Canes Come From Behind Late, Take Shootout Win In Toronto

TORONTO - The Carolina Hurricanes trailed 4-2 with 1:33 remaining in regulation on Saturday.  They then won 5-4, completing an improbable comeback against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena.

Scoreless Start...

Opening a back-to-back set north of the border, the Canes went into battle tonight without forward Teuvo Teravainen.

Suffering an upper-body injury during Thursday's win over Florida, #86 was ruled out in the morning, meaning that Brendan Lemieux would draw in.

As Jesper Fast assumed first line duties next to Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov, Carolina's offense didn't have a ton going on to start the night. The team's recent overpassing reared its ugly head once again, as both of their two-on-one chances resulted in a failed pass across.

A relatively low-event period as a whole, the two teams moved to the second period without a goal.

Three Steps Back, Two Steps Forward...

While the start to the night was quiet in terms of scoring, the middle portion of the night was the opposite.

Carolina had much more gusto in terms of attacking the net in the first few moments of the period, putting six tests on Ilya Samsonov in the first three minutes.

However, after they weren't able to beat him, the wheels temporarily came off the wagon.

Two examples of puck mismanagement in two minutes resulted in two breakaways for Toronto, allowing both John Tavares and William Nylander to beat Pyotr Kochetkov.

Quickly falling behind, the lead then became three for the home side after Nick Robertson chipped in with a tally.

With 7:57 to go in the second period, it felt like the Canes had taken themselves out of the contest.

Instead, Rod Brind'Amour made some changes and his group had some fight back in them.

Shuffling his forward lines and power play groups, the team was able to get both an even strength and a special teams goal in the final 6:33, making it a 3-2 contest.

Starting with a Jordan Martinook putback after a Brent Burns shot from the point, Carolina showed some life.

Then, with just 2.8 seconds to go in the period, Seth Jarvis slapped home the rebound of a Jake Guentzel shot on the power play to make it a one-goal game.

Down, But Not Out...

Back within striking distance to start the final frame of regulation, there was hope for Carolina.

However, it took them just 2:55 for that hope to decrease.

Another turnover led to a third breakaway goal for Toronto, putting the visitors' hole back to two. It was uncharacteristic of the group to turn the puck over that many times, and it felt like it just was not the team's night at that point.

With the Maple Leafs ahead by a pair for the duration of the third period, it would have been acceptable to think that the group was trying to run out the clock and they'd try again tomorrow in Ottawa.

Per MoneyPuck.com, the Canes had a 0.5% chance to win the game.

Down inside the final two minutes, Carolina was sent to the power play and they pulled Kochetkov in favor of the extra attacker.

During six-on-four play, Dmitry Orlov found Aho at the back door, making it a 4-3 game with 1:32 on the clock.

In need of another, they stayed on the gas.

With just 5.8 seconds to go, a Burns shot from the point hit Aho's stick and redirected past Samsonov.

Somehow, they'd tied the game.

Jake and Bake...

Stealing at least one point in the standings, Carolina had earned an opportunity to take a second by forcing the game to overtime.

In the extra session, there were chances at both ends of the ice, including a full two-minute power play for Toronto to end the five minutes.

Kochetkov came up big though, forcing his team to their sixth shootout of the season.

During the skills competition, the young netminder kept out William Nylander and Auston Matthews before hitting former teammate Max Domi with his patented flying poke check, setting up an opportunity for Guentzel to win it.

Samsonov had denied Aho and Svechnikov, but in the bottom of the third, the newcomer sent the Canes to the plane happy.

With a leg kick and a shoulder pump, Guentzel got Toronto's backstop to open his five-hole, and the prized trade deadline acquisition netted the game-winner.

They Said It

Rod Brind'Amour after the victory...

"We had some good individual efforts, for sure. We gave them four goals. Giving up breakaways like that is not typical of the way we do it. I give the guys credit. They dug in and had a good finish, obviously. (It wasn't) the best way to do it, but overall, we'll take the points, that's for sure. Great penalty kill. I think that was really the key for us."

Sebastian Aho going in-depth with his analysis of the game...

"Early in the second was not the best moment for us.  They're a very highly-skilled team and they make you pay.  Some of them are nice plays, but we can't give them three breakaways.  After that, Roddy pulled us together and Jordo's line went out after that.  They had a big shift and took momentum for us.  I don't think we looked back after that.  We shuffled the lines a little bit and I know that sometimes that will give us a little spark.  As a player, you think you have to be a little better if your coach is shuffling the lines.  It was a great response from us.  You need this type of experience moving on, so you can lean on these type of moments."

Jake Guentzel following his game-deciding shootout attempt...

"It's exciting. You want to be in that moment as a player and just for that to happen, it was cool for me. It was nice to be able to help get the win there."

What's Next?

The Canes will fly to Ottawa immediately post-game and take on the Senators on Sunday.

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