'Keeping The Belief' Led To Canes' Game 2 Comeback

RALEIGH, N.C. - To some, things may have felt bleak as Game 2's third period reached its middle stages inside Lenovo Center on Thursday.

Not the Carolina Hurricanes' bench, though.

Trailing by a pair and having their offense largely stifled since the end of the first period, escaping the suffocating grip of the Vegas Golden Knights appeared a tall task. Despite struggling to create chances, let alone dangerous ones, their optimism had yet to wane.

They knew they needed just one play. Some sort of spark.

With just under 12 minutes to go, a strong set of back-to-back shifts in the attacking end from the recently modified lines centered by Sebastian Aho and Jordan Staal, including three decent chances, brought some life from the 18,700+ onlookers before a media timeout.

Then, coming out of the break, the fuse was officially lit.

A faceoff to the left of Vegas goaltender Carter Hart initially saw Logan Stankoven tossed, but in yet another example of his relentless work ethic, from the winger spot, he chased down a loose puck below the opposition's goal line. The 5-foot-8 bulldog stripped a much larger Golden Knights defenseman, Rasmus Andersson, worked back to the side of the net he'd come from, and got the bounce his group desperately needed.

"When you're down and out, I think you've just got to rely on hard work and being able to hunt pucks," Stankoven told the media post-game. "I just tried to hop off the draw there and take it to the net. I kind of got a bit lucky, it ramped up his stick and saw it go in. I was pretty excited."

Instilling belief back into the crowd, just 2:26 later, Mark Jankowski turned the burning trigger into a full-blown fire. Jordan Staal's go-ahead power-play redirection, which followed under three minutes later, served as a reaffirmation of the team's process.

"For us to still believe, say all the right things, and then get the results, it really tugs on the heartstrings in the sense that you really do have to believe," Shayne Gostisbehere said on Friday.

Perhaps even more impressive than their run of three goals in 5:05 to go from trailing to leading was what followed next.

A late, deflating equalizer with the extra attacker on for Vegas completely reset what had been a tidal wave of momentum and sent each side back to their locker room with an even score. However, as they exemplified for a fourth consecutive Game 2, a comfortable and composed locker room produced a positive result in crunch time.

"We believe in our group. We're confident in what we're doing and how we're doing it. We believe in our system," Andrei Svechnikov said. "We just try to go out there and play our game, and that's kind of what we've been doing."

Improving to 6-0 in overtime, Seth Jarvis became the sixth different hero of the postseason.

The first team since the 1944 Canadiens to win a Stanley Cup Final game after trailing by multiple goals in the final 10 minutes of regulation, the Canes rightfully were elated to tie the series up at 1-1, as opposed to heading to Sin City down by a pair.

“It’s a five-game series now," Gostisbehere continued. "It’s just managing (the emotions). We’re still human beings. We’re going to get nervous out there and have emotions, but the more you do it, the more you do anything, you get used to it. It’s just trying to holster that and bring it all in and focus on the task at hand.”

The next task at hand will come inside T-Mobile Arena on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; ABC), where the Eastern Conference Champions will look to continue the replication of their last series - a stumble out of the gates, followed by four victories in a row.

"I think there's obviously more good vibes today than there could have been," Rod Brind'Amour laughed at the situation. "We understand how we have to play to give ourselves a chance. I thought we got to it at the start of the game and at the end of the game. It would be great if we could do it for the whole 60 minutes, but it's probably not going to be that way, because they're a very, very good team, and they got to their game too. But I think we're confident, and we should be. We've played two good games, and we're starting over."