Andersen’s stop on Barbashev ‘game-changer’ for Hurricanes in Game 2 of Final

RALEIGH, N.C. – Frederik Andersen stopped Ivan Barbashev once.

Then, the Carolina Hurricanes goalie stopped him again. And again.

Then, the puck ended up in the net, and things got really crazy.

Andersen’s three-save sequence on Barbashev, and the no-goal ruling on the Coach’s Challenge that followed, proved to be a pivotal moment in the Hurricanes’ 4-3 overtime victory against the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final at Lenovo Center on Thursday.

“That was a crazy time, obviously,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said after his team evened the best-of-7 series 1-1. “I don't even know what to tell you.”

Each team had different views of the play, which came with the score tied 2-2 and 5:00 remaining in regulation. Carolina appeared to have all the momentum after erasing a 2-0 deficit in the third period with goals from Logan Stankoven at 10:20 and Mark Jankowski at 12:46.

Vegas had a great chance to retake the lead, though, after Barbashev stole the puck from Carolina defenseman Jaccob Slavin in the slot and snapped off a quick shot that Andersen stopped with his blocker.

Barbashev picked up the rebound at the left side of the net, circled behind it and out the other side for a wraparound attempt. Andersen dove in desperation to his left to stop the puck with his stick paddle. With Slavin crawling back to try to help him, Andersen stopped Barbashev’s second effort with his stick paddle, too, and then tried to gather the puck under his glove.

Hurricanes center Jordan Staal fell on top of Andersen while Barbashev made one final attempt, digging in under Andersen’s glove with his stick to knock the puck over the goal line. Referee Jean Hebert immediately waved his arms to signal no goal, though.

“The ruling on the play was goaltender interference,” NHL senior vice president and director of officiating Stephen Walkom told a pool reporter. “He waved it (off) immediately. He believed that it was under the goalie and the Vegas player went after the puck and interfered with the goalie and his ability to freeze the puck and waved it off immediately.”

Still, Golden Knights coach John Tortorella decided to challenge the call that there was no goalie interference.

“I saw a loose puck in front of Freddie,” Tortorella said. “Our player stabbed it, didn’t move the goalie and it goes through into the other side. I’d challenge it 10 out of 10 times”

While the referees reviewed the video, a potential two-goal swing hung in the balance. If Tortorella’s challenge was successful, Vegas would have a 3-2 lead with 5:00 remaining. If the call on the ice was upheld, Vegas would be charged a delay of game penalty for the failed challenge and Carolina would get a chance to take the lead on the power play.

“When I was there, it looked like Freddie just kind of grabbed it and I heard a whistle and all the things,” Staal said. “To me, it felt like a no goal. Obviously, I’m on the other side of it. I’m sure they have a different opinion, but my gut was like, ‘Man, there’s no way.’”

After Hebert and fellow referee Garrett Rank reviewed the video, they upheld the original call of no goal. The score remained tied 2-2 and the Hurricanes went on the power play. Barbashev and some of the other Golden Knights shook their heads in disagreement.

“Yeah, that’s kind of out of our control,” Golden Knights defenseman Noah Hanifin said. “That’s their decision. What are you doing to do about it?”

After being unable to convert on their first two power plays of the game, Carolina took advantage of the opportunity created by Vegas’ failed challenge and took a 3-2 lead when Staal deflected in Shayne Gostisbehere’s point shot with 4:35 remaining.

“You’d like to make them pay every time,” Hurricanes center Sebastian Aho said. “It’s a big swing because the other option is going down a goal. But other than that, every time you get a power play, you’re trying to score. So, it’s not that different, but obviously, it was a big swing.”

Vegas was able to tie the game with Mark Stone’s 6-on-5 goal with 1:21 remaining. That set the stage for Seth Jarvis to be the hero with his power-play goal at 3:56 of overtime, evening the series as it heads to Vegas for Game 3 on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; ABC, SN, TVAS, CBC).

The Hurricanes did not forget Andersen’s contributions to the win, though. He finished with 23 saves, none bigger than his trio of stops on Barbashev.

“What an incredible effort by Freddie just staying with that one and finding a way to get a piece of it,” Staal said. “I was flopping everywhere. I didn’t know what was going on and Freddie just stuck with it. The guy is an absolute animal.

“So, that was a pretty crazy play and, obviously, a game-changer for us.”