However, much like Carolina had a response to Montreal's second goal of the night, Montreal had a near-immediate response to Carolina's second goal of the evening. 1:49 after Skjei's 12th tally of the season, a crashing Michael Pezzetta tipped home a slip feed from Chris Tierney, putting the home club back in front.
The remaining 17:11 of the second period would see the game's momentum swing back and forth. Despite Carolina winning the shots battle 12-7 and having the bulk of the possession, Montreal still produced high-danger chances with the shots that they did have, keeping the game from swinging entirely toward the Canes.
At the end of 40 minutes, the game remains 3-2.
Carolina was forced to have their best period of the night to close out the contest and it undoubtedly would be just that. Rod Brind'Amour's crew initially thought they tied the game early in the third, but Martin St. Louis successfully overturned a Paul Stastny would-be tally.
The Canes would keep chipping away though, forcing Jake Allen and Montreal to come up with spectacular stops or defensive efforts to keep their team in front.
But the levy would break with just 3:38 remaining in regulation.
Pesce was able to get a shot on from the point and a driving by Jesper Fast was able to locate the rebound and stuff it home to make it 3-3.
Forcing overtime, Carolina had Montreal on their heels, but no winner was decided in the three-on-three.
Then, in the shootout, the Canadiens scored on both of their first two shots and in the third round the Canes needed Teuvo Teravainen to score to keep the game going.
Then, after three consecutive saves from Andersen in net, Kotkaniemi closed the curtain on his former club.
