Recap: Canes Fall to Sharks in Overtime

SAN JOSE - Despite establishing a three-goal lead in the first period and bringing a two-goal lead into the third period, the Carolina Hurricanes fell 5-4 to the San Jose Sharks in overtime.
Sebastian Aho (twice), Victor Rask and Jeff Skinner netted goals for the Canes, while Brent Burns capped the comeback for the Sharks in 3-on-3 overtime.
Here are five takeaways from tonight's tough loss.

One
This one stings.
This one stings because the Hurricanes twice had three-goal leads, at 3-0 in the first and 4-1 in the second. This one stings because the Hurricanes had a two-goal lead with just 20 minutes left in regulation. This one stings because the Hurricanes again remain marred in inconsistency.
"It's not a good feeling when you go into the third with a two-goal lead [and give it up]," Skinner said. "That's not good enough."
The Canes walk away from this one with a point, if it's any consolation.
Two
First, the good: the start.
In Vancouver on Tuesday, the Hurricanes got off to a hot start and outshot the Canucks 14-3. But they had nothing to show for it, as the game was scoreless going into the first intermission.
Tonight, the Canes edged the Sharks 6-5 in shots on goal after the first 20 minutes, but they held a 3-0 lead. Not only were the Canes able to strike first, they were also able to extend their lead and take a sizeable advantage to the locker room.

It all happened within a span of 5:13, too. First, Aho finished off a great feed from Noah Hanifin who first looked to shoot before one-timing the puck over to Aho alongside the net. Then, Elias Lindholm fed Rask with a gorgeous no-look, backhand feed, and Rask finished for his first goal in five games. Aho tallied his second goal of the game and seventh goal of the season not even three minutes later, a quick snipe in the slot.

"It was a good start for us. We started on time," Aho said. "We were ready to play this game."
"5-on-5 play early was good," head coach Bill Peters said.

Three
So, then what happened?
The second period didn't break this team, but the Sharks certainly pushed back and took a bite out of the Canes' lead.
The Sharks scored twice in the middle frame, both special teams tallies, as Melker Karlsson scored on a 2-on-1 shorthanded rush, and Joe Thornton scored a power-play goal with just over two minutes left in the period.
Skinner's team-leading 11th goal of the season helped the Canes maintain their multi-goal lead. The frantic sequence began with the trio of Skinner, Jordan Staal and Justin Williams forcing a turnover in the offensive zone. The three then had numerous scoring chances before Skinner located a loose puck in the crease (his own rebound off a shot blocked by a prone Burns) and buried it.

Four
The Sharks tallied two more special teams goals in the third period to tie the game, as the Hurricanes were unable to protect their multi-goal lead in the final period of regulation.
Logan Couture's power-play goal trimmed the Canes' lead to just a goal, and Barclay Goodrow's shorthanded goal tied the affair with just about eight minutes to play.
"They're a good team. They were going to make a push back," Skinner said. "We just have to be ready for it and respond. Unfortunately, we didn't respond at a high enough level to match their intensity in the third."
"I don't know what happened there. I don't know," Aho said. "They're a good team, too, and they know how to play in those situations. We have to play better in the third period."
"Specialty teams ended up hurting us tonight," Peters said. "Tough to win when you do that."
Two power-play goals and two shorthanded goals against - not a recipe for two points.
"Those hurt," Skinner said. "We left Wardo out to dry, really. I think he made some big saves. He's probably the reason we got to overtime."
"Looks like there's lots of work to be done there," Peters said of his specialty teams units.
Five
Derek Ryan skated in his 100th career NHL game tonight. It was a long road to the NHL for the now 30-year-old forward, which made tonight all the more special.
"It's pretty awesome. Definitely look back on my journey to get here. I never expected to play one game, let alone 100," he said this morning. "Hard to put into words. Hopefully it's the first 100 of several."
Ryan recorded an assist tonight, his ninth of the season.
"I think the biggest thing I've found maybe over this season and the end of last season is that you have to go to the net to get rewarded and score goals in this league," Ryan said. "You can't be a real perimeter player and expect to get a whole lot of goals unless you have an extreme, elite skillset, and I'm not that. I have to make sure I'm going to the net and getting those hard-earned, hard-working, greasy goals in front of the blue paint."
Up Next
Southern California is the next stop for the Hurricanes, who will face the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday and the Anaheim Ducks on Monday.
"Just get back to work. We'll fix the problems in our game. We scored a couple goals 5-on-5, which is a positive for us," Skinner said. "We'll take some of those positives, move on to the next one and try to get a win in Los Angeles."
"We just need to try to be positive and go get back to work," Aho said. "We need to play our game. Everyone saw that we can play well and score goals. We just have to play the whole 60 minutes."