period, Geekie scored his second of the game. However, the second goal for the former Hurricanes was peculiar. As the puck whizzed by goaltender Brandon Bussi, it appeared that David Pastrnak had run into him, making contact inside of his crease.

Brind’Amour took the timeout to review the play before making the decision to challenge it for goaltender interference, but it ultimately remained on the board. The official ruling from the NHL on the play was that the contact from Pastrnak did not impact Bussi’s ability to play his position.

…I disagree, but it is what it is – and it is far from surprising that the Hurricanes were duped by a goalie interference ruling.

In the final seconds of the frame, the Hurricanes did gain a power play from literal interference on the goalkeeper, as Mark Kastelic backed into Bussi, knocking him over. It did not lead to a power play goal in the second period, but it was…ironic.

Hurricanes End Swayman’s Streak, and His Night Between the Pipes

The second period did favor the Hurricanes, however, as they managed to score three in less than 10 minutes – a power play goal from Logan Stankoven, a goal from William Carrier, and a goal from the former Bruin Taylor Hall. The burst of scoring led to a goalie swap for the Boston Bruins as Joonas Korpisalo came in to relieve Jeremy Swayman. Going into the game, Swayman had gone nine games straight while allowing three or fewer goals.

Then, the hits started coming for the Hurricanes. And they came hard.

With a little over a minute to go in the second period, Geekie scored another goal – bringing the game within one as he notched the second hat-trick of his career, and the first in the building he once called home.

Less than thirty seconds later, the 5’10” Seth Jarvis was smashed into the corner boards after a big hit from the 6’7” Nikita Zadorov. Head athletic trainer Doug Bennett came onto the ice to assist the Hurricanes’ leading goalscorer, but after a moment, he was able to leave for the locker room on his own power.

The Hurricanes’ bruiser, Nicolas Deslauriers, was not a fan of the hit and began chirping with the Bruins’ defenseman, but it failed to generate a fight in the third frame. Deslauriers acquired a single shift in the third period, which overlapped with Zadorov’s shift, but did not generate a fight.

Hurricanes Contend with Eternal Rival, the Referees, in Third Period

While Jarvis returned to the ice at the start of the third period, the Hurricanes lost Chatfield, who had returned to the top pairing after the first period, due to a lower-body injury.

A little over halfway through the period, Stankoven took a high-stick behind the Bruins’ net, which left him bloody. At first, it was believed to have been friendly fire from linemate Jackson Blake, but it was soon discovered to have been from Charlie McAvoy.

Whenever an injury occurs on a play, and it does not result in an immediate call, it can still be penalized after looking at footage. The Hurricanes pleaded their case, but the referees still failed to make the call.

Less than 20 seconds later, Pavel Zacha tied the game – ironically, with a feed from McAvoy.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, Jordan Martinook was later sent to the penalty box for interference on Jonathan Aspirot, who ran into the Hurricanes’ winger, who was stationary at the blue line to remain onside.

The Hurricanes killed the penalty, and neither team managed to find twine again in regulation, which soon led to overtime, getting both teams a point in the standings – it was all the Hurricanes needed to clinch the Metro Division.

An Overtime Goal to Remember

With 3:47 remaining in the extra frame, Jaccob Slavin netted his first goal of the season, topping off a magnificent sequence of playmaking from Svechnikov and Sebastian Aho as he put it in with a backdoor snapshot.

With the night and division won, the Hurricanes took part in the final Storm Surge of the season. Slavin was shoved to center ice for the group hug, and his helmet was nabbed by Nikishin and paraded on the end of Svechnikov’s stick.

Tradition means a lot to Raleigh, and the Hurricanes made sure their fans got another taste of it with a complete postgame celebration.

(Psst, if you want to see the Bruins’ perspective of the game, be sure to check out Jack Studley’s article over at Boston Hockey Now!)

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