After dropping five straight games and with their hopes of making the playoffs fading, the Carolina Hurricanes were in desperate need of a big, morale boosting win. Tonight’s 5-4 overtime victory over the Montreal Canadiens certainly qualifies.
Montreal got off to a strong start, thanks in large part by Max Pacioretty, who scored twice to give the team a 3-0 lead going into the second intermission.
Then the Hurricanes turned the tide. Jeff Skinner scored back-to-back power-play goals in just 37 seconds to shave the Canadiens’ lead to a single marker. It wasn’t long before Eric Staal managed to tie it and then Manny Malhotra found the back of the net for just the second time this season. All-in-all, the Hurricanes scored four goals in under nine minutes to climb ahead 4-3.
Montreal defenseman P.K. Subban managed to capitalize on a power-play opportunity to even the game. The contest went into overtime and it was up to Alexander Semin, who has struggled significantly this season, but is showing signs of heating up, to break the tie in overtime:
The Hurricanes improved to 15-16-9 this season, but this was just their second win in 10 games. They’ll try to make it two in a row against Washington on Thursday.