RALEIGH, N.C. - On the surface, it's another win for the top dog in the Eastern Conference.
Ho hum.
Just the seventh team since 2000 to start the Stanley Cup Playoffs 6-0, the Carolina Hurricanes were favored to take care of business on home ice against the Philadelphia Flyers, especially following a commanding Game 1 performance. They did, but it was no walk in the park.
Dissect the multitude of layers, and it may have made their flex that much stronger.
Falling behind on the scoreboard for the first time since April 7, a 1-0 deficit quickly became 2-0 in the opening stages of last night's affair. A delay-of-game penalty and a defensive zone turnover helped put Philadelphia on the front foot, both, in their own ways, atypical self-inflicted wounds.
At this time of year, the cliche is that "everything matters," and for a few moments, there was maybe some concern amongst the Caniacs for the first time this spring.
Was this the inevitable stumble?
Sort of.
Not a be-all and end-all one, though.
The tide of the contest started to turn when Nikolaj Ehlers halted Philadelphia's momentum with a power play goal of their own for Carolina. It was a necessary stopgap. Even then, it was an uphill climb left in front of them, not a snap-of-the-fingers shift.
In fact, it took exactly 41 minutes of game time and a tap on the shoulder to get all the way even.
As Carolina tried and tried again to beat Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar for a second time, the coaching staff was looking for someone to emerge from the muck. While Logan Stankoven's line has driven the bus for Rod Brind'Amour's group thus far in the postseason, they know they're going to need contributions from others.
The combination of Andrei Svechnikov, Sebastian Aho, and Seth Jarvis, who had been together almost exclusively since the middle of January, was spinning its wheels. Combining for just seven points in the first five games of the postseason, it wasn't the production needed from the team's "top line."
Assistant Coach Jeff Daniels told Brind'Amour, "It's time."
Electing to switch Jarvis with Jordan Martinook, it was a coaching decision that the Canes' bench boss said, "doesn't always work", but it did last night.
On their very first shift together, the trio of Ehlers, Jarvis, and Jordan Staal broke through and provided the game-tying goal.
"It's always nice to see one go in, especially [given] I've had chances, and I haven't been doing it. To step up in a moment like that was huge," Jarvis said post-game. "Every time I'm with Jordo, stuff starts to go in. So hopefully, that kick-starts the rest of my playoffs and just keeps it rolling."
Even with the score leveled, the job wasn't finished.
Instead of rolling over following the late, deflating goal in regulation, Philadelphia came out swinging in the extra session. Putting up 15 shots in the 18:54 of overtime - more than they'd had in any period of regulation, and three times their third period output - Frederik Andersen was "the man" once again.
"He was the difference, right? In overtime, especially, we had that one bad shift and then took a penalty. They had plenty of opportunities to win the game. He was the difference there," Brind'Amour complimented. "That's where he really rose to the occasion. He enabled us to hang in there and enabled us to get the win."
The aforementioned win was solidified when former Flyer Sean Walker rushed up the ice with the puck, distributed to Taylor Hall, where he then produced a rebound chance he'd put back himself.
"Well, we don't quit," Ehlers reasoned of the comeback. "I think we've shown all year that if we keep playing the right way and keep putting pressure on their players every single shift, we will get back to playing some pretty good hockey, and create turnovers and a lot of good chances. We were able to do that tonight."
