For 50 minutes, the Carolina Hurricanes were flummoxed.
The team was just unable to get anything going against the Vegas Golden Knights and despite a strong defensive effort overall on their end, they found themselves trailing due to a pair of solo rushes from Brett Howden.
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The players looked frustrated, the building was tense and the vibes couldn’t have felt much worse.
But something changed for Carolina at that point.
Somebody had to step up.
And Logan Stankoven, who has so often been the Hurricanes’ hero these playoffs, once again delivered, beating out Vegas defenseman Rasmus Andersson behind the net and getting a fortunate bounce in front to get the Canes on the board.
From there, the team and the crowd came alive fueling a feverish push.
Mere moments after Stankoven’s tally, Mark Jankowski tied up the game after getting space after a tremendous effort by Will Carrier.
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The Hurricanes were almost the victim of another late go-ahead goal as Ivan Barbashev blew past Jaccob Slavin for a chance in the final five minutes, but Frederik Andersen made a miraculous sequence of saves to keep his team ahead.
The Golden Knights would end up challenging the save, as the puck was pushed into the crease eventually, but the officials ruled that there was goaltender interference on the play and sent the Canes to the power play.
Somebody needed to step up and wouldn’t you know it, the man advantage finally broke through in the clutch as Jordan Staal redirected a Shayne Gostisbehere point shot in past Carter Hart.
The Canes had rallied back and were in prime position to tie up the series.
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Yet, despite all of that, the Hurricanes just couldn’t hold on and the eventual equalizer couldn’t have been a tougher pill to swallow.
Not only were the Canes shorthanded off of a really tough call to Jackson Blake, but the team actually killed the entire minor, only to concede the goal just seconds later.
Frederik Andersen blockered away a shot from the circles, it ricocheted off of Mark Stone and then the Vegas captain knocked the puck out of midair and in past the Danish netminder.
The Canes were moments away from tying up this series and building some momentum heading to Vegas, instead, they had to regroup for overtime.
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But the Hurricanes burst out of the gates in OT and after some sustained pressure, they drew another call and once again, the power play delivered as Seth Jarvis hammered home the winner.
Someone, again, stepped up.
Now the Hurricanes head to Vegas for Games 3 and 4 as they look to stay perfect on the road.
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