Hall comes through as difference-maker despite 'B-minus' game for Hurricanes

RALEIGH, N.C. – Taylor Hall could sense he wasn’t playing his best game.

Hall still found a way to be a difference-maker for the Carolina Hurricanes, though, in their 3-2 overtime victory against the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Second Round at Lenovo Center on Monday.

Of course, there was his second effort on his game-winning goal at 18:54 of overtime that completed the Hurricanes’ comeback from a 2-0 deficit and gave them a 2-0 lead in the best-of-7 series, which shifts to Philadelphia for Game 3 on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS, CBC). Nearly as important was Hall’s block on Flyers forward Noah Cates’ shot with eight seconds remaining in regulation, without which the game might not have reached overtime.

“As you get older and you play this game a while, you’ve got to figure out if you don't have your A game, do you maybe have your B-minus game or something close to that?” Hall said. “So, you find a way to contribute.”

Hall has been doing that throughout the Stanley Cup Playoffs, along with linemates Logan Stankoven and Jackson Blake, to help Carolina win its first six games. The 34-year-old forward leads the Hurricanes with nine points (three goals, six assists), including at least one in each game. 

That line has produced the winning goal in four of Carolina’s six wins.

“Every night it seems like they're cashing in and being a big part of our group,” said Carolina defenseman Sean Walker, who assisted on Hall’s overtime winner. “So, to see them get rewarded, I’m not surprised.”

Hall’s recollection of what happened on his goal was a bit fuzzy, so he watched the replay before talking to the media to make sure he got the details correct.

“I didn't realize that I fell down and then put it in,” Hall said. “When you score in overtime, it seems like parts of your memory kind of go.”

Walker carried the puck through the neutral zone and over the Flyers’ blue line before passing to Hall on his left at the top of the left circle. Hall then skated to the face-off dot and took a shot that bounced up off goalie Dan Vladar’s pads before dropping in front of him. 

Before Vladar could grab the loose puck with his glove, Blake swatted it toward Hall in front. Hall had fallen down after his initial shot but got up in time to sweep the puck into the net for the first playoff overtime winner of his career.

“So, it was a gritty goal,” Hall said. “I didn't do a very good job of attacking tonight, personally, and when I got that puck, I just wanted to get to the middle of the ice as much as I could, and got a shot off and then got the rebound. That was an overtime goal, for sure.”

The Flyers had controlled play for much of overtime, outshooting the Hurricanes 15-8. Goalie Frederik Andersen held the Hurricanes in the game long enough for Hall to be the hero.

“In overtime especially, we had that one bad shift and then took a penalty, and then they had plenty of opportunities to win the game,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “So, he was the difference there. That's where he really, I think, rose to the occasion and enabled us to hang in there and enabled us to get the win.”

Although the Hurricanes remain unbeaten, the road to this victory was different than their first five because they fell behind for the first time this postseason. The Flyers jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first 4:41, with defenseman Jamie Drysdale opening the scoring on the power play at 4:02. Sean Couturier then knocked Carl Grundstrom’s centering feed from behind the net in under Andersen’s left pad just 39 seconds later.

Carolina regrouped after that and pulled within 2-1 on Nikolaj Ehlers’ power-play one-timer from the right circle at 10:21 of the first period. It remained 2-1 until Seth Jarvis tied it at 11:21 of the third period, taking a drop pass from Ehlers on the rush and snapping a shot from the right circle in off Vladar’s glove for his first goal of the playoffs.

“We don't quit,” Ehlers said. “I think we've shown that all year. If we keep playing the right way and keep putting a lot of pressure on their players every single shift, we will get back to playing some pretty good hockey and create a lot of turnovers, a lot of good chances. Again, we were able to do it tonight.”

The Flyers had a great chance to retake the lead when Cates walked down the slot with the puck as the clock ticked down at the end of regulation. Hall kicked out his right skate in front of Andersen to deflect Cates’ shot harmlessly away and send the game to overtime.

“I might have over backchecked on that and come a bit too deep in my zone, but as soon as he got the puck, I just wanted to challenge him and kind of went road hockey goalie there for a second,” Hall said. “Anyone on our team is going to sell out to try and block that if the situation comes, and that was my turn.”

It was another example of Hall’s evolution as a player in his 16th NHL season. Known as a scorer for most of his career, after being selected by the Edmonton Oilers with the No. 1 pick from the 2010 NHL Draft, Hall has become a more complete player as he’s aged and is driven to win the Stanley Cup for the first time.

“He wants to win, so he's doing whatever he has to do to help the team,” Brind’Amour said. “He's doing it, in that situation, obviously, at both ends of the rink, and then, obviously, winning it for us, too.”